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.
This local libation was created with rum at Pat O'Brien's bar during World War II when whiskey was hard to come by. The name for the drink came from the glass it's served in that resembles a hurricane lamp. A perfect place to sip a Hurricane is still in Pat O's legendary courtyard, overlooking the flaming fountain.
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 large volume of rum purposely promotes the strength of the co*cktail. In fact, in the 8.5 oz co*cktail recipe, the co*cktail ABV is a staggering 18.8% thanks to this generous fill. The combination of a light rum, a low congener rum, with a dark rum, a high congener rum, adds to the complexity of the co*cktail.
1. Sazerac. Considered by some the official co*cktail of New Orleans, the Sazerac dates back to the 19th century. It's made with rye whiskey, absinthe, Peychaud's bitters, and a sugar cube, garnished with a lemon peel.
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.
Pat O'Brien's signature drink, the Hurricane, was invented in the 1940's during World War II when manufacturing replaced distilleries, making whiskey scarce. To obtain a single case of whiskey, bar owners would have to order 50 cases of rum.
The famed Sazerac Coffee House was founded in New Orleans in 1850 and soon became known as the home of “America's First co*cktail,” the Sazerac. Using rye whiskey (in place of French brandy), a dash of Peychaud's Bitters, and Herbsaint, what eventually became the official co*cktail of New Orleans was created.
What was the first ever co*cktail? Accounts differ, but most experts agree that the first co*cktail was the Sazerac, a blend of whisky, absinthe, bitters and sugar. Created in New Orleans in the mid-1800s, this is one of the first co*cktails recognisable by name and remains a favourite to this day.
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.
But the mojito is perhaps the most iconic. Today it's made with white rum, club soda, sugar, lime and muddled mint, but the drink traces its origins to 16th-century Havana.
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.
Some wines are “fortified” with distilled alcohol. Port, Madeira, Marsala, Vermouth, and Sherry are examples of fortified wines. They usually have about 20% ABV.
At the top of our list is Spirytus Rektyfikowany, a Polish spirit boasting an eye-watering 96% alcohol by volume (ABV). Known as a rectified spirit, this clear and neutral grain alcohol is not for the faint of heart. A drop or two is enough to turn any drink into a high-octane experience.
Warm ocean waters and thunderstorms fuel power-hungry hurricanes. Hurricanes form over the ocean, often beginning as a tropical wave—a low pressure area that moves through the moisture-rich tropics, possibly enhancing shower and thunderstorm activity.
This was the first hurricane in the Atlantic basin observed and reported by Europeans as it occurred during Christopher Columbus's second voyage to Hispaniola. His fleet arrived at Saona on 23 September [O.S. 14 September] 1494, and the storm occurred shortly after this time.
Credit for the first usage of personal names for weather is generally given to the Queensland Government Meteorologist Clement Wragge, who named tropical cyclones and anticyclones between 1887 and 1907.
The Hawker Hurricane was a British single-seater monoplane fighter aircraft designed by Chief Designer Sydney Camm at Hawker Aircraft in the early 1930's. It saw exemplary service in World War II and accounted for over 60% of the air victories in the Battle of Britain.
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