Ingredients
- 2 oz light rum
- 2 oz dark rum
- 1 oz lime juice freshly squeezed
- 1 oz orange juice freshly squeezed
- 2 oz passion fruit juice
- 0.5 oz Sugar Syrup
- 0.5 oz grenadine
- Ice
- Orange slice and cherry for garnish
Instructions
- Combine Ingredients: In a shaker, mix the light rum, dark rum, lime juice, orange juice, passion fruit juice, simple syrup, and grenadine.
- Shake: Add ice to the shaker. Shake well until the mixture is well chilled.
- Garnish & Serve: Strain the drink into a large hurricane glass filled with ice. Garnish with an orange slice and a cherry.
- Enjoy: Serve immediately and enjoy the tropical flavors!
Notes
Estimated Nutrition:
Where it came from
Pat O'Brien's in New Orleans is the universally credited birthplace, with the drink dating to the 1940s during World War II. Whiskey and bourbon were rationed, but rum was flowing in from the Caribbean. To get the whiskey allocations they wanted from distributors, bars had to also buy massive quantities of rum. Pat O'Brien's solved the problem by inventing the Hurricane.
The hurricane-lamp glass came from the same bar and gave the drink its name. The original spec was just rum and passionfruit syrup, dressed up later with citrus to balance the sweetness.
What it tastes like
Tropical and bright. Passionfruit drives the flavour, citrus keeps it lively, and the rum mix (light plus dark) gives the drink body without making it heavy. The colour is pure marketing.
Drinks deceptively easy. The fruit and ice mask a serious amount of rum: 60 to 90ml across the two pours. Two of these and the parade gets blurry.
The technique
Shake everything with ice and pour over crushed ice in a hurricane glass. Garnish with an orange slice and a maraschino cherry. The traditional Pat O'Brien's mix is rum and a passionfruit syrup; the modern version splits passionfruit between syrup and fresh juice for brighter flavour.
Don't use grenadine. The original recipe never had it. The bright red colour comes from passionfruit-and-orange syrup, not from cherry syrup.
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Ingredient Spotlight
The bottles that make or break this drink.
The light rum
- Use
- White Puerto Rican or Cuban-style rum (Bacardi, Havana Club 3)
- Skip
- Spiced rum (clashes with passionfruit)
- Why
- Light rum keeps the drink crisp and lets the fruit lead.
The dark rum
- Use
- Jamaican or Demerara dark rum (Myers's, El Dorado, Goslings)
- Skip
- Black spiced rum (Kraken) unless you want it heavy and gothic
- Why
- Dark rum adds molasses depth and the rich body that holds the fruit together.
The passionfruit
- Use
- Real passionfruit syrup (Monin, Giffard) or fresh passionfruit pulp
- Skip
- Generic tropical fruit cordials
- Why
- Passionfruit is the entire point. Cordials taste like air freshener next to the real thing.
Variations
Other tropical rum drinks for parades, beaches, and long afternoons.
What if I don't have…
Quick substitutions for when the bottle shop is closed.
Equal parts orange juice and fresh passionfruit pulp from a tin or fresh fruit. Bump simple syrup to 15ml.
Use 90ml of light rum and add a 5ml dash of molasses or 10ml of demerara syrup. Closes the gap.
All dark rum works but the drink loses some lift and becomes heavier. Cut by 15ml if you go all-dark.
Drop passionfruit syrup to 20ml and add 10ml extra lime. The drink gets sharper and more grown-up.
Cut both rums in half and bump the OJ by 30ml. Becomes a tropical punch rather than a Hurricane.
Frequently Asked Questions
Direct answers to what people search for after Googling this drink.
What is in a Hurricane?
Light rum, dark rum, passionfruit syrup, fresh lime juice, and orange juice. Classic spec: 30ml light rum, 30ml dark rum, 30ml passionfruit syrup, 30ml orange juice, 15ml lime juice. Shaken, served over crushed ice in a hurricane glass.
Where did the Hurricane come from?
Pat O'Brien's bar in New Orleans, 1940s. The drink was invented to use up excess rum allocations during WWII whiskey rationing. The hurricane-lamp glass it's served in gave it the name.
How do you make a Hurricane?
Shake all liquids with ice for 12 seconds. Strain over crushed ice in a hurricane glass. Garnish with an orange slice and a maraschino cherry. Serve with a long straw.
Why is a Hurricane red?
Passionfruit syrup, orange juice, and sometimes a touch of grenadine give the drink its red-orange colour. The original Pat O'Brien's recipe used a passionfruit and orange syrup that's naturally bright red.
What rum should I use?
A 50/50 mix of light Puerto Rican rum and dark Jamaican rum. The light keeps it crisp, the dark adds depth. All-light rum is fine but flatter; all-dark rum is heavy but workable.
How strong is a Hurricane?
Around 14 to 16 percent ABV in the glass after dilution. The fruit hides the alcohol. One Hurricane equals two strong cocktails. Pace yourself.
Can I make a Hurricane without passionfruit?
Not really. Passionfruit is the signature. The closest sub is a 50/50 of fresh orange juice and apricot syrup. Workable, not the same drink.
Should I use fresh or bottled passionfruit?
Either works. Fresh passionfruit pulp is brighter and seedier. Quality passionfruit syrup (Monin, Giffard) is more consistent. Avoid generic supermarket cordials.
What glass should I use?
A hurricane glass (named after the lamp). A large red wine glass or a hurricane-style tiki mug works in a pinch. The drink needs at least 350ml of capacity.
What food goes with a Hurricane?
Cajun and Creole food, gumbo, jambalaya, fried oysters, po-boys. Anything spicy and rich that benefits from the cooling fruit.
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