It’s Fat Tuesday! The last day of Mardi Gras! So I made us a Hurricane which is one of the most popular drinks in New Orleans and said to have originated there. It’s kind of an interesting story Wikipedia told me about the Hurricane cocktail. It was created in a tavern owned by Pat O’Brien that was a speakeasy at first and the password was “storm’s brewin.” In the 1940’s Mr. O’Brien needed to get rid of the less popular rum he was forced to buy so he created this cocktail and served it in a hurricane lamp shaped glass. It’s been a mainstay ever since. Now there are many versions of the Hurricane. The original is made with passionfruit syrup. Others are made with orange and pineapple juice. While still others- like in the Bahamas are made with coffee liquer, irish cream, and grand marnier. Plus rum of course. Usually 2 or 3 different kinds of rum.
Another tradition for Mardi Gras is king cake. I didn’t make us one of those because I’ve tried before and failed. It’s a yeast cake and me and yeast don’t play well together. I can make homemade pizza dough but my bread or buns turn out way too dense. Only good for slicing thinly and toasting or using for batting practice. I tried to make the king cake for a Fat Tuesday party I had a few years ago at the shithole small bar where I work. I made some gumbo and jambalaya and dirty rice and attempted the king cake. Everything turned out well except for the king cake. Thankfully, my local grocery store sells king cakes so I ran there to pick one up. It is customary to have a little plastic baby hidden inside the cake. Whoever finds the baby in their slice of cake is said to receive luck and prosperity and to be king or queen for the day. Well let me tell you that I was kind of afraid to set out a cake in front of people who are drinking with a hidden plastic baby inside. Every time I saw someone eating a piece of cake I ran over to say “watch out for the baby!”
Back to the Hurricane cocktail. I don’t have a Hurricane glass. I know and I call myself a drink blogger. But I do have some cool props like beads of course and the really awesome mask. The mask was given to me by this husband and wife I used to personal train. They were the nicest sweetest couple and they travelled a lot. They brought me back the mask from Mardi Gras and one other time they gave me a beautiful Murano glass bracelet from Italy. The beads that say bud light on the jokers hat came from my Mardi Gras party at my bar. One of our beer rep guys heard about our party and hooked us up with the beads.
Hurricane cocktail
1 oz white rum
1 oz dark rum
1/2 oz 151 rum
3 oz orange juice
3 oz pineapple juice
1/2 oz grenadine
maraschino cherry for garnish
In a shaker with ice add all 5 ingredients and pour into a tall glass. Or hurricane glass if you want to be completely on point with your cocktail. Garnish with a maraschino cherry. And a cool colorful straw too.
After 1 or 2 of these drinks you’ll be ready to try and get all the beads you can!!!
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