Having read “Professor Cocktail’s Zombie Horde” by David J. Montgomery (ISBN:9781-494352806), a book devoted to just Zombie recipes, I noticed that there were really very few Zombie recipes that used other spirits than rum. One that caught my eye though was a single Zombie recipe based on gin. This sounded interesting, so I went about creating a gin-based Zombie, starting from Don the Beachcomber’s original Zombie recipe, replacing the rum with gin and the grenadine with fresh pomegranate juice as described in an earlier post.
I found that the recipe was astoundingly well balanced. The absinthe played well against the juniper coming from the gin. Try it out and see what you think.
| 1 oz | 30 ml | Tanqueray No. Ten Gin, 47.3% ABV |
| 1 oz | 30 ml | Haymans Old Tom Gin, 40% ABV |
| 1 oz | 30 ml | Haymans Royal Dock of Deptford Gin, 57% ABV |
| ½ oz | 15 ml | John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum Liqueur, 11% ABV |
| ¾ oz | 22 ½ ml | Fresh lime juice |
| ¾ oz | 22 ½ ml | Fresh pomegranate juice |
| ½ oz | 15 ml | Simple syrup |
| 6 drops / 1/8 tsp | 0.5 ml | Absinthe Libertine 55, 55% ABV |
| 1 dash | Angostura Bitters | |
| 2 tsp | 10 ml | Fresh grapefruit juice* |
| 1 tsp | 5 ml | Cinnamon syrup* |
| 6 oz / ¾ cup |
180 g | Ice cubes |
Place all ingredients but the overproof gin in a blender, adding the ice last, and blend at medium speed for no more than 5 seconds. Pour into a Tiki mug or, to better experience the beautiful vibrant colour of the cocktail, a tall glass (at least 15 oz/450 ml). Add ice cubes to fill. Layer the overproof gin over the ice at the top of the drink. Garnish with a wedge of fresh pineapple sandwiched between 2 maraschino cherries. Enjoy.
I have called this the Lunipela Zombie; lunipela in Hawaiian means Juniper, referring to the gin and also keeping it in the Tiki mold.
* Don’s Mix.