Zombie from ‘Tiki Drinks’

Yahoo Food

This week we’re taking a break from healthy bites to serve up a summery selection of classic beachcomber libations from Tiki Drinks: Tropical Cocktails for the Modern Bar by Nicole Weston and Robert Sharp (Countryman Press). Try making one at home and let us know what you think!

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Photograph by Nicole Weston and Robert Sharp

Zombie
Makes 1

Don the Beachcomber’s Zombie might just be one of the most famous tiki drinks of all time—and one of the most mysterious. Not only did Don keep the original recipe a secret, but he tinkered with the ingredients over the years so that the drink kept evolving. This recipe sticks closely to the original—or what is said to be the original—with three different types of rum, a blend of citrus and spiced syrups, and a touch of absinthe. We recommend using a full-bodied Jamaican or Trinidadian rum as the aged rum in this cocktail.

1 ounce white rum
1½ ounces aged rum
½ ounce overproof rum
¾ ounce lime juice
½ ounce passion fruit puree
½ ounce Falernum 
¼ ounce Spiced Simple Syrup* 
1 teaspoon grenadine
½ teaspoon absinthe
½ teaspoon Allspice Dram

Combine all the ingredients in a shaker and fill with ice cubes. Shake vigorously for 20 to 30 seconds, until very cold. Strain the contents of the shaker into a highball glass filled with crushed ice and serve.  

Spiced Simple Syrup
Makes about 1 ½ cups

8 ounces sugar
8 ounces water
2 3-inch cinnamon sticks
1 ½ teaspoons whole cloves (about 3 dozen)
½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Bring just to a simmer, stirring until all the sugar is dissolved. Add the cinnamon sticks, cloves, and vanilla bean. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature, allowing the spices to steep in the syrup as it cools, for at least 30 minutes. Remove the spices, transfer the mixture to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

The syrup will keep for 3-4 weeks in the refrigerator.

Shake up your summer with more delicious Tiki Drinks:

Blue Lagoon

Original Mai Tai

Painkiller