Zombie Cocktail Recipe
Three rums, two juices, absinthe and spice over crushed ice — the most fortified drink on the tiki menu, and traditionally rationed to two.
- Category: Contemporary Classics
- Glass: Hurricane glass
- ABV: 22%
- Difficulty: Hard
- Prep time: ~6 min
Ingredients
- White rum45 ml (1.5 oz)
- Dark rum45 ml (1.5 oz)
- Overproof rum30 ml (1 oz)
- Fresh lime juice20 ml (0.7 oz)
- Pineapple juice20 ml (0.7 oz)
- Grenadine10 ml (0.3 oz)
- Angostura bitters2 dash
- Absinthe1 dash
How to Make It
- Add all ingredients to a shaker with crushed ice.
- Shake briefly — just enough to combine and chill.
- Pour unstrained into a hurricane glass and top with more crushed ice.
- Garnish with mint and a cherry.
Garnish
Mint sprig and a cherry
What it tastes like
Fruit notes come forward, there is pineapple and passion fruit in it, it hits hard and it is layered, giving you something different each sip.
The technique
Shaking. Anything with juice, syrup, egg white or cream gets shaken: the shaker chills the drink and adds roughly 20% water, and that water is what takes the edge off. Twelve to fifteen seconds, until the tin frosts over. Under-shaking leaves the drink harsh because it never got enough dilution.
Glass and ice
The curved, tall hurricane glass. Tiki and tropical drinks often run past 200 ml, and this is the shape that holds that volume along with the ice.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- White rum
- The Cuban style is light and dry, the Puerto Rican a little rounder. It is the base of the mojito and the daiquiri; swap in gold rum and the drink turns sweeter.
- Dark rum
- Barrel-aged dark rum, with molasses, vanilla and treacle in it. Swap in white rum and the drink loses its body, so reach for gold rum instead.
- Overproof rum
- Rum at 57.5% or above, navy strength. Standard rum will not hold the same power at the same volume, so cut the water rather than raise the measure. It also catches fire, which is only relevant if the recipe asks for it.
- Fresh lime juice
- Freshly squeezed lime. Bottled lime tastes cooked and flat; one lime gives about 30 ml. If you have none, half lemon and half grapefruit juice comes closest.
- Pineapple juice
- Pineapple juice. It foams on its own when shaken — that creamy head on a tiki drink comes from the pineapple, not from egg white.
- Grenadine
- Pomegranate syrup. Most supermarket bottles are dyed corn syrup with no pomegranate in them; reducing pomegranate juice with an equal weight of sugar takes ten minutes and changes the drink completely.
- Angostura bitters
- The salt of the cocktail world. Measured in dashes, not millilitres: a few of them cut the sweetness and add spice. One bottle lasts years.
- Absinthe
- The anise spirit, 55-70% alcohol. In cocktails it is used as a rinse rather than a measure: most recipes have you coat the glass and pour the rest away, leaving only the aroma.
The Story
Don the Beachcomber's, Hollywood, 1934. He guarded the recipe so closely that his bartenders worked from numbered, unlabelled bottles.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Zombie mixed?
- It is shaken and served in a hurricane glass.
- How strong is a Zombie?
- Roughly 22% ABV as served — in fortified-wine territory — plan it as a single drink.
- Can a Zombie be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a Zombie hard to make?
- Hard. Either something has to be prepared in advance or a step needs timing; halving the measures on the first attempt is sensible.
759 recipes in your pocket
Cocktails and mocktails from 55 countries — ingredients, steps and the story behind each drink. Works offline too.
Similar recipes
Collections
Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.