THE Zombie Cocktail (Ingredients & Tips!)

You need ten zombie cocktail ingredients to make this drink, but it’s worth it! This fun rum cocktail is tropical, fruity… and strong.

Here’s a rum cocktail that’s totally over the top…but worth it if you’re an adventurous house bartender. meet him Zombie cocktail! This drink packs a powerful punch, with four types of rum, three fruit juices and two fruit syrups. It’s totally unnecessary… but it’s more fun again! Although it has a 1970s vibe, this cocktail actually dates back to the 1930s and was one of the first of its kind. Here’s what you need to know about the special ingredients and how to prepare this special mixed drink!

The history of the zombie cocktail… it’s older than you think!

Zombie cocktail is a mixed drink made from different types of rum, fruit juices and syrups. With the tiki rum drink’s tropical vibe, you might think it was a drink from the 1960s or 1970s. But it was invented by a Donn Beach in 1934 at his Hollywood restaurant called Don the Beachcomber.

The story goes that Donn invented the drink for a client who was hungover to skip a business meeting. The customer later complained that the drink was so strong it turned him into a “zombie.” The concept is reminiscent of the Corpse Reviver, a drink so powerful it would raise someone from the dead…but the opposite!

Zombie cocktail ingredients

The zombie cocktail recipe has been kept secret over the years. Many restaurants and bars tried to copy it, and it became popular in tiki restaurants. (Since tiki culture is based on appropriation, we won’t extol the virtues of this phenomenon!) The zombie has become such a standard that it’s now on the International Bartender Association’s official IBA cocktail list! This means that there is an “official” definition.

However, the original recipe contains very unique ingredients that are very difficult to find: Pernod, Falernum, and Donn’s Mix (grapefruit and cinnamon syrup). Because of this, and because bartenders make a zombie in very different ways, we give the drink our own twist by using common substitutes. The zombie cocktail ingredient list is one of the longest of any popular cocktail. You will need:

• white rum
• spice rum
• Dark rum
• 151 rums (Optional)
• Fresh Lime Juice
• Fresh Lemon Juice
• pineapple juice
• passion fruit syrup
• orange bitters
• grenadine

Let’s talk about some of the ingredients, shall we?

Four Rums make the drink!

It’s the only rum cocktail we’ve made that calls for four types of rum! Most rum drinks use white rum, aged rum (aka golden rum), or dark rum. But the Zombie calls for two other flavors: Spiced Rum and Rum 151, with the former being optional. Here’s a little more about these rums:

• Spice Rum: Spiced rum is usually aged around the same time as dark rum, and spices like cloves and cinnamon have been added. We used the Capitan Morgan brand for this drink.
• 151 rum (optional): Rum 151 is a rum with a high alcohol content. It’s 151 proof of a whopping 75% ABV, rather than 40% ABV like most rums. Bacardi 151 was a popular version of this rum but was discontinued in 2006. We used Cruzan 151, although Gosling’s Black Seal Dark 151 Rum is also a good choice. Because Rum 151 contains so much alcohol, some people light up this drink! We tried but couldn’t get a good flame. Experiment at your own risk.

Unlike white, aged, and dark rum, there aren’t many other cocktails that use spiced rum and 151. This is definitely a special buy for the zombie cocktail!

Another special ingredient: passion fruit syrup!

Zombie cocktail fruit juices are easy to find: buy a lime, a lemon, and a glass of pineapple juice. But when it comes to syrups, things get interesting! Zombie’s most unique non-alcoholic ingredient is passion fruit syrup. Here’s what you need to know about this special ingredient:

• passion fruit syrup is a syrup made from passion fruit pulp and sugar. It’s an explosion of tropical, spicy and fruity flavors.
• What can I substitute for passion fruit syrup? Passion fruit has such a unique flavor that there really is no substitute! If you want to make a zombie cocktail, you have to do it right! Passion fruit is necessary for this characteristic taste.
• Where can you buy passion fruit syrup? We bought this Monin passion fruit syrup online. You can also check your local liquor store.
• What other cocktails use passion fruit syrup? The most famous is the Hurricane, a popular New Orleans cocktail.

Grenadine complements the drink

After all, you need grenadine to make a zombie cocktail! Fortunately, this ingredient is much more common. In our opinion, this can also be left out without destroying the character of the drink. But

• grenadine is a sweet, tangy syrup used in bright red cocktails. It is made from pomegranate juice.
• Where can you find grenadine? It’s easy to find in liquor stores, but it often contains many artificial flavors and colors. These days, you can look for all-natural grenadine or make it at home.
• What other cocktails have grenadine? It’s best known in grenadine cocktails like Shirley Temple, Tequila Sunrise, and Singapore Sling.

How to make a zombie cocktail

Wow, that was a lot of ingredients! Once you put everything together, everything is fine. It just takes a little time to dose the 10 ingredients. Shake them, then let the grenadine and rum float. Here’s what to do:

• Shake in a cocktail shaker. Put all the ingredients except for the Rum 151 and the grenadine in a shaker, add ice cubes and the shaker. (Don’t have one? Use a mason jar!) Strain into a glass.
• Add grenadine and rum 151. Pour the grenadine into the drink and it will settle to the bottom. Pour the Rum 151 over the drink and it settles in a single layer. Because Rum 151 has such
• Pour into a glass and decorate. Strain the drink into a lowball glass. The traditional garnish consists of fresh mint and a lime wedge. Many Mai Tai drinks also have pineapple and cocktail cherries on the side, so we’ve added that here too: just for fun!

When to Serve a Zombie

The zombie cocktail is a festive and fun drink, perfect for parties or impressing guests! It’s great like:

• summer drink
• signature drink
• Aperitif at aperitif time
• party drink
• Happy hour drink
• Drink at dinner