RECIPES Suffering Bastard
1 ounce Bender’s 8-year-old “Old Corn” whiskey
1 ounce Griffo gin
1 ounce fresh-squeezed lime juice
1 dash aromatic bitters (any will work, but Angostura is the classic ingredient) 4 ounces ginger beer
1 mint sprig
Combine whiskey, gin and lime juice in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a Collins glass filled with fresh ice. Top with ginger beer and bitters, stir gently and then top with mint sprig, probably originally for irony.
The drink was originally created during World War II by legendary barman Joe Scialom for British troops fighting Erwin Rommel’s legendary Afrika Korps. During the pivotal Battle of El Alamein, Rommel was quoted as saying, “I’ll be drinking Champagne in the master suite at Shepheard’s soon,” which was the Cairo
hotel where Scialom worked. Instead, the British stopped Rommel and then celebrated their victory with notorious hangovers, for which
this drink is aptly named. Trader Vic Bergeron famously co-opted the name for another drink in the 1960s, that for all intents
and purposes, was really just another version of his famous zombie. Bergeron served his version in Tiki mugs shaped like a rotund man holding his head in pain. And after looking at many of Bergeron’s drink recipes, one should not be at all surprised.
Note: Bender’s is on Treasure Island and Griffo gin is from Petaluma. Bender’s whiskey is made from 100% corn, something rare in the whiskey market. It does not qualify as a bourbon, however, because it is made in Canada and is aged in used barrels.
Zombie
1 ounce Sammy’s Beach Bar rum
1 ounce Batiste Gold rhum 1 ounce orange Curacao 1 ounce fresh-squeezed orange juice
1 ounce fresh-squeezed lemon juice
Splash of grenadine
Splash of Emperor Norton Absinthe Dieu (or pastis such as Pernod)
Fill a Collins glass with ice, then build in the following order: light rum, orange curacao, orange juice, lemon juice and gold rhum. Add grenadine — it will sink to the bottom — then top with absinthe. The specific gravities of each ingredient will help to create a layered effect.
The legendary Donn Beach is reported to have invented the zombie in order to help a hungover businessman get through a meeting. His version had three rums and seven other ingredients. Walking dead, indeed. Bergeron later stole his recipe and pared it down to the seven ingredients we have listed here. Although Bergeron’s version did have four and half ounces of liquor, including half an ounce of 151 proof rum. Yikes. Note: Sammy’s Beach Bar rum and Batiste Gold rhum are both based in Marin. Orange Curacao is orange in color. It is not triple sec, which is typically clear. Grand Marnier is a good substitution (because of its color and taste) and is ironically a triple sec.