Cocktail recipe
Zombie
A layered, high-proof rum classic with grapefruit bite, cinnamon warmth and a trace of anise.
Ingredients
- 45 ml (1½ oz) dark rum
- 45 ml (1½ oz) gold rum
- 30 ml (1 oz) overproof Demerara rum (about 151 proof)
- 22.5 ml (¾ oz) fresh lime juice
- 15 ml (½ oz) white grapefruit juice
- 15 ml (½ oz) cinnamon syrup (1:1)
- 15 ml (½ oz) falernum
- 5 ml (1 tsp) grenadine
- 1 dash aromatic bitters
- 3 drops absinthe
- 180 g (about 1½ cups) crushed ice
- Garnish: 1 fresh mint sprig
Preparation
Add the rums, lime juice, falernum, Donn’s Mix, grenadine, bitters and Pernod to a blender. Add 170 g cracked ice and pulse-blend for a few seconds. Pour into a tall tumbler and garnish with mint leaves.
Glassware
Tall Zombie / Collins glass
History
Donn Beach developed the Zombie at Don the Beachcomber in Hollywood in 1934, amid the rise of American tiki. His coded house mixers protected the formula, encouraging decades of imitations and altered versions. Cocktail historian Jeff 'Beachbum' Berry reconstructed an early recipe after receiving bartender Dick Santiago's 1930s notebook in 2005. The famous hung-over-customer naming story and a two-drink limit are enduring lore rather than fully documented contemporary facts. Donn Beach also changed the formula over time.
Mixology View
Our house build is a 1934-inspired reconstruction, not a claim to reproduce every secret mixer exactly. Three distinctive rums, spice and grapefruit give the drink architecture; indiscriminate fruit juice does not. This is a particularly strong drink—one serving is plenty.