Overproof Demerara rum and dark Jamaican rum ride over tiki's signature trio of lime, orange and passion-fruit syrup, knit together by spiced falernum with a whisper of bitters and grenadine. Blended with crushed ice and crowned with mint, it drinks lush, tart and frosty, the burnt-sugar depth of the Demerara masking its strength so well that it is dangerously easy for its proof.
Garnish: Mint Sprig, Lime Wheel
Blended · Zombie glass · Crushed
add
Combine both rums, falernum, passion fruit syrup, orange juice, lime juice, grenadine, and bitters with crushed ice.
blend
Flash-blend briefly until frothy and well-chilled (or shake hard, then pour unstrained).
strain
Pour unstrained into a Zombie glass, adding more crushed ice to fill if needed.
garnish
Garnish with a fresh mint sprig and a lime wheel.
Donn Beach — born Ernest Raymond Gantt and regarded as the founding father of tiki — created the Cobra's Fang at Don the Beachcomber, the Hollywood bar he gave that name in 1937. Tiki historian Jeff Berry dates the earliest recipe to around that same year, made with passion fruit syrup and finished with a few drops of absinthe, and the drink had reached the printed menu by 1941. It belongs to the family of rum, juice and syrup "Rhum Rhapsodies" that Beach pioneered; in the later standard build the absinthe gives way to a dash of grenadine and fassionola often fills the passion-fruit role, while the Sidewinder's Fang carries the formula on as a variation.