If you’re looking for the perfect (potent) drink to get the party going, our Zombie cocktail recipe is a great place to start. This classic cocktail has a special place in American cocktail history and was first mixed together in 1934 by Donn Beach, owner and creator of the country’s first-ever tiki bar, Don the Beachcomber, in Hollywood. As the tiki bar craze became more popular, so did retro rum-based fruity drinks like the Mai Tais, Rum Runners, and Zombies.
What is a Zombie cocktail?
The original Zombie cocktail recipe contains a staggering amount of ingredients, including Appleton Estate Jamaican Rum, gold rum, 151-proof rum, lime, grapefruit juice, cinnamon syrup, Grenadine, falernum, Pernod, and bitters.
As the Zombie alcoholic drink became more popular across the country, different influences and bars evolved the cocktail into various fruit flavors—from passionfruit to pineapple and even papaya. The one constant that remained part of Zombie cocktail ingredients throughout the years, however, is the addition of rum. This is definitely one of the most famous rum-based summer cocktails out there.
The best Zombie cocktail recipe
This is our take on the best Zombie cocktail, and it’s the perfect tropical cocktail for hot summer days—especially when served with a tiki-themed snacks menu.
While the original recipe calls for 10 different ingredients, we like to keep things simple. Still, we’ll warn you: you and your friends might turn into creatures from The Walking Dead if you have too many of these rum-based fruity cocktails, so take it slowly.
