The Pineapple/Guava Zombie

TIKI-TIME!

The single-digit temperatures, snow, ice and freezing rain this time of year, make me long for the islands with their undulating waves, tropical breezes, minimal attire, and, of course, rum. With this in mind, (and because main mixologist Joe is on vacation, AGAIN!) I decided to revamp a favorite number of my own.

Since posting 'MY MAI TAI' last, uh, whenever , I have been doing a lot of experimenting with various rum combinations here at my home bar. After some trials and error, (and a few willing test subjects,) I believe I have finally found the Zombie recipe I have been searching for.

The Recipe:

Into a cocktail shaker full of ice add:

- a 1 count of 151 Rum,

- a 1 count of Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum,

- a 2 count of apricot brandy,

- a 1 count of Parrot Bay Pineapple Rum,

- a 4 count of guava/pineapple juice

Shake "monstrously,"

- float Kraken Black Rum on top,

- garnish with a chunk of pineapple and a little paper umbrella, (mandatory!)

Chris's Notes: I mentioned above about "willing test subjects," allow me to elaborate on that particular evening!

Recently, (deep into my recipe experimentation,) the missus and I had some old friends over. We had pizza and shot the sh... uh, breeze about old times and whatnot.

Then, I tossed out, "Who wants to try my new Guava/Pineapple Zombie?"

Two of our guests, Ron and Joyce, claimed to be leery of hard liquor and would only try a small glass. One guest, Kenny, said how he LOVES Zombies and would definitely try one or two, and the other, Terry, couldn't as she was the designated driver.

I got to mixing. I made Ron and Joyce each a 10-ounce cocktail, each a scaled-down version of the original, with paper umbrella and all. (The paper umbrella IS mandatory, after all.)

Kenny and I both enjoyed our Zombies in their full-size, big-boy serving, pint glasses.

A unanimous cheer from all tasters. Ron and Joyce enjoyed the drink enough to get another two each. The loved how the guava/pineapple concealed much of the 151's power, but you could still taste the flavor.

Kenny? Kenny absolutely dug it! He downed his and asked for another! A self-proclaimed Zombie connoisseur, he found this particular balance of flavors, juices and spirits to scratch him right where he itched!

Well, as our reminiscing drew to a close, and all of the Zombies were metered out, we said our "good evenings," and let the night end.

Ron and Joyce, who were our overnight guests, slept like the very dead, and then deep into the following morn. Terry called that following morning and confided that she needed to make a few unscheduled stops along the way home for Kenny to, uh, toss out some of last night's pizza.

The moral of this week's story: Beware the subtle power of the Zombie!

The Guava/Pineapple and the 151 are both intensely powerful and work very nicely together. But know your limits with this drink, kids.

Or the Zombie will bite you.

Chris

P.S. If Ron, Joyce, Terry, or Kenny read this: That was a great night, let's do it again soon!

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The token video this week is, appropriately enough, The Brains with 'More Brains!'

A little horror-themed Psychobilly to accompany your mixing!

BRAINS!!!

The Salem Sidecar

Another classic cocktail, re-envisioned and reinvented by Joe for this very blog!

The Recipe:

- Muddle ½ of a fresh lime into a 'Sploosh" of falernum,

- Add a 2 count of Cognac

- Add a 1½ count of Cointreau Noir

- Add ice

- Stir

- Add more ice

- Garnish with and orange slice and a strawberry, (in season)

Original recipe by Joe the Bartender, Passage to India restaurant, Salem, MA.

Joe's Notes: The Sidecar is another classic cocktail that we here at TGDITWTW had been considering re-doing. And by "considering," I mean that Chris has been pestering me about making a better one for a few weeks, now.

The original Sidecar Cocktail was first put together during World War 1, most commonly attributed to a London Bartender who assembled it first for a young American Army Captain, and named it after the little motorcycle sidecar that carried the captain to and from his club.

The ingredients to the standard Sidecar are Cognac, Cointreau and lemon juice. Of course, many variations of this recipe ensued, from the gin-based Chelsea Sidecar to the Slivovitz-based Serbian Sidecar and back to the Boston Sidecar, with both rum and brandy. Our Salem Sidecar benefits from substitution of the higher-end, cognac-infused Cointreau along with falernum and lime for a wider spectrum of taste.

Plus, it gets Chris off my back.

Chris's notes: The Sidecar was a cocktail that Joe and I tossed back and forth a few times. At first, we tried the Boston Sidecar, which included rum as well as brandy, and the final outcome was good, but not great. And certainly not 'The Greatest Drink in the World... This Week' great.

I am reminded of my childhood, (Oh look, Joe, someone else can reminisce of days gone by, too!) I grew up in a very television-oriented environment. For my first seven or eight years, I thought the T.V. set was some sort of older brother. (I was actually jealous of it's antenna at one point! Mine couldn't do that!)

