What the heck is Thursday Drink Night?

I love tiki drinks. And the Zombie is about as close as you can get to tiki perfection. So, as one might expect, we decided to improve upon a classic, or better said, create a ton of wacky new spin-offs that break nearly every rule of Zombie creation. During Thursday Drink Night, our enclave of bartenders, mixologists, cocktail freaks, and dabblers did their best to reanimate more than a few potions by mixing a host of rums, juices, and exotic syrups. The photos scattered throughout the wrap-up are some of the zany creations brewed during the evening.

Upcoming TDN: The Rinse

But first, next week’s theme. The Sazerac reigns king in my mind when I think of the cocktail rinse. A teaspoon or so of absinthe twirled around in the glass (preferably airborne) and dumped out into the sink (or your mouth) leaving a delicate sheen of anise delight to aromatize and flavor a healthy dose of rye and Peychaud. But by no means is the rinse limited to the Sazerac. What about a Manhattan with a film of maraschino, or a Mai Tai with a rinse of ginger liqueur? Or maybe a Demerara rum swizzle with a rinse of Fernet and Castries? Ok, now I’m excited. The evening begins at 7pm EST. The prize for the winning cocktail is a bottle of Peruvian bitters.

Join us in the Mixoloseum Chat Room.

The Winner

The poll posted on the Mixoloseum blog went back and forth between this, the Que Hora Es Zombie, and the BOOM Stick – a shot that is surprisingly smooth and making its rounds more than once this past Thursday. Though in the end, Craig’s drink, The Zombie Colonel, prevailed due, perhaps, to its massive quantity of ingredients.

The prize for the best cocktail is a hand-crafted Zombie mug sewn together with the fabric of space and time by Cass McClure (aka Ocea Otica). The mug and ornaments will feature the winner’s name and the winning recipe:

The Zombie Colonel

• 1oz Coruba
• 1oz Lemon Hart 80
• 1oz Cruzan Gold
• 1oz Martinique rum
• 8 drops Herbsaint
• 1 dash Fee’s Whiskey Barrel-aged bitters
• 1T Brown Sugar dissolved in:
• 1oz lemon juice
• 1oz lime juice
• 1oz orange juice
• 1oz grapefruit juice
• 1/2oz cinnamon syrup
• 1/2oz falernum
• 1/4oz vanilla syrup

Shake this witch’s brew with ice from seven different mountain tops (because it needs to be more complicated). Strain through gold-dust coffee filters and 70lbs of sheepskin into a goblet as big as your face. Garnish with 10 poisonous flowers.

Craig from Colonel Tiki’s Drinks and Indigo Firmaments

Featured Zombie Recipes

Que Hora Es Zombie

• 1oz lime juice
• 1oz pineapple juice
• 1oz blood orange juice
• 1oz Zaya (Trinidad)
• 1oz Coruba
• 1oz Lemon Hart 80
• 1/2oz Agavero
• 1/2oz Licor 43
• 1/4oz pimento dram
• 1/2oz orgeat
• 1/2oz passionfruit syrup

Shake with 1000lbs of crushed ice and strain into the most belligerent tiki mug you have. Add crushed ice to fill, and stir with a scimitar.

Marleigh from Sloshed! and Dan

Red-Headed Zombie

• 1oz Matusalem
• 1oz Appleton V/X
• 1oz Mount Gay XO
• 1/2oz Lemon Hart 151
• 1oz grapefruit juice
• 1 1/2oz ginger liqueur
• 1oz orgeat
• 1/2oz cranberry juice
• 1/2oz pineapple juice

Shake while dancing around like a grass-skirted witch doctor and strain into a pith helmet. Add ice to fill. Garnish with a pineapple spear.

Doug from The Pegu Blog

Guyana Zombie

• 2oz demerara rum
• 1oz pineapple juice
• 1oz honey syrup
• 1t coconut cream
• 1/2oz lime juice
• float 151 demerara rum

Shake and serve on crushed ice in the form of Jeff Berry’s head and garnish with demerara sugar.

Tiare from A Mountain of Crushed Ice

BOOM Stick

• 1/2oz Lemon Hart 151
• 1/4oz lime juice
• 1/4oz vanilla syrup
• cinnamon, for garnish

Shake and strain into a shot glass of epic frigidness +5, dust with a fresh grating of ceylon cinnamon, and do other nefarious acts that are likely only mentioned on the Mixoloseum blog.

Chris from An Exercise in Hospitality and Rick from Kaiser Penguin