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This Hurricane Cocktail is a classic recipe from New Orleans. Made with two kinds of rum, three kinds of juice, and grenadine, it’s sweet, fruity, and refreshing.
Fun fact: The hurricane glass is named for its resemblance to a hurricane lamp. And the lamp is named for its ability to protect flames from sudden gusts of wind, or maybe even, hurricanes.
And since New Orleans has seen its fair share of hurricanes, it’s no surprise that this drink is the official cocktail of the city.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Lime juice: Or substitute lemon juice.
- Passion fruit juice: 1 ounce passion fruit purée or syrup can be substituted for the juice.
- Simple syrup: To make it yourself, combine 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved (do not boil). Remove from heat and cool before adding 1 tablespoon (or more to taste) to your cocktail shaker with the other ingredients. Store leftover simple syrup covered in the refrigerator for 3-4 weeks.
Step-by-step instructions
- To a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add dark rum, white rum, lime juice, orange juice, passion fruit juice, grenadine, and simple syrup.
- Shake vigorously until chilled, about 30 seconds. Strain into a tall glass filled with ice and garnish with an orange wheel and a maraschino cherry.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes 1 (8-ounce) cocktail.
- Glassware: I love to make a Hurricane cocktail in a Hurricane glass, but any highball glass will do. Or even a plastic red cup!
- Big batch: To make a pitcher of 8 cocktails, in a large pitcher (at least 64 ounces), combine 2 cups dark rum, 2 cups white rum, 1 cup lime juice, 1 cup orange juice, 1 cup Passion fruit juice, ½ cup grenadine, and ½ cup simple syrup. Chill until serving time. Serve with glasses, ice, and plenty of fruit for garnishing.
- Mocktail: To make a family-friendly drink, leave out the rum. It’s okay to leave the out the simple syrup and grenadine, too, if you want to. Top with soda or sparkling water for fizzy fun.
Recipe FAQs
The Hurricane Cocktail is named after the glass it is served in (a hurricane glass) because of how it looked (like a hurricane lamp).
The Hurricane cocktail was invented by Pat O’Brien in the 1940’s during World War II. Whiskey was scarce but rum was plentiful, and the New Orlean’s proprietor came up with the classic fruity drink served in a curvy glass. He now sells his own official Hurricane Mix online.
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Hurricane Cocktail
Ingredients
- 2 ounces dark rum (¼ cup)
- 2 ounces white rum (¼ cup)
- 1 ounce lime juice (2 tablespoons, see note 1)
- 1 ounce orange juice (2 tablespoons)
- 1 ounce Passion fruit juice (2 tablespoons, see note 2)
- 1/2 ounce grenadine (1 tablespoon)
- 1/2 ounce simple syrup (1 tablespoon, see note 3)
- orange slice or wheel, for garnish
- Maraschino cherry for garnish
Instructions
- To a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add dark rum, white rum, lime juice, orange juice, passion fruit juice, grenadine, and simple syrup.
- Shake vigorously until chilled, about 30 seconds. Strain into a tall glass filled with ice and garnish with an orange wheel and a maraschino cherry.
Notes
- Lime juice: Or substitute lemon juice.
- Passion fruit juice: 1 ounce passion fruit purée or syrup can be substituted for the juice.
- Simple syrup: To make it yourself, combine 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved (do not boil). Remove from heat and cool before adding 1 tablespoon (or more to taste) to your cocktail shaker with the other ingredients. Store leftover simple syrup covered in the refrigerator for 3-4 weeks.
- Yield: This recipe makes 1 (8-ounce) cocktail.
- Glassware: I love to make a Hurricane cocktail in a Hurricane glass, but any highball glass will do. Or even a plastic red cup!
- Big batch: To make a pitcher of 8 cocktails, in a large pitcher (at least 64 ounces), combine 2 cups dark rum, 2 cups white rum, 1 cup lime juice, 1 cup orange juice, 1 cup Passion fruit juice, ½ cup grenadine, and ½ cup simple syrup. Chill until serving time. Serve with glasses, ice, and plenty of fruit for garnishing.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is the Executive Chef and CEO of Culinary Hill, a popular digital publication in the food space. She loves to combine her Midwestern food memories with her culinary school education to create her own delicious take on modern family fare. Millions of readers visit Culinary Hill each month for meticulously-tested recipes as well as skills and tricks for ingredient prep, cooking ahead, menu planning, and entertaining. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the iCUE Culinary Arts program at College of the Canyons.
Boy it packs a BIG punch.
KO! This drink is great!
Now this sounds fantastic! :) I need to try this soon!