Three New Twists on the Hurricane

Born at Bourbon Street bar Pat O’Brien’s in the 1940s, the Hurricane has watered decades of Crescent City tourists.

While there’s nothing wrong with the original drink—a potent blend of lemon juice, passion fruit syrup, and rum—today’s Hurricane is more often than not a Kool-Aid–red sugar bomb made from powdered mix and served up in a gimmicky souvenir cup. Still, the Hurricane is a Mardi Gras standard. So with an eye toward Fat Tuesday, we asked three New Orleans–based experts for their gimmick-free takes on the drink.

Slurricane
From Jeff “Beachbum” Berry

½ oz. fresh lime juice
½ oz. fresh lemon juice
¾ oz. passion fruit syrup
¼ oz. grenadine
¼ oz. guava juice or nectar
2 oz. dark Jamaican rum

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and combine all ingredients. Shake well and strain into a tumbler filled with crushed ice. Garnish with lime wedge speared to a brandied cocktail cherry.
 

Maelstrom

From Alan Walter, Loa

2 oz. dark rum
1 oz. light rum
Juice of one blood orange or two small tangerines
Half a ripe mango
Juice of half a large Meyer lemon or one whole lime
½-¾ honey syrup, to taste (recipe below)

Muddle mango with fruit juices and honey syrup in a cocktail shaker. Add rums and shake well. Strain drink into a shapely glass over cracked ice, using a second strainer to catch the fruit.

Honey syrup

Dilute 1 part local honey with half as much hot water (2:1).

Tip: To make cracked ice, fill a small towel with ice and beat with the side of a hammer, or against a hard surface

Hurricaña
From Lucinda Weed, Sylvain

2 oz. Flor De Caña 7-year rum
¾ oz. Campari
½ oz. Bols Genever
½ oz. grenadine
½ oz. strawberry-balsamic shrub (recipe below)
½ oz. lime
½ oz. orange juice
Red wine (we used Olivares' Altos De La Hoya, but any red that delivers a big, fruity finish will suffice)

Combine all ingredients except for wine in a cocktail shaker and add ice. Shake well. Strain into a Collins glass over fresh ice and float the wine on top. Garnish with a fresh sprig of mint, a grapefruit twist, or a maraschino cherry.

Strawberry-balsamic shrub

2 cups strawberries
½ cup balsamic vinegar
½ cup red wine vinegar
1 cup sugar

In a saucepan, heat all ingredients together until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, cover, and let rest in a cool place for 24 hours. Then strain the strawberries from the mixture.