Halloween...Walking Dead...ZOMBIE!

There is no better time of year to visit one of the most quintessential of Tiki drinks, Don the Beachcomber's Zombie.  The drink has been shrouded in mystery since Don first started mixing it.  According to his own bartender's, they poured the ingredients from marked bottles.  What made this drink so popular is the fact that there was a "two per person limit".  I have used this advertising gimmick to overwhelming success, in creating "taboo" cocktails, in the past.

As with all cocktails, I check multiple sources to verify ingredients and techniques.  David Embury, in his The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, begins by professing that "this is undoubtedly the most over advertised, overemphasized, over exalted, and foolishly feared drink whose claims to glory ever assaulted the eyes and ears of the gullible American public."  Wow!  How do you really feel, David?  His disgust is clear, but he gives a pretty good recipe despite his final jab at Don...here is his recipe...

1 tsp Sugar Syrup 
1/2 to 3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/4 oz Fresh Pineapple Juice
1 oz White Label Rum
2 oz Gold Label Rum
1 oz Jamaica Rum *David claims the 151 Demerara Rum is insufficient for a good drink
2 tsp Apricot Liqueur
1/2 oz to 3/4 oz Mysterious Ingredient*

Another interesting Zombie cocktail that I found was in Charles Baker Jr.'s, The Gentlemen's Companion.  His cocktail comes by way of The Republic of Haiti and truly departs from any Zombie cocktail that I have come across.  Rather than a rum based cocktail, he begins with 3 ounces of Cognac.  The drink also includes 1 1/2 cups of enriched coconut milk, 1/2 oz of Maraschino, 2 dashes of Angostura and served over finely cracked ice.  This sounds interesting, but to date, I have not made this particular version.

I have settled on Dr. Cocktail's version in his Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails.  He goes on to tell a story about a barbecue manual written and signed by Don himself.  "I originated and have served this 'thing' since 1934...anyone that says otherwise is a liar!!- signed 'DON'."  That being said, the Zombie mentioned in Charles Baker's book predates this by five years...just sayin...  following is Dr. Cocktail's recipe...

1 tsp brown sugar
1 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
1 oz Gold Puerto Rican Rum
1 oz 151 proof Demerara Rum
1 oz White Puerto Rican Rum
1 oz Unsweetened Pineapple Juice
1 oz Fresh Lime Juice
1 oz Passion Fruit Syrup
1 dash of Angostura Bitters

I needed several of these to get over the last episode of the Walking Dead!  Damn You!