Cocktail Queries is a Paste series that examines and answers basic, common questions that drinkers may have about mixed drinks, cocktails and spirits. Check out every entry in the series to date.
The other day, in a particularly long and detailed Cocktail Queries entry–even by my occasionally obsessive standards–I dove into the fascinating history of the ingredient that has long been considered the most mysterious and misunderstood in the tiki cocktail canon: Fassionola. One part passion fruit syrup, one part fruit punch and mysteriously colorful and incorrectly cited throughout the history of this genre, fassionola has confused many amateur and professional bartenders alike. Now, a new book has shed more light on the ingredient’s history, lending context to who created it, who used it, and how it was used through the history of tiki cocktails. And I want to highlight a few of those specific cocktails here in the near future, starting with an old school Donn Beach classic, the Cobra’s Fang.
The Cobra’s Fang definitely does qualify for “old school” nomenclature, being created as early as 1937, and thus ranking among the first generation of early creations at his Hollywood tiki cradle, Don the Beachcomber. It has many of Donn’s signature flavors and techniques present, such as a dash of absinthe for that anise-like complexity, or the use of 151 proof Demerara rum from Guyana. But this was also one of Donn’s drinks that specifically, by name, called for Passionola, the first passion fruit syrup product that decades later would be known as fassionola. It’s a secret ingredient that puts the Cobra’s Fang over the top in terms of making a beguiling elixir.
Here’s the basic recipe:
— 1.5 oz Jamaican rum
— .5 oz 151 proof Demerara (Guyanese) rum
— .5 oz lime juice
— .5 oz orange juice
— .5 oz fassionola/passion fruit syrup
— .5 oz falernum
— 1 dash absinthe
— 1 dash Angostura bitters
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker tin with cracked ice. Shake vigorously to chill, and then strain into cocktail glass of choice–highball or lowball–over plentiful crushed ice. Garnish with a mint sprig or optional lime wedge/wheel.
All in all, this is a pretty platonic ideal of a tiki cocktail recipe: You’ve got a strong base of expressive, funky Jamaican and Guyana rums, a good amount of citrus complexity from multiple fruits–there aren’t a lot of tiki cocktails that call for orange, but this one does–and an infusion of spice notes from the allspice-infused falernum. You also get a little bitterness from the absinthe, and less so from the small amount of Angostura. I always sort of chuckle at the requisite “one dash” of Angostura that a lot of Donn Beach recipes call for. Surely the contribution of one dash isn’t going to be easy to pick up with all these other flavors duking it out, right? But we add it anyway, per tradition.
The wild card ingredient, though, and the thing that makes the Cobra’s Fang particularly stand out, is certainly the fassionola. And that can be difficult for the home bartender to come by, although versions of the syrup are made by a few companies such as the Jonathan English Co., although they oddly sell their fassionola primarily through Ebay. The writers of the new book on fassionola have also just revived the original Passionola as a new brand, selling the syrup once again, but it’s only available in limited quantities so far. This is all to say that your access to something physically labeled as “fassionola” may very well be limited for now, but that shouldn’t stop you from making the Cobra’s Fang cocktail at home. Just find a quality passion fruit syrup or passion fruit puree, if that’s what you need to do. The result is certainly worth the effort.
Ultimately, the Cobra’s Fang hits a nice middle ground between some other tiki classics, echoing some of the flavors found in a drink like the Zombie, while being more fruit forward and less bracingly strong, but being less fruity and more spicy than something like the Jungle Bird or Lost Lake. If you’re a rum cocktail aficionado, it’s a drink to put on your “must try at some point” bucket list.
Jim Vorel is a Paste staff writer and resident beer and liquor geek. You can follow him on Twitter for more drink writing.