An Ode to the Cobra’s Fang, Tiki’s Most Interesting Cocktail

The first time I walked into Paradise Lost, I knew what I was going to order before I sat down. I’d been anticipating my visit to the tiki bar all week, and the first time I looked at the menu, my eyes zoned in on one drink and one drink only: the Cobra’s Fang. Although I love other tiki mainstays like the Mai Tai, Jungle Bird and Singapore Sling, the Cobra’s Fang is my favorite. It’s also really hard to find. 

Many tiki drinks, both classic and nouveau, are labor-intensive. They often contain a mix of spirits, juices, syrups and elaborate garnishes, both edible and inedible. The star syrup in the Cobra’s Fang, fassionola, can alone contain upwards of 15 ingredients to give it its signature sweet, tropical flavor. For a bar like Paradise Lost, this means employing someone to specifically make ingredients like this outside of business hours.

“Steph Bell comes in five days a week and does all of our syrup prep, batches, things like our frozen and any sort of infusions,” says Ray Sakover, co-owner of Paradise Lost. “And then we have another two people who come in seven days a week to do our garnishes and juice.”

Paradise Lost currently has 26 cocktails on its menu, three of which are large format that serve two to six, and three that are non-alcoholic. That’s a lot of cocktails for any bar, but tiki bars are special in this way — they always do the most by having the largest number of cocktails with the longest lists of ingredients. The Cobra’s Fang is under the “ancients” section of the menu, as it was created by Donn Beach in the 1930s. And though the jury is still out whether he invented fassionola or not, the syrup became synonymous with the Cobra’s Fang. 

“It was originally called ‘passionola’ because it always contains passionfruit, and the ‘nola’ is an ode to New Orleans because it was invented there [it was also famously used in the original Hurricane],” Sakover says. “It was made for soda fountains, and Beach used a lot of soda fountain techniques in his cocktails — aka a lot of his syrups were probably from soda fountain makers. He actually used a company that would bring his stuff in, like in a suitcase. It would be like a drug deal because he was so secretive about it.”

And sure enough, Beach took his fassionola syrup recipe with him to the grave. From that time on, bartenders have had to guess most of the ingredients, except for two we know were in the original: passionfruit and strawberry. “That’s how it got its color because strawberries are a huge agricultural commodity out of New Orleans during the summer season,” Sakover says. “So the two ingredients we knew for a fact were in here were the passionfruit and the strawberries, and then we just added a whole mess of other things like mango, guava and pineapple.”

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But inventing your own take on syrups and drinks recipes is all part of the tiki bartender’s expertise. They are dedicated to preserving the history and heritage of tiki but know they can’t always get a drink made to every exact historical detail. That’s where their creativity and training comes into play. 

“It’s about trying to find ways of presenting something new from something familiar — or sometimes even unfamiliar — ingredients,” says Paradise Lost bar manager Kitty Bernardo. One of the cocktails on Paradise Lost’s new menu is called the Shattered Conch, which Bernardo was playing around with when I interviewed her a few months ago. The Old Fashioned variation features Spam-infused mezcal and toasted rice syrup, and it’s by far one of the most interesting and complex cocktails I’ve ever had. “I’m Filipino, and it’s really fun playing with flavors of the Filipino culture,” she adds. “The Shattered Conch is really fun for me because it’s introducing mezcal in a way that you usually don’t get to see because it’s so often presented in bright and citrusy drinks.”

Paradise Lost is basically the best time you can have out at a bar. The dark space is adorned with a thatched tiki roof and all kinds of tchotchkes lining the walls and ceiling. Garage punk and psychobilly is blaring through the speakers, and every so often it stops so that the bar staff can perform a pyrotechnics show. And the staff is just cool. While you’ll get the same amazing treatment anywhere in the bar, sitting on one of the stools so you can watch the bartenders do their thing is the move. You’ll likely start up a conversation with them, which is how Bernardo and I got to talking in the first place. 

“At the end of the day, we’re the ambassadors of this really intensive, almost intimidating background,” Bernardo says. “But even though this is a really niche bar with a very specific program, I would hope that everyone who walks in feels welcome and can order something they like. We want to make sure you feel at home, regardless of whether or not you’re a rum person. And if you’re not sure how to do that, I’m gladly here to help and guide you.”

Before Paradise Lost opened, there was nary a Cobra’s Fang to be found in NYC in recent years. I’m lucky to have the bar on my home turf, but if you want to try this drink at home, Paradise Lost’s recipe is likely the best version you’ll find. Of course, they couldn’t give away every ingredient in their fassionola (all tiki bars need some secrets), but this will get you pretty damn close.

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