Have to chime in here . A truly good Zombie is a famously finicky thing to get right. More of a Trader Vic man myself but I started favoring various equal parts recipes of the Zombie the last time I made one. Since it may be of interest to some I’m posting the two I made last. Beginners often favor the 1934 and 1950 versions but the two below are better imo:
—Zombie (my spec)—
1.5 lime
1.5 lemon
1.5 pineapple juice
1.5 passion fruit syrup
1.5 sugar syrup
1.5 Aged Jamaican pot still rum (eg S&C/HD OP/Appleton 12)
1.5 Aged Spanish rum (eg Ron del barrilito 3 star)
1.5 Lemon Hart 151
1.5 Don’s mix (1 white grapefruit juice+0.5 cinnamon syrup)
1.5 Zombie mix
(For speed reasons I always just did 0.5 each of velvet falernum, orange curacao, arak (better than Pernod), grenadine and then just poured 1.5 of this blend)
Shake vigorously and pour directly with open gate towards the end into zombie, collins, or old-fashioned glass.
—Zombie 1964—
(The “Tiki Apogee” version made by Don the Beachcomber for the Aku Aku restaurant of the Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas)
2.25 Lime juice
2.25 Grapefruit juice
2.25 Cinnamon syrup
2.25 Dark Jamaican rum
2.25 Gold Puerto Rican rum
2.25 Lemon Hart 151
0.25 Zombie mix
Zombie mix composition
*** 0.625 ml Velvet falernum
*** 0.625 ml Arak (better than Pernod)
*** 0.625 ml Orange Curaçao
*** 0.625 ml Grenadine
1 dash Angostura bitters
12 cl crushed ice
Blend or run in drink mixer at high speed for no more than 5 seconds. Pour directly to tall glass and top with ice. Garnish with mint sprig.
I prefer these two because the Zombie is a drink that is very easy to imbalance due to the sheer amount of things going on. In my experience using more streamlined equal parts recipes typically gives you some much needed flexibility to work with different types of bottles without the recipe becoming too volatile and intolerant to change.
Try ‘em if you have the chance!