Hurricane

The Hurricane is a rum cocktail featuring dark rum, light rum, tropical and citrus fruits, sweet passion fruit syrup, and a hint of lime cordial. Served in its signature hurricane glass, this drink embodies the essence of tiki culture.

Sticky sweet, tart and tangy tropical juice. The light and dark rums create a complex mix, where you get the rich and spiced undertones from the dark rum and the subtler, slightly citrusy notes from the light rum.

Pineapple juice provides tropical sweetness to the drink, while orange juice adds sweet and juicy citrusy flavor, combining to create a sweet tanginess. Lime adds a bright, zesty quality underpinned by the sweet and sour flavors of passion fruit syrup.

The earliest known reference to the Hurricane dates back to 1938. During the 1940s, the drink went through various incarnations. However, the Hurricane we recognize today is famously linked to a U.S. chain of bars and restaurants, particularly their original New Orleans location.

The story goes that during the 1940s the owner of the New Orleans location created the drink to offload excess rum that distributors required him to purchase before he could acquire more popular spirits. He served the drink in hurricane lamp-shaped glasses and served it to sailors. It’s said that the drink quickly gained popularity and has remained a staple in New Orleans’ French Quarter ever since.

While modern recipes and variations of the Hurricane cocktail often include red components like grenadine to create an even sweeter and more colorful drink, the foundational recipe made by the New Orleans tavern owner was a pale yellow-orange. 

• Make your own freshly squeezed fruit juice
  When you’re making tiki-style drinks and there’s a lot of ingredients, it would be easy to cut corners and use store-bought juice to save time. But don’t do it!I usually choose fresh-squeezed juice, but once, I was short on time and went with bottled juice instead. The outcome? The drink just fell flat. Fresh-squeezed fruits give the Hurricane the tangy brightness it truly needs.
  Learn how to juice your fruits.

• Make your own passion fruit syrup
  With the Hurricane being such a sweet drink, it’s no surprise that when looking at the Hurricane cocktail recipe people often ask whether they should, indeed, use passion fruit syrup or they should instead use passion fruit juice.Make no doubt about it – passion fruit syrup is the way to go and is a key ingredient in this drink.

  To make Passionfruit Syrup, combine equal parts simple syrup and passionfruit purée. After mixing, be sure to strain the mixture to remove seeds and pulp.

• Pick a ripe pineapple
  It’s simple – the riper the pineapple, the sweeter and tastier it will be. To pick a ripe one, look for a golden-yellow color. Squeeze the pineapple and if it’s slightly soft and has a sweet aroma, it’s likely perfectly ripe.

Reduce the passion fruit syrup and mix with rich syrup
Depending on your palate, you could reduce the passion fruit syrup by roughly half and add 6-8 ml of rich syrup. This way, you’ll still get the sweetness but reduce the flavor of passion fruit.

To make rich syrup, follow the instructions for how to make simple syrup but mix 2 parts sugar to 1 part water. 

Add a dash of Grenadine
Some modern recipes of the Hurricane cocktail call for a splash of grenadine (a sweet pomegranate-based syrup) to create an even sweeter and more colorful drink. This transforms the drink from its usual yellow-orange hue to a striking bright red.

• Considering the drink’s inseparable link to the glassware of the same name, serving a Hurricane cocktail in a hurricane glass filled with crushed ice is a must. 
• As is tradition, we suggest garnishing the Hurricane with a pineapple wedge on the rim, skewered with a Maraschino cherry on a cocktail stick.
  
• If you want to change up the garnish, try an orange wheel together with a Maraschino cherry.