Recipe: Cobras Fang?

Does anyone know how to mix this one? Thanks.

[ Edited by: Blue Moose on 2004-08-30 09:46 ]

Don the Beachcomber sez:

1/2 oz. lime juice
1/2 oz. Falernum
1/2 oz. orange juice
1/4 oz. fassionola (substitute: fruit punch)
1/2 oz. dark Jamaican rum
1/2 oz. Lemon Hart Demarara 151
1 dash each Angostura bitters, "selected herbs"* and grenadine

Blend all ingredients with crushed ice. Serve in a tall glass with fresh mint and lime wheel.

*doesn't specify what "selected herbs" are...

--from "Hawai'i Tropical Drinks & Cuisine"

Thanks, Doctor Z, looks good.

"selected herbs"? Maybe Don only knows...maybe he was refering to the mint? is mint a herb?

With the release of Jeff Berrys 'Sippin Safari' and a lot of new Don The Beachcomber information, has anyone figured out what the missing 'selected herbs' are in the recipe ?

On 2007-07-08 01:59, Squad 701 wrote:
With the release of Jeff Berrys 'Sippin Safari' and a lot of new Don The Beachcomber information, has anyone figured out what the missing 'selected herbs' are in the recipe ?

What I have used is: Herbsaint. It is an ambrosia based liquor with lime and herb flavorings. The absinthe content has gone in and out of legality over the years, and may account for the vagueness of it.

I could be wrong.. but it works!
As does Gosling 151 in place of the Lemon Hart(apparently sold to Canada, which seems to no longer make overproof).
While not labeled Demerara, it has a flavor very similar to El Dorado Guyana Demerara rum.

Herbsaint/Pernod is probably a good bet. As I recall, Jeff Berry states in at least one of his books that one of Don Beach's secret weapons was the Angostura bitters and Pernod combination.

Regarding Fassionola, I'm always a little suspect of "Hawai'i Tropical Drinks & Cuisine." One might try subbing passion fruit syrup instead

On 2010-08-11 13:47, arriano wrote:
Herbsaint/Pernod is probably a good bet. As I recall, Jeff Berry states in at least one of his books that one of Don Beach's secret weapons was the Angostura bitters and Pernod combination.

Regarding Fassionola, I'm always a little suspect of "Hawai'i Tropical Drinks & Cuisine." One might try subbing passion fruit syrup instead

Pernod is a bit too licorice for the cobra's fang. nice touch to other drinks(that call for pernod).

There is a Johnathen English company making 3 different types of Fassionola, based in San Diego. However their website seems to be a Beta, the product does not seem to have a distribution.. So what I actually used was in fact "fruit punch syrup". I seem to recall in my youth being given a fassionola drink, and it made a lousy fruit punch drink.. most like the cheapest imitation you can think of. What I used worked, and tasted and kicked very similar to the original. A caution: VERY easy on the bitters, as well as the Herbsaint. It came out a touch too bitter when I mixed it.

But it appears the Johnathan English company holds the trademarks for the fassionola brand name.

Link here

I have posted this before, in my opinion the closest thing to Fashionola that is still on the market is Pat O'Brians Hurricane mix.

It looks and tastes like concentrated red Hawaiian punch, and it lasts forever in the refrigerator.

On 2010-08-13 07:13, captnkirk wrote:
I have posted this before, in my opinion the closest thing to Fashionola that is still on the market is Pat O'Brians Hurricane mix.

It looks and tastes like concentrated red Hawaiian punch, and it lasts forever in the refrigerator.

My opinion.. (yes I had the originals, yes I have made my closest approximation).. Any fruit punch syrup should work.
Pat O'Brians Hurricane mix is a good substitute, fruit punch flavored snow cone syrup works, and I believe Toriani fruit punch syrup would work.

If you want Genuine Hawaiian Punch syrup, good news and bad. It IS still commercially available. But it seems to only be sold in 5 gallon soda fountain
sized boxes.

I did have issues finding the Falernum, but I finally did manage. The search for Lemon Hart 151 was a dead end. Gosling 151 made an EXCELLENT substitute.

And the small SMALL dash of Herbsaint completes the "What did I just do to myself?" effect of legend. Also not easy to find.

