Above: A set of Ceramic Tiki Cocktail glasses, circa 1960, from the collection of the National Museum of American History.
Tiki as a cultural movement is a Hollywood originated motif of exotically decorated bars and restaurants reflecting a fantasy escapist attitude regarding the tropical regions of the South Pacific. Featuring mock tiki carvings and complex, alcoholic drinks with romanticized names. It idealized the appeal of the South Pacific, particularly Hawaii, Polynesia and Oceania. It capitalized on the experiences of those who had visited the region and focused on beautiful scenery, forbidden love and the potential for danger.
In 1933, as Prohibition came to a close, “Don’s Beachcomber,” a Polynesian-themed restaurant and bar opened in Hollywood, California. The proprieter, Donn Beach, (born Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt) touted an adventure filled youth sailing the South Pacific, and Rum-running during Prohibition. His true background isn’t certain, but in a 1987 interview for The Watumull Foundation Oral History Project, he claimed he spent his early school days in Mandeville, Louisiana, as well as Jamaica and Texas.
Above: Don the Beachcomber, Hollywood [cover], California menu collection, courtesy, California Historical Society, CHS2014.1476 [a].jpg.
The Polynesian themes quickly gained popularity, and in 1936 another famous spot, Trader Vic’s, opened in Oakland, California. As American servicemen returned home after the end of World War II, they brought stories and souvenirs from the South Pacific that only reinforced the popularity of the Hollywood myth. By the 1950’s restaurants used the word to describe Polynesian-themed “Tiki Bars” and “Tiki Rooms”.
While the original “Tiki” style went out of popularity, in the early 70’s, “Tiki Culture” experienced a resurgence in the mid 1990’s, with a following to this day. It’s a fun fact that many Tiki drinks were invented by Donn Beach, who is generally credited with establishing almost the entire (mostly rum-based) tiki drink genre. Today I’m showing you the recipe for his legendary Zombie Punch Cocktail. Why is it legendary? It has three types of rum, and legend says it was so potent that Beachcomber “House Rules” limited service to only TWO per customer.
Zombie Punch Cocktail – Image by © Matthias Friedlein (www.augustine-bar.de)
Original Zombie Punch Cocktail
from Don’s Beachcomber Bar and Restaurant
invented in 1934
Ingredients:
3/4 oz. Fresh Lime Juice
1/2 oz. Don’s Mix*
1/2 oz. Falernum
1 1/2 oz. Gold Puerto Rican Rum
1 1/2 oz. Aged Jamaican Rum
1 oz. 151-proof Lemon Hart Demerara Rum
Dash Angostura Bitters
6 drops (1/8 tsp.) Pernod or Herbsaint
1 tsp. Grenadine
6 oz (3/4 cup) Crushed Ice
Directions:
Put everything except the 151-proof rum in a blender. Blend at high speed for no more than 5 seconds. Pour into an ice-filled chimney (Collins) glass. Float the 151-proof rum on top. Garnish with a mint sprig and orange slice.
*Don’s Mix was one of the Beachcomber’s secret ingredients. It’s made by combining 2 parts grapefruit juice with 1 part cinnamon syrup. It is also available for purchase from B.G. Reynolds’ syrups.
Note: There are a number of recipes for a Zombie Punch Cocktail, mainly because the ingredients are not run-of-the-mill. The recipe shown above is the original. A simpler version is the Cooking Channel version below. It doesn’t have quiet the same number of exotic ingredients, but it still has all the rum.
Recipe 2 for the Zombie Punch Cocktail
from the Cooking Channel
Ingredients:
1 oz. apricot brandy
1 oz. light rum
1 oz. dark or Jamaican rum
1 oz. lime juice
2 dashes grenadine
Orange juice
1 oz. Bacardi 151 rum
Directions
Mix light and dark rum and brandy in a cocktail shaker, add lime juice and grenadine. Shake well and strain into a highball glass filled with cracked ice. Fill glass with orange juice but leave enough room to float the 151 on top. Garnish with a cherry or mint sprig and orange slice.