Day 25: "Zombie" - The late Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt was the "founding father" of Tiki, though wouldn't you have changed your name to Donn Beach, too? His signature drink was Zombie Punch, which the aforementioned "Beach Bum" Berry claims to have tracked down after years of dedicated drinking and research. The original recipe is complex. The secret "Don's mix" starts with cinnamon-infused simple syrup, which is one of the prettier shades of pink I've seen in the kitchen:
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It's then mixed 1:2 with grapefruit juice to complete the Mix.
Then there's the Falernum. Mercifully, it's not the amphora-aged Roman wine (the 223 A.D. vintage is terrific, by the way), but rather a liqueur of rum, lime, and spices that is also used in the "Corn 'n Oil." Paul Clarke's recipe is on the last page of this PDF, which also contains recipes for other libations that were lost to various extents in the mists of time:
http://www.cocktailchronicles.com/pdf_f ... pirits.pdf The finished Falernum is delicious, a musky herbal concoction despite the ginger and lime zest. I'm a little surprised you don't see it used more often. In any case, here's the ingredients:
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Finally, the rums: dark Jamaican, gold Cruzan and Lemon Hart demerara from Guyana. The last was unknown to me, but it's apparently the linchpin of the drink. It would have to be, at 151 proof! One of my favorite stories of both cocktails and marketing is that Donn Beach famously would sell no more than two to a customer. Now, if you add up all the spirits (including the six drops of Pernod), just one Zombie has 3.3 shots of 80-proof liquor. It's hard to imagine someone wanting more than two. But as David A. Embury's
Mixing Drinks notes, "Everyone except Caspar Milquetoast, of course, comes back for a third just to pit his personal prowess against the allegedly devastating power of the drink." That is some clever reverse psychology there. For the full recipe, some history, and an alternate recipe that doesn't involve as much fuss, see this 2007 article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/28/dining/28tiki.html Without further ado, the ingredients, with the cinnamon syrup on the left and the Falernum on the right:
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After mixing everything together, I had the final cocktail sitting in front of me. I'm happy to say it was very good. As befits such an elephantine drink, I don't think you can taste the whole thing all at once. You see different parts of the elephant with different sips; a hint of anise, the tang of grapefruit, or the warmth of cinnamon. If I had to quibble I'd point out that the three rums, with everything else going on, are hard to pick out. With the Mai Tai I can taste what the rhum agricole brings versus the aged Jamaican, but not here. Still, it's something I'm happy to keep sipping until it's gone.
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For those who have been patient enough to read to the end of this thread, I have a treat for you. Paul Clarke has posted a complete PDF of the article on his blog. Have a look at the gorgeous photographs and detailed recipes, and maybe you, too, will get inspired to make all 25.
http://www.cocktailchronicles.com/pdf_f ... ential.pdfCheers!