Cobra's Fang

- 1½ oz 151-proof Demerara rum (Hamilton 151)
- 1/4 oz falernum (Maggie's Farm)
- 1/2 oz passion fruit syrup
- 1/2 oz fresh orange juice
- 1/2 oz fresh lime juice
- 1 dash Angostura bitters
- 6 drops (0.3 ml) absinthe or pastis (Herbsaint)
Short shake with ice and strain into a tiki/hurricane glass almost filled with crushed ice. Top up with crushed ice and garnish excessively.
Here's a tiki drink you really can't serve 'up' (strained into a cocktail coupe). It really has to be served with crushed ice else the rum will utterly dominate. It is a classic Don the Beachcomber 'exotic drink' recipe from the 1930's. It was widely copied at the time but this version comes from the notes of Dick Santiago, one of Don's bartenders, via Beachbum Berry and The Cocktail Seminars.
Like so many of Don's recipes the Cobra's Fang is based on the old Planter's Punch recipe, itself a Sour. The recipe is very similar to our recipe for the Hurricane but here Don has amped up the rum significantly by choosing 151-proof Demerara and added his signature touch of Angostura bitters and Herbsaint. It may not be our favorite tiki drink but it's a good party drink with impeccable links to the early days of exotic drinks.