One of the most iconic tiki drinks of all time is the Zombie cocktail by Don the Beachcomber. Aside from the fact that the drink itself evolved bit by bit during the 20th Century, the notorious secrecy with which the Beachcomber and his competitors operated their bar programs way back when has resulted in a multitude of recipes for the Zombie. As far as I can tell, the only things that they all have in common are: rum, and being high proof. Most have grapefruit juice, but not all.
For a few years now I've had one such recipe scrawled on the inside of the back cover of my Grog Log. I swear that I wrote it down when I saw Beachbum Berry post it years ago, but now I can't find any trace of it on the internet except here. I know I didn't dream it up. Can anyone source it?
The recipe is a simplified Zombie, whatever that might mean. It ignores some of the more nuanced and exotic ingredients and instead sticks to a "skeleton crew" of more commons ones, while still claiming to capture the flavor of the 1934 original. True or not... Zombie or not... this is a delicious drink, and it's easy to make. It's my go-to recipe (along with the Reverb Crash) for impressing guests wanting a tiki drink who can handle something bitter and/or complex.
Simple Zombie
1 oz dark Jamaican rum
.5 oz 151-proof rum (any type)
1 oz grapefruit juice
.75 oz lime juice
.5 oz cinnamon syrup
Shake with ice cubes, strain into glass with more ice cubes.
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It does still exist on Summit Sips! Cheers!
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