Name: Zombie
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 30 ml Light gold rum 1-3yo; 20 ml OP high ester aged pot still rum; 15 ml Aged Jamaican rum; 15 ml Falernum liqueur; 30 ml Pineapple juice; 20 ml Lime juice; 10 ml Pink grapefruit juice; 5 ml Grenadine syrup; 2.5 ml Cinnamon syrup; 2.5 ml Passion fruit syrup; 4 dash Absinthe; 1 dash Aromatic bitters; 3 drop Saline solution 4:1; 1&frasl;4 barspoon Xanthan gum (E415); 7.5 ml Aged Jamaican rum

Zombie
Jump to

Glass:

Serve in a Zombie or Collins glass

Ingredients:
1 fl oz	Light gold rum (1-3 year old molasses column)
²⁄₃ fl oz	Overproof aged pot still rum (high-ester 4-6 years old)
¹⁄₂ fl oz	Jamaican-style aged blended rum with funk
¹⁄₂ fl oz	Difford's Falernum liqueur
1 fl oz	Pineapple juice
²⁄₃ fl oz	Lime juice (freshly squeezed)
¹⁄₃ fl oz	Pink grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed)
¹⁄₆ fl oz	Monin Grenadine Syrup
¹⁄₁₂ fl oz	Monin Cinnamon Syrup
¹⁄₁₂ fl oz	Monin Passion Fruit Syrup
4 dash	La Fée Parisienne absinthe
1 dash	Angostura Aromatic Bitters
3 drop	Saline solution (20g sea salt to 80g water) or merest pinch of s optional
¹⁄₄ barspoon	Xanthan gum (E415) optional
¹⁄₄ fl oz	Jamaican-style aged blended rum with funk

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Prepare:

Select and pre-chill a ZOMBIE OR COLLINS GLASS.
Prepare garnish of mint sprigs.

How to make:

DRY BLEND (without ice) first 13 ingredients on a slow setting and then gradually add Xanthan while continuing to blend.
Add 7oz scoop of crushed ice and BLEND some more.
POUR into chilled glass.
Crown by adding more crushed ice and FLOAT Jamaican rum over ice crown.

Garnish:

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.

Arriving at a definitive Zombie is not straightforward due to Ernest Raymond Beaumont-Gantt (AKA Don The Beachcomber), the originator of this heavily rum-laced fruit punch, changing his recipe over two decades.

Interpretation of his Original 1930s recipe:

BLEND all ingredients with crushed ice and pour into a chilled Collins glass.
- 45ml (1½oz) Aged blended Jamaican rum
- 45ml (1½oz) Gold Puerto Rican-style light rum
- 30ml (1oz) 151-proof Demerara rum
- 22.5ml (¾ml) Lime juice (freshly squeezed)
- 15ml (½oz) Falernum liqueur
- 10ml (⅓oz) Grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed)
- 5ml (spoon) Cinnamon syrup
- 5ml (spoon) Grenadine syrup
- 1 dash Angostura bitters
- 3 dash Absinthe

Over the years, he introduced ingredients such as passion fruit syrup, pineapple juice, maraschino liqueur and brown sugar syrup. And according to Tiki historian Jeff "Beachbum" Berry, the mixing method also changed from blended to shaken.

Interpretation of his 1950s recipe:

SHAKE first all ingredients with ice and strain into glass filled with crushed ice.
- 30ml (1oz) Light white Puerto Rican-style rum
- 30ml (1oz) Gold Puerto Rican-style light rum
- 30ml (1oz) 151-proof Demerara rum
- 30ml (1oz) Passion fruit syrup
- 30ml (1oz) Pineapple juice
- 30ml (1oz) Lemon juice
- 30ml (1oz) Lime juice
- 5ml (spoon) Brown sugar syrup (2:1)
- 1 dash Angostura bitters

My recipe leans heavily on the original recipe published by Jeff Berry in his excellent book Sippin' Safari, which Jeff sourced from the 1937 notebook of Don Beach's waiter Dick Santiago. However, I've added the pineapple juice, which the Beachcomber introduced in later recipes, and reduced the rum to what are still zombifying proportions.

View readers' comments

History:

Adapted from a recipe created by Don Beach in 1934 at Don the Beachcomber's in Hollywood, USA.

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

Alcohol content:

2.1 standard drinks
20.96% alc./vol. (41.93° proof)
28.9 grams of pure alcohol

More Classic/vintage cocktails
More Frozen (blended) cocktails
More Fruity (e.g. Pornstar Martini) cocktails
More Hall of Fame & must know/try cocktails
More Halloween cocktails
More Tiki/tropical cocktails

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.

Join the discussion

Showing 10 of 14 comments for Zombie.
See discussion in the Forum

Please log in to make a comment

C Ximenes

16th April at 00:27

This isn't close to any of the various spec from the original sources. The rum ratios and styles are off, pink grapefruit wasn't used and the punch version, closest to what is listed here, doesn't have pineapple and has cinnamon syrup. Sippin' Safari has all 3 cannon recipes and the story around them.

Simon Difford

16th April at 11:23

I’m not trying to recreate any of the various original specs that morphed over decades; instead, I’ve created my version, combining elements from each. This is a cocktail I’ve made numerous times at the request of guests at our bar over recent months, but I’ve not experimented with my recipe for some time. Your comment led me to do this and add cinnamon syrup and passion fruit syrup, as well as readdressing the rums and their proportions.

ida lindquist

13th March at 20:06

I like a zombie but this particular recipe is not for me, too sour and not enough sweetness

Caspian Berggren

8th November 2025 at 21:16

I might've used a bit too much absinthe but it was still great. I actually used Cockspur's falernum and it added a very interesting funkiness to it. Overall it's a fun cocktail which can be varied in a million different ways but the basic recipe still works. I'm not going to be making it often but for specific events and stuff I'll definitely be giving it a go.

Johan Ekström

10th June 2025 at 15:38

There is no cinnamon in your recipe

Anders Wang

27th June 2025 at 09:17

Cinnamon is from falernum

Harry

18th December 2024 at 22:53

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

Matthew Mason

29th January 2025 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

忠耀刘

25th November 2025 at 13:59

yes

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?

See discussion in the Forum