With the subject of our season finale being what it is, how could I use any other drink for this week's post? I hope your liver is prepared, for today we will be making a Zombie! Not just any Zombie, mind you, but Don the Beachcomber's original recipe! While this drink will not raise the dead, too many of them will render you a shambling, incoherent mess!
- 3/4 oz Lime Juice
- 1/2 oz Don’s Mix*
- 1/2 oz Falernum
- 1 1/2oz Jamaican Rum
- 1 1/2 oz Gold Puerto Rican Rum
- 1 oz 151 Demerara Rum
- 1 dash Angostura Bitters
- 1/8th tsp Herbsaint or Pernod
- 1 tsp Grenadine
- 3/4 cup crushed ice
Oh, and you will need a blender as well! Place all of the ingredients into the blender, taking care to save the ice for last. Blend for no more than 5 seconds, at high speed. Pour into a tall or,more properly, a Hurricane glass and garnish it with a sprig of fresh mint.
I realize that Tiki culture is not exactly what one would call steampunk. Besides having produced some memorable beverages, Tiki does share some points of commonality with steampunk:
- A focus on travel to far off exotic locales.
- An association with brass nautical fixtures.
- An aesthetic of worn and weathered materials
- Rum. Lots of rum. (oh, that would be what Tiki has in common with the League of S.T.E.AM.!)
This recipe was actually lost for many years. Bars have been making a fruit focused version of the Zombie for so long that they forgot there was supposed to be a mix of tart and sweet and Rum favors all mixed up together. Thankfully, a fellow named Jeff "Beachbum" Berry spent many years tracking down the original Beachcomber Zombie formula. If you want to read about that search, I highly recommend his book "Sippin' Safari" Additionally, the the rums are so forward in this concoction, that it really matters what you choose to use. Jamaican rum, Puerto Rican Rum, these both have different flavors to them owing to the different means of production, the ingredients and so on. Browse your liquor shelves, and be adventurous in your selection. However for the 151 Demerera Rum, one really has no choice other than Lemon Hart 151.
*Oh, you want to know what Don's mix is? How forgetful of me!
- 2 parts white grapefruit juice
- 1 part cinnamon syrup.