But Saturday mornings, (and I am not alone in this,) meant Scooby Doo . And for some reason, it was Scooby, Shaggy, and Mystery, Inc. that was on my mind as I sipped this cocktail. You see, that Boston Sidecar that was originally mixed up, well, it had appeal. Interesting, different, just not as good, kind of like the way Goober and the Ghost Chasers was to Scooby Doo.

I also did some experimenting at home. Sadly, my amateurish attempts ended up tasting more like Jabberjaw, Clue Club, Captain Caveman, and the Funky Phantom, respectively!

Those were dark, dark days indeed.

I was flummoxed. But through some stroke of alchemical genius, (and leaving the actual mixing portion to the mixologist,) the formula presented itself to us, (by "us" I mean Joe.) With the addition of the falernum and the "special" Cointreau Noir, Joe brought the Salem Sidecar right into the Scooby zone, to make it this weeks greatest drink in the world

Zoinks!

And, of course, the completely unrelated, Greatest Video in the World... This Week, here: Hooked on A Feeling

The Zombie

On The Greatest Drink in the World... This Week's facebook page, there is a section for readers to request a specific drink. So far, only two drinks have been requested; a Bloody Mary, (see the "Bloody Molly,") and The Zombie.

This week we are pleased as Planter's Punch to be honoring that request.

The Recipe:

- a 2 count Bacardi White Rum

- a 2 count Mount Gay Rum "Eclipse"

- 1/2 of a lime freshly "squozen"

- a 1 count of Apricot Brandy

- a "sploosh" of of Pineapple juice

- a shot of falernum

- Shake 'monstrously'

- Strain over fresh ice

-Top with Kraken Black Spiced Rum

- Garnish with a marischino cherry and a wedge of lime

- Little paper umbrella optional, (but HIGHLY recommended!)

Joe's Notes: The Zombie is one of those cocktails that has a number of variations as to its ingredients. This is partly due to the secrecy of the inventor of the Zombie, Donn Beach. (There is even some discrepancy on whether he did, in fact, invent this drink.) He refers to one of the ingredients as "Donn's Mix" and never divulges what that mix actually is. Many bartenders will wave their cocktail shakers and bar spoons about fervently laying claim to the best zombie, and at the same time dismiss others Zombies as "inferior concoctions"

Our Zombie, that we are entering into the GDITWTW library has, as always, both quality, and fresh ingredients. The use of Falernum is one of Donn Beach's original ingredients that I believe is an essential part of the drink.

A word on Zombies and other monsters...

During a debate at the House of Lords in London on the existence of monsters and where they could have possibly come from. (Yes, this really did take place!) The Earl of Halsbury said this, "I have always thought that just as a mother, when baking bread, leaves a little of the dough over in order that the children can make funny little men with raisins for tummy buttons and put them in the ovens and bake them alongside the cake or bread for the day. So possibly on the day of creation, a little of the divine power was left in reserve for the lesser cherubim and seraphim to use and they were allowed to make funny little objects."

Chris's Notes: Thank you, Joe. I now fear British politics more than I do the undead.

But, as far as this week's drink, The Zombie, is concerned, I am very excited. I have mentioned in previous posts my love of Rum and Juice combinations, (HECK! Toss in Nachos and Peanut M&Ms and you'd have my 'Four Basic Food Groups!') and The Zombie is no exception.

Now, there are a number of people throughout history whom I hold in high regard for their contributions to society; The Earl of Sandwich, The creator of the first bikini, and, (a personal hero of mine,) Donn Beach, A.K.A. Don The Beachcomber .

Don the Beachcomber was a rum connoisseur and THE man responsible for the The Vicious Virgin, Three Dots & a Dash, Navy Grog, The Dr. Funk, the Mai Tai, (a personal favorite,) and The Zombie, among many, many others.

According to legend, the drink was created for a friend of the Beachcomber's who was going on a trip by airliner. The friend, in his blissful ignorance, had three of these results-oriented mixes before departing and claimed to "be a zombie for the entire flight!" Hence the name.

The juices apparently hide the amount of alcohol to such an extent that, in an early example of a CMA, restaurants limited Zombies to only two per customer.

Of course, I couldn't let this post go without a couple of Zombie movie clips! Enjoy, (and thank you, cherubim and seraphim for your "funny little objects!")

- Zombie definition from "Ghost Breakers"

- Zombie vs. Shark from "Zombie,"

- The Shaun of the Dead movie trailer,

- "Zombiekill of the week" from 'Zombieland'

And lastly,

- The 'Fido' movie trailer.

And of course, a 'related' (finally!) token music video! (Living Dead Girl by Rob Zombie!)