Post #720949 by Swanky on Wed, Jun 25, 2014 9:04 AM

On 2014-06-24 15:32, AdOrAdam wrote:
I just reread the last page or so... that went on to a different topic quickly!

To revisit earlier comments, it's widely accepted that Don had many secret spices mixes, Dons Mix being one of them (more info on its discovery & use in the Zombie in Sippin Safari page 115 onwards). It's also evident that Don tinkered with his cocktails because of the variation that have been uncovered (eg the Beachcombers Gold variations through the ages, Beachbum Berry Remixed page 32 onwards).

To re-approach the question 'did Don really create the Zombie?' another way; it is good to put it in context against other drinks.

I think you can see the increasing numbers of ingredients & levels of spice in Dons drinks across the years. They start relatively simple with 1934 Sumatra Kula /1937 Donga Punch / 1941 Navy Grog becoming the more complicated & spicy 1941 Test Pilot /1945 Three Dots / 1950s Colonel Beach's Plantation Punch).

There are other drinks that don't fit the pattern because they are different:

The 1937 Nui Nui & contains spicy ingredients but they are softer & the drink does not contain dark rums to pep up its complexity. The 1940s Rum Barrel contains many ingredients (including dark rums) but the spices are in smaller amounts against quite a lot of fruit juice so it is less 'spicy'. The 1940s 151 Swizzle is certainly strong but contains very little spice beyond Angostura & Pernod, it is more about the LH151.

So judged against the few drinks mentioned above, the cacophony of ingredients in a 1934 Zombie is a little different to most of Dons other earlier cocktails - there are lots of ingredients & it is spice laden! For those reasons, the 1934 Zombie sticks out as an odd ball to me.

Can anyone provide any similarly spice laden cocktails Don made in the early 30s to keep the Zombie company? Is it possible he created just one drink a head of its time complexity & spice wise... then didn't make anymore for 5 years or thereabouts?

Nui Nui is as spicy as the Zombie in terms of "spicy" ingredients included, it just has less rum complexity. Falernum was in other drinks. I don't see anything that really makes the Zombie unique. 151 Swizzle means 151 was around and used. THe spices, complexity, those are in other drinks. You could guess at any drink this way and decide maybe it does not belong.

Zombie calls for a secret ingredient and is there in 1934. The various little black books call for this ingredient but do not contain a recipe for it.