| Hurricane | |
| Type: | cocktail |
| Rum: | yes |
| Served: | rocks |
| Drinkware: | hurricane |
| Ingredients: |
|
| Prep: | Shake ingredients with ice, then pour into the glass and serve over ice. |
| Notes: | Some versions add orange juice, pineapple juice, and grenadine. Fassionola is also sometimes used in place of the passion fruit syrup. |
The hurricane cocktail is a sweet alcoholic drink made with rum, lemon juice, and either passion fruit syrup[1] or fassionola.[2] [3] [4] It is one of many popular drinks served in New Orleans. It is traditionally served in the tall, curvy eponymous hurricane glass. Disposable plastic cups are also used because New Orleans laws permit drinking in public and leaving a bar with a drink, but prohibit public drinking from glass containers.[5]
The oldest known references to the hurricane cocktail date the drink's creation back to at least 1938. The best representation of the original recipe and look of the Hurricane drink is depicted in the 1938 produced/1939 released Warner Bros. film Naughty But Nice, where the original hurricane drink appears to be simply lemonade or lemon juice with the addition of a generous portion of rum with little or nothing else added to it that would give it any appearance different from lemonade. The hurricane cocktail's similar appearance to ordinary lemonade plays a major role in the film's comical storyline as it does not have the now iconic red color typically found in hurricanes served today and is served in a typical highball glass vs the hurricane shaped glass that has become the norm for serving it in. In 1939 in Queens, New York, it was served at the 1939-1940 New York World's Fair at the "Hurricane Bar"[6] but it is unknown what ingredients were used to prepare the Hurricane drinks that were sold at the exhibition. Throughout the 1940s different variations of the drink began to form.
The most popular association the hurricane cocktail 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.[7] The bar allegedly started as a speakeasy called Mr. O'Brien's Club Tipperary and the password was "storm's brewin'.[7]
During the 1940s, O'Brien needed to create a new drink to help him get rid of all of the less-popular rum that local distributors forced him to buy before he could get a few cases of more popular liquors such as scotch and other whiskeys.[8] [9] He poured the concoction into hurricane lamp–shaped glasses and gave it away to sailors. The drink caught on, and it has been a mainstay in the French Quarter ever since.