Professor Cocktail

Excerpt from "Professor Cocktail’s Zombie Horde"

If you're interested in taking a peek at Professor Cocktail’s Zombie Horde: Recipes for the World’s Most Lethal Drink before you buy it, now you can!

I uploaded a PDF excerpt of the book to Goodreads. (Here's the link to my author page.) But you should be able to download the file without even going to the website.

Just click here: Professor Cocktail’s Zombie Horde excerpt.

The preview gives the Table of Contents, so you can see which drinks are included, and also includes the first three entries in the book.

Note that not all of the recipes in the book are as complicated as the Don the Beachcomber original. There are several that you can make without having to hunt for ingredients.

If you enjoy what you see, you know what to do!

How to Read "Professor Cocktail’s Zombie Horde" without a Kindle

Several people have written or commented on Facebook, asking how they can read Professor Cocktail’s Zombie Horde: Recipes for the World’s Most Lethal Drink if they don't have a Kindle. Fortunately, you're still in luck! You can enjoy the Zombified goodness even without an ereader.

If you have a tablet (iPad, Android, Windows) or smartphone (iPhone, Android, iPod Touch, Windows, Blackberry), you can download the Kindle app via the app store and read the book that way. (I don't have a Kindle, so I read ebooks on my iPad. And Zombie Horde looks great on the iPad.)

You can also read Professor Cocktail’s Zombie Horde on your computer using the Kindle app for PC or Mac. (Just click on the appropriate link to go to the page with more info.) If you don't want to install anything on your computer, you can also read the book using the Kindle Cloud Reader. I've tried it out on the PC and this also works very well.

As you can see, there's no reason not to buy the book today! Unless you think it would suck. I guess that's a pretty good reason.

Win a Zombie Prize Pack, Courtesy of B.G. Reynolds' Syrups

If you've already bought your copy of Professor Cocktail’s Zombie Horde: Recipes for the World’s Most Lethal Drink (thank you!), you know that some of the ingredients that go into a classic Zombie are a little obscure.

In addition to the various rums, the recipe for Don the Beachcomber's Zombie Punch calls for Don's Mix, falernum and grenadine. (Okay, grenadine isn't hard to find. But good grenadine can be.)

In order to make your Zombie mixing a little easier, Professor Cocktail has teamed up with B.G. Reynolds to give one lucky winner a set of these three syrups.

I've mentioned B.G. Reynolds' syrups before -- their orgeat was the co-winner of our Orgeat Taste Test -- and they're also recommended in Professor Cocktail’s Zombie Horde. For my money, they're as good as anything you can find on the market. All the syrups are hand-crafted in Portland by bartender Blair Reynolds and his team, and contain real sugar and real ingredients.

Here's how you enter the contest: Buy a copy of Professor Cocktail’s Zombie Horde: Recipes for the World’s Most Lethal Drink from Amazon, then forward a copy of your email receipt to me at davidjmontgomery@yahoo.com.

If you've already bought the book -- thanks again! -- you're set. Just forward me your purchase confirmation and you'll be entered. If you haven't purchased yet, you have until October 28, 2013 to enter.

That's it! One lucky winner will receive a set of three syrups from B.G. Reynolds -- and be quickly on his/her way to mixing Zombies. (Sorry, but U.S. residents only. Rum not included.)

Visit B.G. Reynolds' Bar Store

Rules:

Purchase is required for entry. Winner must reside (or have a shipping address) in the United States. One prize pack will be given away. Contents of prize pack are subject to change without notice. Must be at least 21 years of age to enter. One entry per person. Borrowing the book doesn't count. All decisions are final. Contest organizers aren't responsible for anything. Contest ends at 11:59pm Eastern time on October 28, 2013. Thank you for buying my book. It makes you extra handsome/pretty just for owning it.

Cocktail Recipe: Don the Beachcomber's Zombie Punch (1934)

In my new book, Professor Cocktail’s Zombie Horde: Recipes for the World’s Most Lethal Drink, I make the case for the Zombie being the quintessential Tiki drink -- and one of the most important cocktail creations of the 20th century.

