TDN This thursday was Zombie time! the Zombie is one of my favorite tiki drinks and my favorite Zombie is the Zombie-punch from 1934 (Sippin Safari) But TDN is not about making already known cocktails, its about creating new, and out of every TDN some quality cocktails are made. But also in true TDN fashion some of the recipes are wild, it tends to become more and more imaginative the later it gets..That means all are not true Zombies, more “Zombie-like” maybe…in typical TDN style…
This was the description: Thursday Drink Night Some may praise it as the quintessential tiki drink, others may tout it as a horrific explosion of bad rum and candy-red syrup, but to know the Zombie truly is to have seen paradise. A wild mix of rums complimented by a perfect dose of citrus and more than a handful of complex and absolutely required drips and dashes.
Want to try a Zombie made with a float of gin? How about with a few dashes of creme de violette? Or maybe a few drops of orange flower water? Come up with the best new Zombie recipe and you’ll find yourself in the possession of a custom-designed, Zombie-themed mug forged by Cass McClure (aka Ocea Otica). Not only that, but your name will be emblazoned upon its visage.
A whole array of Zombies were made through the night in true TDN style, but this was the first TDN i was almost falling asleep in front of the computer during the late part of the night well zombied out. It was impossible to make them all but the recipes are on twitter. The winning Zombie voted for among 5 finalists at the Mixoloseum blog was posted today at the Kaiserpenguin and Mixoloseum blogs. Congrats to the winner!
Here are my Zombies for the TDNÂ night:
BLOODY ZOMBIE
1.5 oz white rum
1.5 oz white rhum agricole
Generous float JWray overproof
1 oz passionfruit juice
1 oz pineapple juice
0.5 oz fresh lemon juice
0.5 oz simple syrup
¼ oz vanilla syrup
Dash pimento dram.
A good and healthy float of Jwray overproof rum, and then generously float hibiscus grenadine. Shake and pour into a chimney glass almost filled with crushed ice, throw in a pineapple leaf for garnish.
MEXICAN ZOMBIE
1.5 oz tequila reposado
1 oz absinthe
1 oz pineapple juice
0.5 oz passionfruit liqueur
0.5 oz lime
0.5 oz agave syrup
Float JWray overproof rum.
Shake it all and pour into glass with crushed ice. Garnish with pineapple.
GUYANA ZOMBIE
2 oz demerara rum
1 oz pineapple juice
1 oz honey-mix
1 tsp cream of coconut
0.5 oz fresh lime
A decent float of 151 demerara.
Serve in goblet with crushed ice. Sprinkle demerara sugar on top.
Blend with crushed ice at high speed for5 sek. Pour into goblet with more crushed ice. Garnish with sprinkled demerara sugar, limewedge and brandied cherry.
Cheeeeers!
Suzan, don`t try them all in the same day! 🙂
Thanks Gaby!
Samantha, 151 demerara rum is a high proof (151 proof) demerara rum, the brand is Lemon Hart.
Yes the El D12 is good but in my opinion, the 15 even better! but also very different, it`s much more punchy and strong.
what is 151 demerara? BTW have you guys tried the 12yr it is simply the best! also try the white 3yr old it makes a fab Mojito Cocktail and our vodka makes a nice mango martini! give it a go! enjoy
Dear Mountainofcrushedice, your mexican zombie looks and sounds awesome! Got to try it. “Wild Thing”, you make my heart sing! Loved and saved this drink recipe. I shall revisit you soon. Thank you for sharing.
Cheers, Gaby
You can always visit me at http://ptsaldari.posterous.com.
Fantastic Zombies,i`m gonna try all of them, but maybe not the same day! Great photos! Cheers!
I haven`t yet tried the 3 year old white El Dorado, if its the barrel aged you mean. But there is another rum i would suggest you try if you can find it and that is Elements 8 white or platinum, its really a “smooth” rum, so smooth that its only really suited for very lightly flavored cocktails.It would be totally wasted in a tiki drink for example.
Thanks for the replies. Obviously I’m making myself look a bit stupid saying I don’t like alcohol,
yet here I am trying to mix all these drinks with heavy alcohol. Tiare mentions the whole idea of
drinking is that you like the taste of alcohol, and I agree that should be the main idea, but it’s not always the reason.
