Red Robin Screaming Red Zombie Cocktail Recipe
If you have ever ordered a Screaming Red Zombie at Red Robin, you know it arrives as a tall, layered glass that looks as fun as it tastes. This copycat is fruity, sweet, and rum-forward, with lemon and orange juice for brightness, three rums, and a grenadine finish. Floating the rums and grenadine over the back of a spoon gives you the layered look of the restaurant drink without any special bar tools. It takes five minutes to make, so it suits summer gatherings and Halloween parties.
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The Red Robin Screaming Red Zombie is a rum cocktail built from lemon juice, orange juice, and three different rums. This recipe makes one drink, and it scales up easily when you are serving a group.
The taste is fruity, sweet, and rum-forward. Orange juice and sugar add sweetness, and grenadine helps balance the flavors so the rum doesn’t overwhelm the glass.
Why this recipe works
- Grenadine finishes the drink. It adds a touch of sweetness and the red color that gives the cocktail its name.
- Sour and sweet stay in balance. Tart lemon juice and sugar are softened by orange juice, which keeps the drink bright instead of sharp.
- Three rums add depth. A light rum forms the base, while the dark rums add a richer, rounder finish.
- The float creates the look. Pouring slowly over the back of a spoon slows the stream, which limits mixing so the layers stay visible in the glass.
Red Zombie Cocktail Ingredients
- Lemon juice – Adds tart brightness that cuts through the sweetness.
- Sugar – Softens the lemon and rounds out the flavor.
- Orange juice – Brings fruity sweetness and body to the base.
- Light rum – Forms the clean, rum-forward base.
- Myers’s dark rum – Floats on top to add a deeper, richer rum flavor.
- Bacardi Select rum – Adds another layer of rum character as a second float.
- Grenadine – Adds sweetness and the red color on top.
- Ice – Chills the drink and gives the layers something to rest on.
Ingredient Notes
- Rum brands: Red Robin uses Bacardi and Myers’s dark rum. Other brands work, since the rums blend with the juices.
- Orange juice: Use fresh or fresh-squeezed orange juice and avoid juice from concentrate for the best flavor.
How to Make a Screaming Red Zombie Mixed Drink
- Stir together the lemon juice and sugar in a 2-cup measuring cup until the sugar dissolves.
- Add the orange juice and light rum, then stir to combine.
- Pour the mixture into a tall glass filled halfway with ice.
- Float the last three ingredients in order by slowly pouring each one over the back of a spoon.
Zombie Cocktail Recipe Variations
If you think it is too strong, you can cut the alcohol by adding more orange juice.
If you don’t drink alcohol, omit the liquor and make it with just orange juice, grenadine, and sweet and sour mix. This makes the cocktail family-friendly for everyone.
You may want to make a pitcher for friends or family when they come over. Just increase the number of servings on the recipe card below, and it will automatically calculate the ingredient quantities.
Zombie Mixed Drink FAQ
This is an iconic Tiki cocktail. Rumor has it it was made to help someone hungover get through the day. When the patron came back to the bar, he complained he had been turned into a “zombie” for his meeting.
There are many versions of the original drink; here is Donn Beach of Don the Beachcomber restaurant’s original version.
1 ounce dark rum
1 ounce white rum
1/2 ounce cream de almond
1/2 ounce velvet Falernum
1/4 ounce Absinthe
Fill with equal parts of grapefruit juice and lemon sour
Float Bacardi 151 Rum
Maraschino cherry for garnish
Place all ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake. Strain into a Collins glass. Float Bacardi 151 rum and garnish with a cherry.
The zombie is a strong cocktail. While the drink is fruity, it still has a fair amount of alcohol. The sweet fruit flavor masks the alcohol.
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Screaming Red Zombie Drink
Ingredients
- 4 ounces lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 3 ounces orange juice
- 1 ounce light rum
- 1/2 ounce Myer’s dark rum
- 1/2 ounce Bacardi Select rum
- 1/2 ounce grenadine
Instructions
- Combine lemon juice and sugar in a small bowl or 2-cup measuring cup and mix well.
- Add orange juice and light rum. Stir well.
- Fill a 16-ounce glass half full of ice.
- Pour the mixture into the glass.
- Using a spoon, float the last three ingredients in order. This means you will slowly pour each liquid over the back of a spoon so that it doesn’t mix into the drink too much.
I love making these at home. My mother in law can drink too much and get rowdy when we go out. She loves these. So I can make these at home, and she can get rowdy away from people. We are all much happier this way.
½ Ounce Grenadine
Funny little box in front of 1/2… is there supposed to be anything there or a glitch in the system?
It was a formatting error on my part.
Looking forward to making new, fresh dishes that are, hopefully, restaurant quality.