King of the Zombies

Last weekend, I had a drink called an Electric Long Island. The bartender had suggested it as a drink he makes well, and it was indeed very delicious and inebriating. He had described it as "a Long Island Ice Tea with Bols instead of Coke." Unlike the Blue Hurricane , it had just the right amount of Bols. It was a very well balanced drink that delivered quite a punch, but his description hadn't sat quite right with me. "A Long Island Ice Tea with Bols instead of Coke." He seemed like a fairly knowledgeable bartender, and I didn't want to be a dick, so I bit my tongue. But what I wanted to do was launch into a lecture about a seldom mentioned classification of drink that everyone's had but no one knows the name of. I wanted to correct him and say "Oh, you mean a Zombie with Bols?"

The Zombie. One of the most appropriate names for a drink I know of, since it does quite handily suppress your higher brain functions; leading to flat-footed shuffling, unintelligible groaning, and often a bit of drooling. The best way to tell you what a Zombie is, is to say that a Long Island Ice Tea is a Zombie with Coke. Get it now? Or do you not know how to make a Long Island? Lots of folks don't, and often I've gotten strange looks from people when I make one for them. I often get "Oh, you don't put ice tea in it?" or "Ew... why do you put Coke in it?" (The answers to those, respectively, are "No, you don't" and "Yes, otherwise it wouldn't look like ice tea.") So let's start there.

Long Island Ice Tea
1/2 oz vodka
1/2 oz gin
1/2 oz triple sec
1/2 oz light or gold rum
1/2 oz tequila
2 oz sour mix
Shake, pour over ice, top with Coca Cola, then stir.

That, in spite of what anyone else may tell you, is how you make a Long Island Ice Tea. I often skew the ingredients a bit, putting less gin and tequila in it, and more vodka and rum; but that is non-standard.

Now, if you take away the Coke you have the base for a Zombie. It's kind of just mixing all your booze together with some sours over ice. It's a fantastic base for making other drinks; all you have to do is mix in whatever liqueur you have on hand, possibly some Sprite to make it fizzy, and you've got a great cocktail!

Gila Monster

1/2 oz Vodka
1/2 oz Gin
1/2 oz Rum
2 oz Sweet and Sour Mix
Splash of Orange Juice (optional, I feel)
Splash of Triple Sec or Cointreau
Shake, pour over ice.
1/2 oz Melon Liqueur
Stir, serve.

Midori works well, but DeKyuper gives you a great, glowing, neon green color. Sweet, pretty, and balls-out strong. A really fun drink.




Greatful Dead
1/2 oz Tequila
1/2 oz vodka
1/2 oz Light Rum
1/2 oz Gin
1/2 oz Chambord raspberry liqueur
Shake, pour over ice, top off with Sprite.

Good one for someone who says they're not big on the flavor of alcohol. The Chambord is a bit burny and covers up the liquor very well.




Electric Long Island
1/2 oz vodka
1/2 oz gin
1/2 oz white (or light) rum
1/2 oz tequila
1/2 oz Bols
Shake, pour over ice. Top off with Sprite.
Garnish with 1 lemon wedge (or give it a squirt of lemon juice)

This was quite yummy, and I highly recommend giving one a try. Sweet, but not too sweet. Citrusy and and blue. Who doesn't like blue stuff?



Acapulco Zombie
1.5 oz Vodka
1.5 oz Tequila
1.5 oz Rum
Orange juice
Shake, pour over ice (into a large glass)
1 dash White Creme de Menthe
Splash of grapefruit juice
Stir, enjoy.

This is a bad night in a glass. Three shots of liquor, then mint and two kinds of citrus for flavoring. Just take a moment to really think about how that will taste... in both directions.

But don't stop there! There's no need to stick to those recipes, this is a very forgiving base to start with. Stick some strawberry liqueur in it and call it Pink Underwear, or some cherry liqueur and call it a Transfusion. Let your creativity run wild! Just remember, depending on how you're mixing them, you might be serving everyone triples. Might be a good way to end up with carpet dyed various colors.

So next time you're having a party... one of those kind of parties... bust out some Zombie drinks! They're colorful, everyone likes the taste, and they'll get you completely demolished in a hurry. What's not to like about that?