Oyamel’s fifth annual Day of the Dead festival honors the cherished Mexican celebration of lost souls. This year’s theme was inspired by pre-Columbian ingredients, which head bartender Joe Cleveland used as a starting point for cocktail research. One of his creations, "The Zombie Apocalypse" — named after a theory about the demise of Mayan civilization — is a Mexican take on the traditional zombie cocktail. Keeping the pineapple juice and coconut milk, Cleveland substituted tequila in place of rum and incorporated other Mayan ingredients, such as papaya juice, to create a sweet and creamy concoction. No one really knows what happened to the Mayans, but if the lethality of this drink is any indication, the zombies totally did it.

Where: 401 7th Street NW; 202-628-1005. Oyamel's Day of the Dead festival continues through November 2.


Photographed by Anna Mathias