But you might be wondering: What's in a Zombie, anyway? Good question! Most of us have heard of the drink, but a lot of people have never tried one. And even fewer have had a Zombie made in the classic style.

Here is the recipe for the original Don the Beachcomber Zombie, as printed in Professor Cocktail’s Zombie Horde. (This gives you an idea of what you'll see if you buy it.)

Don the Beachcomber's Zombie Punch (1934)

Source:

Jeff Berry
Beachbum Berry's Sippin' Safari
Club Tiki Press/SLG Publishing, 2007

The original version, the one that started it all, as served at Don the Beachcomber's famed Hollywood restaurant. This was the drink that made Don's reputation and secured his place in cocktail history.

Instructions:

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

Put everything in a blender. Blend at high speed for no more than 5 seconds. Pour into a chimney glass. Add ice cubes to fill. Garnish with a mint sprig.

*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.

Professor's Note:

This recipe, still perhaps the best one in existence, contains several of Don the Beachcomber's signature touches, including the blend of multiple rums, the use of exotic spices, and the one-two punch of Angostura bitters and pastis. It's no wonder this is one of the most imitated drinks in the world.

Obviously Don's original version of the drink contains some obscure ingredients, like Don's Mix, falernum and Lemon Hart Rum. (The book explains what all of those things are, and more.)

But Professor Cocktail’s Zombie Horde also contains a lot of recipes that are easier for the home bartender, including a simplified Zombie recipe that includes only ingredients you can find no matter where you live.

Even if you're not looking to master mixology at home, the book contains plenty of interesting history and fun facts that I think you'll enjoy learning.

The Zombie Is Alive! "Zombie Horde" available now.

One of the world’s most sublime drinking pleasures, the Zombie is the cocktail that launched a thousand Tiki bars. A sweet and sour mélange of citrus, spice, and lots of rum, the Zombie stands as one of the most significant cocktails of the past century. Created by Don the Beachcomber in 1934, the Zombie took the world by storm, and soon became the quintessential Tiki drink. Eventually, it would appear on the menus of thousands of bars and restaurants around the world.

In Zombie Horde, David J. Montgomery (aka Professor Cocktail) leads you on a journey through the history of the Zombie, starting with its humble beginnings in Hollywood, and following it as it evolved and spread over the decades. Zombie Horde includes recipes from notable bartenders like Trader Vic, David Embury, Salvatore Calabrese, and Dale DeGroff, as well as the formulas for the Zombies served at famous Tiki joints like the Tonga Room in San Francisco, Frankie’s Tiki Room in Las Vegas, and the Luau Room in San Diego.

It also includes recent cocktails that were inspired by the Zombie, with offerings from Martin Cate (Smuggler’s Cove), Brian Miller (Death & Company), Allan Katz (Caña Rum Bar), Brian Dressel (Midnight Cowboy), and Audrey Saunders (Pegu Club).

As a special bonus, Zombie Horde showcases seven new drinks -- from Jim Meehan (PDT), Tom Brown (Hogo), Jeff Kinder (Distil), Joseph Swifka (La Descarga), Craig Lane (Bar Agricole), Jack Fetterman (PKNY), and Frank Cisneros (Bourgeois Pig Brooklyn) -- that are appearing in print for the first time. Also making their print debut are the recipes for the Zombies served at Mahiki in London, Otto’s Shrunken Head in New York City, and Founding Farmers in Washington, D.C.

