Name: Zombie
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 30 ml Aged rum (6-10yr); 25 ml Light gold rum 1-3yo; 20 ml Jamaican OP aged rum; 15 ml Falernum liqueur; 30 ml Pineapple juice; 20 ml Lime juice; 10 ml Pink grapefruit juice; 5 ml Grenadine syrup; 4 dash Absinthe; 3 drop Saline solution 4:1; 1&frasl;4 barspoon Xanthan gum (E415)

Zombie
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Serve in a Zombie or Collins glass

Ingredients:
1 oz	Caribbean blended rum aged 6-10 years
⁵⁄₆ oz	Light gold rum (1-3 year old molasses column)
²⁄₃ oz	Jamaican-style overproof aged pot still rum
¹⁄₂ oz	Difford's Falernum liqueur
1 oz	Pineapple juice
²⁄₃ oz	Lime juice (freshly squeezed)
¹⁄₃ oz	Pink grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed)
¹⁄₆ oz	Monin Grenadine Syrup
4 dash	La Fée Parisienne absinthe
3 drop	Saline solution 4:1 (20g sea salt to 80g water)
¹⁄₄ barspoon	Xanthan gum (E415) optional

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Zombie or Collins glass.
Prepare garnish of mint sprigs bouquet.
DRY BLEND (without ice) first 10 ingredients (all but Xanthan gum) on a slow setting and gradually add Xanthan while continuing to blend.
Add 7oz scoop of crushed ice and BLEND some more.
POUR into chilled glass.
Garnish with mint sprigs bouquet.
Serve with a straw.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Powerful funky rum and delicate cinnamon spice partially tamed by rich fruit and sweetened clove.

View readers' comments

History:

Created by Don Beach in 1934 at Don the Beachcomber's in Hollywood, USA. This recipe is adapted from one published in Jeff Berry's Sippin' Safari, which Jeff sourced from the 1937 notebook of Beachcomber's waiter Dick Santiago.

More cocktails by Don Beach (Ernest Raymond Beaumont-Gantt)

Alcohol content:

2.4 standard drinks
21.84% alc./vol. (21.84° proof)
34.1 grams of pure alcohol

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Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Harry

18th December 2024 at 22:53

High levels of effort, but has a great pay off. Tops.

Matthew Mason

29th January at 09:51

Don't forget than xantham gum

1 reply

Sally Morgan

20th July 2024 at 18:12

Getting a good mix of rums is essential for this but hit the sweet spot and it really sings (as will you - heady stuff!)

Jose Cruz

9th May 2024 at 05:56

I said u wouldn't blend any more drinks but i had to give my first zombie the benefit of the doubt, after-all is Don B and not trader Vic. L.O.L. ... okai jest aside great cocktail that can handle the ice ! cheers ;) ... Stiff drink, used RUMFIRE !

Colin Gerrity

24th June 2022 at 17:28

What's recommended for the "overproof aged rum?"

Simon Difford

25th June 2022 at 16:04

I'm presently using Hampden Estate Overproof Rum. I've added a link above.

双叶郭

23rd June 2022 at 07:55

我也被这杯酒搞糊涂了不同的水果香料加上大量的朗姆混合酒因为成本的问题我总是无法把风味统一到一起我想这应该是一种果味浓郁的料理

Alexander Timofeyev

27th September 2021 at 01:44

I'm confounded by the Zombie - I like tiki drinks, I like boozy drinks, I like all of the ingredients separately, but I really dislike how they come together in this cocktail. I've tried this recipe with pineapple juice, the original with cinnamon syrup, and either way I ended up with possibly the worst cocktail I've ever had. And that's compounded by this cocktail being quite the production to make. I feel like I'm missing something, or maybe the Zombie just doesn't work for my palate.

Simon Difford

31st December 2021 at 08:07

This is my interpretation of the Codex recipe: 37.5ml Appleton Signature Blend, 37.5ml Ron del Barrilito 3-star rum, 22.5ml Hamilton Demerara 151 Overproof rum, 10ml Grapefruit juice, 5ml Cinnamon syrup, 22.5ml Lime juice, 15ml Tailor Velvet Falernum, 2.5ml Grenadine, 2 dash Absinthe, 2 drops Saline solution.

Joshua Black

31st December 2021 at 05:26

Try the specs from Cocktail codex?

John Hinojos

5th September 2021 at 01:27

Made this again and it was great. However, we did use the Difford Smart Jigger for the measurements and it was so easy. I am in the States and paid for the postage to get these, and it was worth every penny. These jiggers are unbelievable.