Post #342814 by telescopes on Thu, Nov 8, 2007 3:54 PM

Dear Bum:

Well my friend, the results are in and I have to admit, I am surprised.

We had our Zombie tasting party this last Monday - 5 judges, all initially sober. The four Zombies were in order of drinking and consuming completely;

The 1934 version of the Anonymous Zombie;

Spievak's Zombie;

Santiago's Zombie;

Men's Caberet Zombie;

The ingredients used were as exactly as prescribed except for the first zombie and there we substituted Apricot Brandy for Apple Jack and we rounded off the ingredients to the nearest ounce.

Our conclusion in terms of taste and satisfaction - It was a tie between the first two Zombies.

And while the alcohol might be suspected in explaining why the last two zombies failed to take the lead, I though our judges had some outstanding and thoughtful statements as to why this wasn't the case.

To begin with, we took our time - almost 4.5 hours, and we had lots of food. But most importantly, the first zombie was vibrant, balanced, and very much a well-blended and colorful palate of nicely complimentary flavors. We used quality rums and freshly picked and squeezed juices. More to the point, rounding the parts to the nearest ounce and using 0.5 oz of simple syrup instead of sugar always as well as the apricot brandy instead of AppleJack always seems to make a great drink. I have to admit, I forgot to add 1/2 oz of 151 at the end.

Spievak's Zombie provoked lots of oooo's and aaaaah's from the judges. Everyone was taken with the extreme balance of flavors as well as the gift of flavor provided by the lemon juice. Again, quality rums and juices were used. Personally, the judges seemed to me to be unable or unwilling to prefer either of the first two recipes over each other. Both drinks kicked.

Now here's the surprise. Everyone liked and enjoyed Santiago's Zombie. No complaints, just simply no wow's either. I believe complex is the word that comes to mind.

But the Men's Caberet Zombie simply sucked. And the reason for this was the Maraschino Liqueur. I was very careful to make sure the pours were correctly measured, but for the life of me, the Maraschino liqueur simply ruined the drink. I purchased my Maraschino liqueur from Bristol Farms, the LUXARDO brand. No one cared for what it did to the Zombie. We simply all agreed that it ruined it. Just as we were about to drink the Caberet Zombie, my wife showed up and asked for a drink. Now up to this point she had drunk nothing. I watched her as we all drank the Zombie and she really grimaced as she tried to finish it. I'm telling you, that recipe might need to be thought of as not being canon.

I'm going to make the latter recipe again for myself and give it another try, but after sipping some of the Maraschino liqueur by itself, I don't believe much will change. But I have an open mind.

I want to thank you personally for your support in this project as well as recognizing your efforts to bring awareness and appreciation of the zombie to a new generation.

Who knows what our next project will be? Perhaps the Suffering Bastard or even the Mai Tai.

Until then,

Your Zombiefied Doctor