Cobra's fang
{{short description|Tiki cocktail}}
{{Infobox cocktail
| source = Don Beachcomber Drink Book 2001
| name = Cobra's fang
| image =
| caption = Cobra's fang
| served = blended with crushed ice
| drinkware = zombie
| garnish = Fresh mint and lime wheel
| ingredients = * 1 1/2 oz Demerera 151 rum
- 1/2 oz Jamaican dark rum
- 1/4 oz Fassionola syrup
- 1/2 oz Falernum syrup
- 1/2 oz Orange juice
- 1/2 oz Lime Juice
- Dash each bitters & grenadine
| prep=
| notes =
| footnotes =
}}The cobra's fang is a vintage tiki cocktail invented by Donn Beach that calls for a mixture of rums along with fassionola and falernum syrups, the juice of orange and limes, and a dash each of bitters and grenadine.{{cite book |last1=Bitner |first1=Arnold |title=Hawai'i Tropical Rum Drinks by Don the Beachcomber |date=2001 |publisher=Mutual Publishing |location=Honolulu|page=46}} The recipe from the book Hawai'i: Tropical Rum Drinks & Cuisine By Don the Beachcomber calls for it being garnished with fresh mint and a lime wheel, although a length of spiral cut lime peel made to look like a snake is used for aesthetics in some cobra named cocktails.{{cite web |title=Bronx Zoo Cobra |url=https://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-tribute-cocktail-for-th-146119 |website=thekitchn.com |accessdate=21 February 2019}}
History
The cobra's fang was one of many drinks with theatrical names placed onto "The Beachcomber"'s menus, going along with the likes of the Shark's Tooth and Nelson's Blood and meant to evoke a sense of faux-danger as part of the exotic tropical mood he set for his bars.{{cite web |title=Don The Beachcomber |url=http://www.donthebeachcomber.com/pages/about-us |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425230112/http://www.donthebeachcomber.com/pages/about-us |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 April 2016 |website=donthebeachcomber.com |accessdate=16 February 2019 }}{{cite book |last1=Berry |first1=Jeff |title=Beachbum Berry Remixed |date=2010 |publisher=Slave Labor Graphics |location=San Jose |page=26}} As shown on a 1941 Don the Beachcomber drink menu, the cobra's fang cost $1 and was served in a tall curved glass.{{cite web |title=1941 Beachcomber Menu |url=https://scholarsarchive.jwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1031&context=restaurant_menus |website=scholarsarchive.com |accessdate=21 February 2019}}
Some feel the use of fassionola syrup was particularly important to the drink, which Beach may have brought along with him from his youth in New Orleans.{{cite web |title=Drink category winners and New Orleans mixologists Max J. Messier and Lauren Myerscough revive a lost tiki syrup |url=https://gardenandgun.com/articles/tropic-thunder/ |website=gardenandgun.com |date=16 November 2017 |accessdate=21 February 2019}}{{cite web |title=Top 10 Don the Beachcomber Drinks |url=http://drunkentiki.com/2018/01/07/top-10-don-the-beachcomber-cocktails/ |website=drunkentiki.com |accessdate=21 February 2019 |archive-date=14 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190214002923/http://drunkentiki.com/2018/01/07/top-10-don-the-beachcomber-cocktails/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |title=What happened to fassionola? |url=https://www.eater.com/drinks/2015/9/3/9253267/fassionola-tiki-syrup |website=eater.com |date=3 September 2015 |accessdate=21 February 2019}}{{cite web |title=Cobra's Fang |url=https://www.liquor.com/recipes/cobras-fang/#gs.BLWpeuUy |website=liquor.com |accessdate=20 February 2019}}{{cite web |title=Cobra's Fang Recipe |url=https://www.supercall.com/recipe/cobras-fang-recipe |website=supercall.com |date=23 August 2016 |accessdate=20 February 2019}} Some claim fassionola was invented by Beach.{{cite web |title=Fassionola: The Greatest Syrup You've Never Heard Of |url=https://www.supercall.com/how-to/how-to-make-fassionola-the-lost-tiki-ingredient |website=supercall.com |accessdate=11 February 2019}} Others believe that is unclear.{{cite web |title=Fassionola tiki syrup |url=https://www.eater.com/drinks/2015/9/3/9253267/fassionola-tiki-syrup |website=eater.com |date=3 September 2015 |accessdate=20 February 2019}}
Variations
Jeff Berry has a version from circa 1937 that he also attributes to Donn Beach that calls for 1 1/2 oz 151 proof Demerara rum, 1/2 oz passion fruit syrup, 1/2 oz orange and lime juices, 1/2 oz of falernum, 1 dash of bitters and 6 drops of absinthe.{{cite web |title=Publication Total Tiki |url=http://beachbumberry.com/publication-total-tiki.html |website=beachbumberry.com |accessdate=20 February 2019}} The Tiki Ti has their own version as well.{{cite web |title=A Cobra's Fang |url=http://tiki-ti.com/drinks/a-cobasfang.html |website=tiki-ti.com |accessdate=21 February 2019}}
The sidewinder's fang was the Lanai restaurant's version of a cobra's fang cooler and called for 1 oz of Demerara rum, 1 oz dark Jamaican rum, 1 1/2 oz of passion fruit syrup, and 1 1/2 oz each of orange and lime juice along with 3 oz of club soda.{{cite book |last1=Berry |first1=Jeff |title=Beachbum Berry Remixed |date=2010 |publisher=Club Tiki Press |location=San Jose|page=86 }}
Eponymous mug
As served in the early days of the Beachcomber restaurants, the cobra's fang was presented in a tall curved glass. Because some later drink menus from other restaurants showed the cobra's fang in a special snake shaped Tiki mug, there is debate over whether such a historical mug truly existed.{{Cite web |url=http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=28577&forum=5 |title=Cobra's Fang Mug |access-date=21 February 2019 |archive-date=31 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331220027/http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=28577&forum=5 |url-status=bot: unknown }} Regardless, modern manufacturing of a replica for such a mug has taken place.{{cite web |title=Where did the tiki mug come from |url=https://www.laweekly.com/restaurants/where-did-the-tiki-mug-come-from-and-why-the-current-resurgence-5570781 |website=laweekly.com |date=15 May 2015 |accessdate=21 February 2019}}