How to Make a Flaming Zombie Cocktail | TT - London
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Flaming Zombie

By Adam Hinton

A combination of tropical fruit, tangy lime and sweet grenadine work together to cleverly soften the blow of all that rum and make a cocktail that’s alarmingly easy to drink.

Ingredients

75ml Rum Blend (1:1:1 Dark Rum:Gold Rum:White Rum)

25ml Apricot Brandy

25ml Pineapple Juice

25ml Grapefruit Juice

25ml Lime Juice

12.5ml Grenadine

2-3 Dashes of Angostura Bitters

25ml Overproof Rum (Garnish)

Squeezed Lime-Half for Garnish

Powdered Cinnamon for Garnish

Times:

Prep: 2 Minutes

Make: 30 Seconds

Total: 2 Minutes and 30 Seconds

Calories:

299 calories

Allergens:

Suitable for vegetarians and vegans. No common allergens to be found, although, since every body is different, we advise you check out this recipe's ingredients list just to be sure!

Servings:

Serves 1

Method

Take your Boston glass or small tin and, using your jigger to measure, add the rum blend, apricot brandy, grenadine, pineapple and grapefruit juice to the shaker.

Using your Mexican elbow and you jigger to measure, squeeze 25ml of lime juice and add it to the shaker. Reserve one squeezed lime-half for garnish.

Add 2-3 dashes of Angostura bitters to the shaker.

Fill your shaker with cubed ice and seal with the Boston tin or lid, before shaking vigorously for 10-15 seconds, or until your tin is very cold.

Use your Hawthorne strainer to strain your cocktail into your tiki mug, before filling the mug with cubed ice.

Hollow out your squeezed lime-half to make a bowl and balance it on top of your cocktail.

Fill the lime half with overproof rum, and use a match to light it. Shake some cinnamon over the flame to create sparks.

Blow out the flaming rum, carefully pour it into the drink, and finish off with a bamboo straw.

Serve and enjoy!

Equipment

Shaker
Jigger/Measure
Hawthorne Strainer
Mexican Elbow
Cinnamon Shaker
Matches
Cubed Ice

History

The original Zombie was famously created by Donn Beach for his Donn the Beachcomber chain of restaurants in 1934. Legend has it that Donn created the drink for a man who needed help curing a hangover before a business meeting. The hungover patron allegedly returned to Donn’s bar a few days later, complaining that the drink had turned him into a ‘zombie’ for the entirety of his trip.

Donn the Beachcomber, along with many other bars and restaurants that now serve the drink, limit their customers to two per person, and Donn described the drink as being able to make one “like the walking dead” due to its eye-watering alcohol content.

Whether or not the story of man ordering the drink and subsequently becoming so drunk it turned him into a zombie is true, we aren’t sure. But it’s a story that’s been passed down through generations of bartenders and one that adds even more intrigue and mythology to this already exciting tiki drink.