Zombie
ClassicThree rums, and a strict limit of two.
Deep, tropical, and deceptively dangerous. Layered rums give oak, molasses, and funk; lime and grapefruit cut through with bright acidity; falernum and cinnamon lace it with clove and almond spice, and grenadine adds a ruby sweetness. Absinthe and Angostura haunt the edges. Lush and fruity up front, quietly ferocious underneath.
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Aged Rum
- 1.5 oz Dark Rum
- 1 oz Overproof Rum
- 0.75 oz Fresh Lime Juice
- 0.5 oz Falernum
- 0.5 oz Fresh Grapefruit Juice
- 0.25 oz Cinnamon Syrup
- 1 tsp Grenadine
- 1 dash Angostura Bitters
- 2 dashes Absinthe
- Mint sprig · optional garnish
Method
- 1
Add every ingredient to a shaker with a scoop of crushed ice.
- 2
Flash-blend or shake briefly just to combine and chill.
- 3
Pour unstrained into a tall glass and fill with fresh crushed ice.
- 4
Garnish with a mint sprig.
The Story
Don the Beachcomber — Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt — mixed the first Zombie at his Hollywood tiki bar in 1934, reputedly to get a hungover customer through a business meeting. It worked too well: the drink's three-rum firepower earned it a legendary two-per-customer limit. Don guarded the recipe obsessively, coding his ingredients so even his own staff couldn't copy it, and for decades the true formula was lost to imitations. Cocktail historian Jeff "Beachbum" Berry finally decoded the original in the 2000s, restoring one of tiki's founding drinks to its proper, potent glory.
Recipe card
The whole recipe in one shareable image.
