The Hurricane is one of those co*cktails with dozens of different recipes circulating around the web. But what was the original recipe? And how did the classic become the bright red drink it is today? Read on to learn about both the simple original and the more complex modern recipe!
The history of the Hurricane co*cktail
Although contemporary recipes call for the addition of orange juice, lime juice, pineapple juice, grenadine, simple syrup, or other ingredients, the first Hurricane was actually just a simple blend of rum, passion fruit syrup, and lemon juice.
The drink originated in New Orleans during the 1940s at Pat O’Brien’s bar. When the bar’s distributor required purchases of (less popular) rum in order to buy the whiskey the bar needed, the recipe was born.
Using up to 4 ounces of rum, the co*cktail was intended to get rid of the excess rum quickly. However, the drink was unexpectedly popular, eventually becoming the iconic New Orleans Hurricane we know today.
Want more classic misunderstood rum co*cktails? Try the Original Mai Tai!
How did the Hurricane recipe change so much?
The recipe’s change from three simple ingredients to a neon red mix is thought to be due to demand.
As the Hurricane’s popularity grew, it needed to be produced quickly and on a larger scale, leading Pat O’Brien’s to switch to a pre-batched co*cktail mix.
Some sources say that the first Hurricanes were made with fassionola syrup, a somewhat mysterious red-colored tropical fruit-flavored syrup made with a variety of ingredients, most notably passion fruit.
Fassionola would have lent early Hurricanes a reddish hue, that grenadine would later replace. If you want to recreate the earliest Hurricane, you can replace the passion fruit syrup listed below with my easy to make fassionola. Get the Fassionola Syrup Recipe.
What ingredients are in Pat O’Brien’s modern Hurricane?
The Hurricanes served at Pat O’Brien’s today are made with a blend of rums, passion fruit juice, orange juice, lime juice, grenadine, and simple syrup. (I’ll include this recipe with the original below).
If you visit New Orleans, make a stop at Pat O’Brien’s and enjoy a modern Hurricane at its birth place. And if you’re looking for a fun Mardi Gras co*cktail to enjoy from the comfort of your home, try the original recipe below!
You may also like these other classic New Orleans co*cktails: Sazerac, Ramos Gin Fizz, Vieux Carre, Absinthe Frappe.
All out of lemons? Make the classic recipe below with lime juice instead of lemon and you’ve got what I like to call a Hurricane Daiquiri. Lime and passion fruit are equally as tasty as lemon and passion fruit and it’s a really easy variation to try. Throw the ingredients and a cup of crushed ice in a blender and enjoy a delicious frozen Hurricane Daiquiri!
I recently made this recipe and shared my favorite way to make passion fruit syrup over on Instagram. Check out the video above!
The Original Hurricane Recipe
Amy Traynor
This simple and refreshing rum co*cktail was originally just rum, lemon juice, and passion fruit syrup. Find both the original and the modern day recipes below!
The most popular association the hurricane co*cktail has today is with the Pat O'Brien's chain of bars and restaurants, and particularly their original New Orleans location creation of the passion fruit-flavored relative of the daiquiri is credited to New Orleans tavern owner Pat O'Brien.
Rum: Pat O'Brien's calls for an “amber” rum, which works. As does a not-too-funky Jamaican dark rum like Myer's. What you want here is some richness from the rum but not too much depth or too much oak—something light and accessible like Flor de Caña 7 or even Cruzan Aged works great.
The first version of the co*cktail is believed to have been served at the 1939 New York World's Fair in Queens, at the aptly named Hurricane Bar. Not much is known about that drink, other than speculation about it containing rum, and that it was served in a Hurricane glass.
Create a storm of flavor in your next food, beverage, dressings and marinade with our hurricane flavored extract. A perfect blend of rum and passion fruit, this extract is an easy way to add a bold twist to your favorite drinks and desserts without the need of additional flavoring.
What is a Hurricane co*cktail? The most popular drink with visitors to the French Quarter may just be the sweet red Hurricane, served with a big old cherry and a juicy orange slice. This local libation was created with rum at Pat O'Brien's bar during World War II when whiskey was hard to come by.
Sazerac. If you ever take a food tour in New Orleans, you're bound to encounter the Sazerac. Named the official co*cktail of New Orleans in 2008, the Sazerac is definitely on the list of must-try New Orleans drinks, and a classic option for online mixology classes.
To be totally honest, I think these Hurricane mixes taste pretty similar, but Pat O'Brien's gets the edge for being a ready-to-use liquid rather than a powder. I guess it's not a huge surprise that Pat O'Brien's Hurricane Mix is the best Hurricane mix.
The best dark rums for a Hurricane co*cktail are a blend of a lighter aged rum like the Dos Maderas 5+3 and a richer dark rum like the Dos Maderas 5+5. The co-basing allows for a greater range of compatibility of fruit and other ingredients.
A variation on the daiquiri, the Hurricane co*cktail contains classic fruity and tropical flavors (like passion fruit and orange juice), paired with two types of rum and grenadine. The drink is topped off with orange slices and maraschino cherries for the final sweet, tropical touch.
At Pat O'Brien's, Hurricanes are made with a mix of rum and Hurricane mix from the original recipe crafted in the 1940s. The drink is served in a distinctive glass stamped with the Pat O'Brien's logo. For tourists, these glasses are sought-after souvenirs of New Orleans.
The Atlantic hurricane season is the period in a year, from June 1 through November 30, when tropical or subtropical cyclones are most likely to form in the North Atlantic Ocean.
The flavor of sweet rum and passion fruit shines through, yet it contains no alcohol, so shaved ice lovers of all ages can munch on a delicious sample of hurricane shaved ice. The rich, red color of this delightful syrup mimics that of the celebrated co*cktail.
"Hurricane" is a protest song by Bob Dylan co-written with Jacques Levy and released as a single in November 1975. It was also included on Dylan's 1976 album Desire. The song is about the imprisonment of boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter (1937–2014).
From that day on, his beloved drink became known as the Harvey Wallbanger. Longstanding legend has it that the bartender who first mixed the soothing co*cktail was Donato “Duke” Antone, who ran Duke's Blackwatch Bar on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood in 1952.
Victor Alvarez, a bartender at the restaurant, mixed Hennessy with Hpnotiq to dilute the fruity flavor, resulting in a green beverage that quickly became a hit.
Edouard Benedictus, a French chemist, accidentally dropped a glass flask coated with “plastic cellulose nitrate solution.” Surprisingly, the pieces did not break into a slew of shards but remained intact, making Benedictus believe that they would make great material for his construction project.
Introduction: My name is Melvina Ondricka, I am a helpful, fancy, friendly, innocent, outstanding, courageous, thoughtful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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