How do you make a firework snake?

There are many firework snake recipes online, but the most common one is the one below:

First you need to attain 4 parts baking soda and 1 part sugar. Then when you mix the ingredients finely in a mortar and pestle, or just by hand, go outside for further testing. Once your outside, find somewhere safe and pour a small amount of sand to help contain the reaction. Then use either ethanol or alcohol to pour slightly over the mixture. You don't need a lot, but just enough to heat up the mixture. Once this is done, stand back and have fun.

Now what happens is as you heat up the mixture, the carbon atoms from the sugar "escape" and come out in a crude mound of ash. This may not be as good as the commercial firework snakes, so you may need to experiment the proper ratiOS and amounts. (WARNING...When you light the ethanol/alcohol, be very careful as these two chemicals are highly flammable. I would recommend adult supervision.)