The Hurricane is New Orleans' rum classic: passion fruit, citrus and a great deal of rum. Made properly with real passion fruit syrup and rum that has not been sweetened, it is a considerably better drink than its reputation suggests.
Ingredients:
- 1 oz Bombarda Drake
- 3/4 oz Bombarda Falconet (or a second measure of Drake)
- 1 oz orange juice
- 1 oz fresh lime juice
- 1 oz passion fruit syrup
- 1 tsp grenadine
- Lemon wheel, orange peel and a cherry, to garnish
Method of Attack:
- Add the rums, orange juice, lime juice, passion fruit syrup and grenadine to a shaker with ice.
- Shake vigorously until well chilled.
- Strain into a hurricane glass or snifter over crushed ice.
- Garnish with a lemon wheel, orange peel and a cherry.
About This Recipe:
The Hurricane was born of a supply problem. In the 1940s, whiskey was scarce in New Orleans and rum was not — distributors made bar owners take cases of Caribbean rum to get any whiskey at all. Pat O'Brien, on St Peter Street in the French Quarter, ended up with far more rum than he could sell and invented a drink to move it. He served it in a glass shaped like a hurricane lamp, and it has been the Quarter's signature ever since.
Mardi Gras made it famous. Pre-made mixes made it a joke. Built from scratch it is a genuinely good sour — tart, tropical and strong.
Why this rum:
The Hurricane's bad reputation comes almost entirely from sweetness. Passion fruit syrup and grenadine are already sugar, and most versions add a sweetened rum on top of a pre-made mix. The result is fruit punch that happens to be alcoholic.
Two rums with no added sugar fix it. Drake is a five-origin dark blend from Jamaica, Barbados, Venezuela, Panama and Guatemala, with the molasses weight the drink needs. Falconet, aged 8 to 15 years, brings oak and length. Neither carries caramel colorant or chill filtration.
Battle Notes:
Real passion fruit syrup, and skip anything labelled hurricane mix. The lime must be fresh — it is the only thing standing between this drink and dessert.
More long rum drinks in our guide to the best rum for a rum punch.
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