To me there`s nothing that tells me more that the spring and summer is on the way than fresh strawberries. Granted there´s some time left until the summer is here and the strawberries i see in the shops are imported but just seeing them is at least a promise…
The other day i saw a picture of a strawberry Hurricane over at a blog i really like – Suck The Heads – and when i saw that picture i immediately wanted to have one.
And that´s why i`m making it now, i decided to mix up my own version. To most people the Hurricane cocktail is the same as the red ones you get at Pat O’Brien’s but that´s not the whole truth. The original Hurricane is quite a different beast…
It contains fresh fruit juices and not that mixer in a bag – you can read all about here and here – that said, the “tourist-version” sure serves it´s purpose still and Pat O’Brien’s is a cool place but the real one is what i`m going for and in this post i wanna change it up a bit by adding one large muddled strawberry to the party plus some of one of my favorite rums, Old New Orleans Cajun Spiced.
The Hurricane is wonderful cocktail in the spring and summer and it´s huge! which in a way can be a “dilemma” because if you don´t want it to become too diluted and watery too fast you need to not drink to slow but at the same time if you drink fast you get drunk too quick…
To prevent quick dilution it´s a good idea to use fresh and very cold ice, shake it quick and enjoy!
STRAWBERRY HURRICANE
1 oz light rum (use a good quality rum)
1 oz dark rum (use a good quality rum )
0.5 oz Old New Orleans Cajun Spiced Rum
1 oz fresh orange juice
1 oz fresh lime juice
1/4 cup passion fruit juice, or 1 tablespoon passion fruit syrup – homemade or B.G Reynold´s.
0.5 oz simple syrup
1 teaspoon grenadine – i use homemade or B.G Reynold`s hibiscus grenadine which i find superior to any other grenadine
1 really large ripe strawberry or 2-3 small ones
1 small tsp golden fine sugar
Muddle the strawberry with sugar in a shaker, add the rest of ingredients and shake with ice and double strain into a hurricane glass half filled with crushed ice. Add more crushed ice to fill and garnish with speared strawberry slices and pineapple leaf tops.
A real Hurricane Cocktail made with natural ingredients and not the chemical mix is a divine thing to the palate as we all know and have also written about. And so one day i got the chance to come up with a twist of this drink which will have to serve as an appetizer before the christmas holiday drinks that are on the way.
FUNKY HURRICANE
3 oz Smith & Cross
1 oz orange juice
0.5 oz fresh lime juice
0.5 oz fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup passion fruit juice, or 1 tablespoon passion fruit syrup
1 oz simple syrup
1 teaspoon hibiscus grenadine
Stemmed black cherries, lime slice and fresh mint to garnish
Cracked or crushed ice.
Half fill a Hurricane or tall glass with crushed or cracked ice. Shake all ingredients and pour unstrained into the glass. Fill up with more ice if needed and garnish with a lime slice, fresh mint and stemmed black cherries.
Enjoy!
That`s all folks, probably the shortest blog post ever from me..but like i said, its an appetizer.
Famous like few others – the Hurricane cocktail is said to have been invented in the 1940`s at Pat O`Brien`s bar who simply needed a new cocktail to get rid of surplus rums when whiskey was scarce during and after World War II, but was originally very different from what they serve now — it was rum (half light, half dark), passion fruit juice and lime (2:1:1) They served it in a glass that was shaped like a hurricane lamp and so the drink got its name.
During the prohibition of the 1930s the bar was known as “Mr. O’Brien’s Club Tipperary” and a password was required to get inside of the establishment. Its since then one of the most popular drinks in the french quarter, especially among the tourists.
The extremely sweet and red Hurricane you get at Pat O`Brien`s today is not what once was served and what you get when mixing it up with all natural ingredients and it uses the powder-mix containing chemicals and artificial color.
Still i think its something you should try when in New Orleans – it´s one of those things you just have to do bec if you don`t you simply have n´t been to New Orleans….and it actually does have a charm of it´s own.
Also Pat `O Briens is a fun place to go to with it`s beautiful fire fountain in the courtyard – and don`t forget the piano bar with their legendary copper pianos and lively dueling piano players singing with the people through the night with that joyous New Orleans spirit floating through the air - it´s great fun!
That Hurricane you get at Pat O`Brien`s will also creep up on you and get you pretty drunk if you drink too many too fast as it contains plenty of rum so be careful.
As for the Hurricane-mix…the Hurricanes made with it is one kind but it´s not the original kind and many are they who believe this powder-mixed drink Ãs what makes a real Hurricane. Chuck over at Gumbopages also wrote about this in an excellent post.
Made with natural ingredients and homemade grenadine you get a very different and much nicer cocktail and if you play with the rums you can have some fun. I use a passionfruit juice and some passionfruit syrup as well. This drink with rum, lime, sugar, passionfruit juice and grenadine is actually close to the Daiquiri.
To this nothing but homemade grenadine will do for me Рand as its so easy to make that i always have it. I often add a handful of dried hibiscus flowers to it as well Рit gives a very tasty and fresh tropical tang. So equal parts water and sugar plus the seeds of two pomegranates (or have ̬m juiced) and if you will Рa handful of hibiscus Рbring to a boil and then take off the heat Рadd the fresh seeds of one half of the two pomegranates, mash it up a bit and leave to cool. But if you want to be really authentic Рleave out the hibiscus flowers;-)
I made a batch today as i was out of grenadine and the pomegranates are in season now so there`s plenty of large ripe red pomegranates from Morocco out there and they taste so fresh! I need to buy 3 when i`m gonna use 2 because i eat up too many of those ruby-red sparkling seeds that not much would be left for my grenadine.
Let stand for a few hours so the flavor settles, then strain and bottle. Keep in the fridge, it lasts about a month or more. There`s no reason to buy commercial grenadine unless you can`t find fresh pomegranates. But as a basic rule with both drink-mixing and cooking, always use the best and freshest ingredients possible.
Here´s two recipes of the Hurricane, one is the basic one and the other the common recipe today.The Hurricane on the pictures is made with the common recipe.
Basic recipe:
1.5 oz light rum
1.5 oz dark rum
1 oz passionfruit juice or syrup
¾ oz lime juice
Shake with ice and strain into a Hurricane glass filled with ice.
Common recipe:
1.5 oz light rum
1.5 oz dark rum
1 oz orange juice
1 oz fresh lime juice
1/4 cup passion fruit juice, or 1 tablespoon passion fruit syrup
1 oz simple syrup
1 teaspoon grenadine
Stemmed cherries, and orange slice to garnish
Ice cubes – i prefer cracked or crushed ice here.
Half fill a Hurricane glass with crushed or cracked ice (or ice cubes) Shake all ingredients and strain into the glass. Fill up with more ice if needed and garnish with an orange slice and stemmed cherry.
Now i didn`t have any cherry today or an orange slice so i used what was left of the pressed orange and a lime wedge instead.
On the famous pics of the cocktail blogging crew (well part of it) below from Tales -08 and-09 (sorry guys but these pics are awesome…) you can see the Hurricane cocktail as being served at Pat O`Briens and how deeply red the color is.
