Zombie cocktail

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Zombie

Type:	Cocktail
Primary alcohol by volume:	Brandy Rum
Served:	"On the rocks"; poured over ice
Standard garnish:	cherry
Standard drinkware:	Zombie glass
Commonly used ingredients:	1 part white rum 1 part golden rum 1 part dark rum 1 part apricot brandy 1 part pineapple juice 1 part papaya juice ½ part 151-proof rum Dash of grenadine or other syrup
Preparation:	Mix ingredients other than the 151 in a shaker with ice. Pour into glass and top with the high-proof rum.
Notes:	Because of the high proof rum, this cocktail could be lit if desired.

The Zombie is an exceptionally strong cocktail made of fruit juices, liqueurs, and various rums, so named for its perceived effects upon the drinker. It first appeared in the late 1930s, invented by Donn Beach (formerly Ernest Raymond Beaumont-Gannt) of Hollywood's Don the Beachcomber restaurant. It was popularized soon afterwards at the 1939 New York World's Fair.

Beach concocted it one afternoon for a friend who had dropped by his restaurant before flying to San Francisco. The friend left after having consumed three of them. He returned several days later to complain that he had been turned into a zombie for his entire trip. Its smooth, fruity taste works to conceal its extremely high alcoholic content. For many years the Don the Beachcomber restaurants limited their customers to two Zombies apiece. According to the original recipe, there are the equivalent of 7.5 ounces (2.2 dl) of alcohol in a single Zombie; this is the same as drinking three and a half cocktails made with a fairly generous 2 ounces (0.6 dl) of alcohol per drink. The restaurant limit of two Zombies, therefore, would be the equivalent of 7 regular cocktails such as a Manhattan or Scotch on the rocks.

Donn Beach was very cautious with the recipes of his original cocktails. His instructions for his bartenders contained coded references to ingredients such as "Donn's Mix", the contents of which were only known to him. As a result of Beach's secrecy and the enormous popularity of these drinks during the Tiki craze, countless variations on the Zombie emerged. Other bars, chain restaurants and individuals created their own version of it to satisfy demand, usually with poor results.

Beach's original recipes for the Zombie and other Tiki drink have been recently published in Sippin' Safari by Jeff "Beachbum" Berry. Berry researched the origins of many Tiki cocktails, interviewing bartenders from Don the Beachcomber's and other original Tiki places and digging up other original sources. Mostly notably, Sippin' Safari details Beach's development of the Zombie with three different recipes dating from 1934 to 1956. These rediscovered recipes create truly exceptional cocktails, showing just what all that excitement was about.

Three recipes, including what purports to be the original Don the Beachcomber one, can be found at Wikibooks.

[edit] In popular culture

Comedian Billy Connolly advised his audience during his An Audience With... show to try the Zombie, citing that's "in an extraordinary concept; [the consumer gets] drunk from the bottom-up".