Many people drink just to get drunk (especially young people), or to be sociable in certain festive events.
I’ve been a non-drinker for all of my life, basically only taking a shot or two during xmas/new years.
I don’t drink beer or wine, because I don’t like the taste (which incidentally made me dislike the El Dorado 15year
which had heavy notes of wine, sorry Tiare 😛 ), so I’m stuck drinking either ciders, shots or mixed drinks.
When I moved to my own apartment a few years back I started buying some bottles of liqueurs and spirits to have for baking,
which is my big passion, but also to have for entertaining purposes.
I tried mixing a few drinks because I like mixology, and I noticed I enjoyed rum best of the strong spirits in
drinks. This eventually led me to tiki drinks, which is where I am at the moment. I think the main problem I’m having with
most of the drinks is that the mixers are being completely drowned by the rums that you can’t really taste them, which
makes me feel like why bother putting them in in the first place? I also think that the opposite where the mixers drown the rums
is sort of a waste too, but at least I can drink it without problems. As a general rule, if it’s a cocktail, I probably can’t drink it.
This means drinks like Mai Tai, Margarita, Cosmopolitan, Daiquiri and similar are out.
Throughout my trials, I have come to appreciate the “smooth” rums best in the drinks.
Banks XM10, El Dorado 3y white (have you tried this one, Tiare?), Rum Plantation Grande Reserve Barbados, and Appleton V/X are all good for me.
I will continue to try some drinks and eventually I will try making my own, which should be interesting. I love reading this blog and others,
they are very inspiring and fun to read. Have a nice weekend guys.
Sorry, but I’d have to say don’t drink, or switch to vodka and mix it with lots and lots of juice, which isn’t really a cocktail.
Try lots more different liquors- you’ll develop a taste for it.
Well, the whole idea with these drinks is that the taste of the alcohol,in most cases here, rum, shall shine through and that the mixers shall balance and accent the alcohol flavor.If you dont like the taste of alcohol you will surely not like these kind of drinks.The 1934 Zombie punch is in my opinion a fabulous tikidrink. The whole idea of drinking is that you like the taste of alcohol..
As for the Myer´s, its good i think in some tikidrinks.
Any tips for drinks that mask the alcohol? i leave it to the readers if any have one?
What is it that makes these drinks qualify as Zombies? Just really strong in alcohol?
I made a 1934 Zombie Punch last week, and it was one of the worst tasting drinks I’ve ever had.
I can give people an easier recipe for it: just skip all the ingredients except for the rum, lime, bitters and ice.
I can pretty much guarantee you won’t taste the difference. You could also use falernum and skip the lime and bitters.
Hell, you can just about skip everything but the rum and ice. How this drink is so hyped I will never know. I’m so disappointed.
All three of your drinks look much tastier to me just looking over the ingredients. Well, maybe not the
Mexican Zombie. 1oz of absinthe plus overproof float? I’m not even going to try that lol.
Since I’ve never been a much of a drinker, and don’t really like the taste of alcohol,
I’ve sadly come to the conclusion recently that most of the tiki drinks are just too boozy for my tastes.
(No wonder I didn’t like the Zombie, eh?)
I’ve mixed up around 15-20 different ones now and most of them taste pretty much the same to me.
Most of the ones I found enjoyable have been Forbidden Island recipes like the Missionary’s Downfall and
Neptune’s Garden. Ironically I also enjoyed the Spindrift, even though that’s one of the strongest drinks
I’ve made. If anyone can give me some tips on drinks that mask the alcohol well and taste good, please let me know.
On a side note, I wanted to ask about Myer’s Dark. I bought a bottle and it was absolutely disgusting.
It has ruined every drink I’ve yet to try it in, just makes everything taste like tar or something. Does it actually work in some drinks?
Thanks for the kind words Rick 😉 I had some fun with that one, its a baby pineapple cut in quarter. I made a mini dessert with the other 3 quarters for the kids.
Petter, sounds like your saturday will be a nice one. You also reminded me i must get almonds and make new batch of orgeat this weekend.
Interesting and inspiring as always! I have made 3 syrups the last week, a semi-fake grenadine and two orgeat variations, bought rum, bitter, fruit etc. Hopefully Sat will be a mixed experience 😉
T, your photos are so lovely. My favorite garnish is the one adorning the Mexican Zombie. So fun!