A tart, rum-forward tiki cooler laced with absinthe: the herbal anise threads through bright lime and a ribbon of grenadine that blushes the glass a soft pink. Shaken and poured over crushed ice with a splash of soda, it drinks tall, cold and lightly fizzy — the Zombie pared back to one light rum, lime and a whisper of anise.
Garnish: Lime Wheel
Shaken · Pilsner · Crushed
add
Combine the white rum, lime juice, lemon juice, grenadine, and absinthe in a shaker with ice.
shake
Shake briskly until well chilled, about 10-15 seconds.
strain
Pour unstrained, or strain over fresh crushed ice in a pilsner or tiki glass.
top
Top with about 1 oz soda water, adding more crushed ice to fill if needed.
garnish
Garnish with a lime wheel.
The name honours Dr. Bernard Funk, a German doctor who attended Robert Louis Stevenson on Samoa and devised a medicinal tonic of absinthe, citrus, grenadine and soda. Jeff Berry's research in Beachbum Berry Remixed goes further, presenting the doctor as a bartender himself and listing the drink under his name. Its later life as a tiki cocktail is credited variously to Don the Beachcomber — one account sets it at his Palm Springs restaurant in the early 1950s — and to Trader Vic, each of whom reworked the tonic for his own bar. That Samoan pedigree gives it real island roots, unlike the many tiki drinks dreamed up in California.