Post #328210 by telescopes on Sat, Aug 25, 2007 1:05 PM

On 2007-08-25 10:59, TofuJoe wrote:

I love that they emphasize the importance of measuring ingredients (Accuracy means Uniformity!)

That Zombie recipe looks like it might be worth trying.

And I'll definitely be making myself those swizzles.

Looks like I'll be digging around to add this to my cocktail book shelf.

That Zombie recipe is the same recipe I've been carting around with me since the 90's. It's a great zombie and not so different than the one listed in the Grog Log. Berry's given us four recipes for the Zombie, two definitively Beachcomber recipes, one quasi-Beachcomber known as Spievak's Zombie, as well as the anonymous 1934 knock-off. The recipe above fits into the latter category. Because Don refused to share his recipes, the Angostura recipe and its close cousin, the 1934 anonymous Zombie are now the official "Zombie" recipes of note. I've made every type of Zombie recipe under the sun, and while I acknowledge Don's "Zombie" recipes via Berry as being authentic and true, Don's failure to reveal his recipe means the 1934 knock-off is now the authentic Zombie of record for bar keepers everywhere.

It's no different than the debate over the Mail Tai. Let's say Don really did invent a drink called the Mai Tai. Because he failed to reveal the ingredients, the result is that TV's formula is the Mai Tai of record. Don's descendants can't argue that.

TV believed that drink formulas should be published. He wasn't afraid to share and believed the real draw for the drink wasn't the one made at home or by a competitor, but the ambiance one could only get at TV's.

I agree. If you think about it, it's the same arguement the believers in "open code" versus Microsoft are having today. Open code doesn't cause a loss of profits for a company, confusion about it's code does.