Reviews

“Zombie Horde is a marvelous compendium of fabulous and fascinating recipes. Tiki bars are near and dear to my heart, and I'm grateful for David J. Montgomery's work.”
--Michael Ruhlman, best-selling author of The Soul of a Chef, The French Laundry Cookbook, and Ruhlman’s Twenty

"Good (Tiki) god! I had no idea there are so many new versions of this potion out there -- and most by reputable bartenders. A good thing that someone collected them all, or else there would have to be a mid-21st century Jeff Berry (a "Son of the Beachbum"?) to dig all THOSE up! Zombie Horde will give the drink a whole new level of recognition. The Zombie is ALIVE!"
--Sven Kirsten, author of The Book of Tiki and father of the modern Tiki revival

"The Zombie's family tree is immense, gnarly, and (in parts) wholly fabricated from unnatural elements. Also, it has many dead limbs. Professor Cocktail has done us all a favor by taking on the pruning, grafting, and fertilizing, and by eschewing all topiary embellishment. A great addition to your cocktail library."
--Wayne Curtis, author of And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in 10 Cocktails

“As I’ve said before, Tiki drinks occupy a space somewhere in the Venn diagram of the American psyche where escapism, irony, and kitsch overlap. No Tiki cocktail is more famous -- or infamous -- than the Zombie. It is proof that mixology treads a thin line between insanity and genius. Attempting to chart the history and evolution of the Zombie feels like a new level of madness. But David J. Montgomery has survived to admirably tell the tale in this entertaining, insightful ode to a drink that will knock you on your ass.”
--Jason Wilson, author of Boozehound: On The Trail of the Rare, the Obscure, and the Overrated in Spirits and the wine series Planet of the Grapes

“A thoroughly researched, dare I say exhaustive, compendium of this immortal (pun intended) and classic cocktail. It's a drink like the Zombie that makes it impossible for me to reconcile my vocation (trademark attorney) with my avocation (cocktail geek). Indeed, in no other field do you find such rampant disregard for the sanctity of a name. But there is great chaos under the cocktail heavens and, as Zombie Horde so ably shows, the situation is excellent. Highly entertaining! Hats off to Professor Cocktail, Corpse Compiler No. 1!”
--Philip Greene, author of To Have and Have Another: A Hemingway Cocktail Companion and co-founder of The Museum of the American Cocktail

About the Author

David J. Montgomery mixes his love of history and alcohol into one potent concoction through his work at ProfessorCocktail.com. He is also a nationally renowned book critic and commentator on writing and the publishing industry. Mr. Montgomery is an emeritus columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and The Daily Beast, and has written for USA Today, The Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, and other fine publications. His short fiction has appeared both online and in print. A former Professor of History, he lives in the Washington, D.C. suburbs with his wife and two daughters.

Book Review: Vince Keenan's "Down the Hatch"

Until he was in his twenties, crime writer Vince Keenan knew as much about cocktails as your maiden aunt Betty. You know, the one who also happens to be a nun. But one day Keenan's wife -- clearly the brains of the outfit -- convinced him to try a real drink. That was the beginning of what was to become a minor, but magnificent, obsession.

Keenan became a regular at the Zig Zag Cafe in Seattle, Washington, where star bartenders like Erik Hakkinen and Murray Stenson plied their trade. Keenan was an eager learner and a quick study, and he watched everything the bartenders did, and then went home and tried it out on his own.

Down the Hatch tells the stories of the cocktails Keenan learned, both the histories and facts of the drinks themselves, along with his own encounters with them. Naturally, he also includes the recipes for the drinks so that you can make them at home. He features the best-known classic cocktails, ranging from the Margarita and Manhattan, to the Tom Collins and Jack Rose. Unlike the recipes one finds through Google searches, these are legitimate, tried-and-true recipes that you can safely follow to create delicious drinks.

Keenan isn't a bartender or professional spirits taster. He's a writer, and not surprisingly, Down the Hatch is a well written book. Kennan is a guy like you or me who spent the time learning how to make cocktails, and now he's sharing that knowledge with us. He's an amateur in the original sense of the word: someone who does something out of love.

Part recipe book, part history lesson, and part memoir, Down the Hatch makes for a fun, informative, and very useful read. Be warned, however: just flipping through it is liable to make you thirsty. If you're settling in for the long haul -- and you definitely should -- you might make sure you have a drink close at hand.