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Tiki Central / Tiki Drinks and Food / Does Anyone Have the Recipe for Mai-Kai's Cobra Kiss or K.O. Cooler?

Post #753830 by Hurricane Hayward on Tue, Nov 10, 2015 7:51 PM

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Sorry guys, just catching up on this thread. Some interesting discussion.

I stand by my Cobra Kiss tribute, though I did debate that extra grenadine. It's there to balance out the fassionola, which tends to be overly sweet. You want to use a natural pomegranate grenadine that's not full of artificial sweeteners and other stuff (like Rose's). However, we don't know where The Mai-Kai gets its fassionola or grenadine, so we'll never really be able to duplicate the taste (or color) 100%. I've found Jonathan English and Fee Brothers come close, but I'm sure they use either a different brand or, more likely, something custom-made for them. All the other ingredients in the Cobra Kiss are easier to duplicate. Kohala Bay is a must, as is Fee Brothers falernum. The Mai-Kai makes their own falernum, but it's close in flavor to Fees.

Re the K.O. Cooler mentioned earlier, I posted a new tribute recipe for that one in July:
http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2011/07/19/mai-kai-cocktail-review-what-could-be-cooler-than-a-mai-tai-history-lesson/#tribute

FYI, I've been given bits and pieces of recipes by different people like Swanky and Beachbum Berry. And Mai-Kai manager Kern Mattei has been very cool about giving me hints and either confirming or denying different ingredients when I ask. Actually, he recently gave me some info that will result in a major update of many of my tribute recipes. It's a work in progress, but I hope to post all the updates soon. But the tribute recipes are still exactly that. There are so many factors that make drinks coming out of those bars unduplicatable, I just try to come close.

The issue of "sharing" recipes is a touchy subject, probably best addressed in a different thread. There are instances when it's OK and others when it's not. You have to look at it like any other kind of intellectual property, though I know that legally there are different standards. But the protocol is definitely changing now that most bars these days publish their recipes. I assume I'm not the only one eagerly awaiting Martin Cate's book.

Okole maluna!