I was comparing the Cobra's Fang recipe in "Hawaii Tropical Rum Drinks & Cuisine by Don the Beachcomber" with those of the Cobra in "Sippin' Safari" and the Sidewinder's Fang from "Grog Log." When you look at the ingredients of each it's easy to see the similarities and discrepancies. Both the Cobra and the Sidewinder's Fang call for passion fruit syrup while the "Hawaii Tropical Rum Drinks..." recipe for the Cobra's Fang calls for fassionola. Since posters above said a close approximation of fassionola is Pat O'Brien's Hurricane mix, and the original recipe for the Hurricane called for passionfruit syrup, I think a Cobra's Fang should have passionfruit syrup in it. I was ready to dismiss "Hawaii Tropical Rum Drinks..." listing of grenadine (which doesn't appear in the other two recipes), but then I noticed that none other than Tiki Ti lists that as one of the ingredients for the Cobra's Fang. So with all this in mind, and the three recipes to go by, I think the recipe below might be very, very close to the original Cobra's Fang:

1/2 oz Fresh Lime Juice
1 1/2 oz Orange Juice
1/2 oz Passion Fruit Syrup
1 oz Dark Jamaican Rum
1 oz Demerara 151-proof rum
1 dash grenadine
1 dash Angostura bitters
6 drops Pernod or Herbsaint

Put everything into a blender with 4 ounces crushed ice. Blend at high speed for 5 seconds. Pour into a tall glass, and add ice to fill. Garnish with spiral cut orange peel. Any regulars of Tiki Ti or Mai Kai (Cobra's Kiss) who can test their drinks against this recipe?

A defense of Fassionola.

I actually tracked a bottle of this down form the supplier in San Diego.

The stuff is quite unique, close to a fruit punch concentrate but there is something in the flavor that really makes it unique, and whatever that is, it does come through in the drink.

If you can somehow get your hands on some of the stuff I do encourage it, as it seems that this was a somewhat common mixer back in the day. And it does bring an interesting flavor to the drinks it is in.

-Rawim

On 2011-07-18 10:33, Rawim wrote:
If you can somehow get your hands on some of the stuff I do encourage it, as it seems that this was a somewhat common mixer back in the day.

You know, I've read such statements before on Tiki Central, but other than the "Hawaii Tropical Rum Drinks & Cuisine by Don the Beachcomber" book, I have never seen fassionola listed as an ingredient for a cocktail. It's not in Beachbum Berry's books, and it's not in Ted Haigh's "Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails." Neither is it listed in the Trader Vic's cocktail books. If you know of another book out there that features fassionola in recipes, please let us know.

arriano,

you present a most excellent point.

and while i have heard from others that it was used back in the day, i recognize that as being nothing more than circumstantial hearsay and my finite experience and grasp of tiki history falls far short.

i suppose this would be question best suited to the likes of the Beachbum or Dr. Cocktail as I assume they would have far more information and experience with the subject then I could ever hope to.

Arriano,

I was looking at old Beachcomber menus the other day online and in some of the Beachbum's books and in the descriptions for certain recipes there are direct references to Fassionola.

Now there are these references and then the bum list the drink recipe clearly substituting passion fruit syrup for fassionola.

Which in all actuality is fine.

But there is clear proof out there that back in the day Donn used Fassionola as an ingredient in his drinks, can't say the same of Vic or Mai Kai or others of course.

And I realize that many have moved on to just using passion fruit syrup, but if you can track down a bottle of the stuff, it does provide a unique flavor.

Have a good weekend all!

On 2011-07-20 18:15, arriano wrote:

On 2011-07-18 10:33, Rawim wrote:
If you can somehow get your hands on some of the stuff I do encourage it, as it seems that this was a somewhat common mixer back in the day.

You know, I've read such statements before on Tiki Central, but other than the "Hawaii Tropical Rum Drinks & Cuisine by Don the Beachcomber" book, I have never seen fassionola listed as an ingredient for a cocktail. It's not in Beachbum Berry's books, and it's not in Ted Haigh's "Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails." Neither is it listed in the Trader Vic's cocktail books. If you know of another book out there that features fassionola in recipes, please let us know.

I have a hand written set of recipes by Mariano Licudine of the Mai-Kai and he calls for "Passionola" which may well be "Fassionola" mis-written. Many of the ingredients are not spelled normally or even the same from one recipe to the next.