The ORIGINAL Original Hurricane?

As Mardi Gras is upon us, I wanted to share a recipe for an authentic, original Hurricane that I pieced together, that I believe might be the most authentic and original that you can get.

I had first started making original Hurricanes last year using Beachbum Berry’s recipe;

2 oz. fresh lemon juice
2 oz. passion fruit syrup
4 oz. dark rum

It makes a great drink, and I impressed all my friends with it’s historic accuracy, but it doesn’t really look like a Hurricane. I mean, Hurricanes are supposed to be red, right?

Well then I stumbled upon the recipe for the Cobra’s Kiss on Hurricane Hayward’s Atomic Grog: http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2011/11/20/mai-kai-cocktail-review-cobra-kiss-is-an-exotic-taste-explosion-guaranteed-to-strike-your-fancy/ There, I discovered fassionola, the long lost tiki syrup, which has an intensely red color. After a bit of research, I found out that it’s quite possible that fassionola may have been the original syrup used in making a Hurricane, which is what gives it the red color. But it seems as though there’s a bit of discrepancy as to what fassionola actually tastes like. According to The ‘Bum, it tastes strongly of passion fruit, which is why he just substitutes passion fruit syrup for any recipe that calls for fassionola. However, the fassionola recipe on the Atomic Grog doesn’t include any passion fruit at all; it’s simply raspberry syrup, grenadine, and orange extract. But what if we mix the two?

One note that I need to mention is that I make my own passion fruit syrup using Doug Winship’s recipe on the Pegu Blog. http://www.killingtime.com/Pegu/2015/02/27/tiki-cocktail-syrups/ Doug encourages making a less sweet passion fruit syrup, with a 1:1:1 ratio of passion fruit puree, sugar, and water (as opposed to the traditional 1:2:1 ratio). When mixing drinks, I often then throw in an equal amount of simple syrup to add the correct amount of sweetness. (So in the above Hurricane recipe, I also add 2 oz. of simple syrup.)

So as I was mixing up a batch of Hurricanes, I thought, why not substitute my homemade fassionola for the simple syrup? We still have the strong passion fruit flavor, but now we also have the intense red color. Eureka! I tried it, and I have to say it makes a damn fine drink! And dare I be blasphemous enough to say, it might be more historically accurate than Beachbum Berry’s?

Mix up a batch and tell me your thoughts.

Here’s the recipe, along with recipes for all associated syrups:

The NEW Original Hurricane Cocktail

2 oz. fresh lemon juice (I like to mix it up with 1 1/2 oz. lemon juice and 1/2 oz. lime juice)
2 oz. passion fruit syrup (1:1:1 “simple” ratio)*
2 oz. fassionola*
4 oz. Jamaican dark rum (I prefer Coruba, but Myers does just fine)

Shake well with plenty of crushed ice. Pour unstrained into a Hurricane glass, adding more ice to fill.

*If using a “rich” 1:2:1 or store-bought passion fruit syrup, cut the quantities of passion fruit syrup and fassionola in half.

Syrups:

Passion Fruit Syrup

14 oz package frozen passion fruit pulp (Goya is a good brand)
14 oz sugar
14 oz water
1 oz neutral spirit (such as vodka) as a preservative (optional)

Put sugar, water, and half of frozen passion fruit pulp into a pot and bring to a boil without stirring. As soon as it reaches a boil (DO NOT let it boil for more than a few seconds), remove from heat and cool for a minute or so. Add remaining passion fruit pulp. Cool. Add neutral spirit as a preservative and refrigerate.

Fassionola

4 oz. Smucker’s Red Raspberry syrup
4 oz. real grenadine (recipe below)
1 tsp. orange extract

Mix and refrigerate.

As stated on The Atomic Grog, Smucker’s has the taste, color, and consistency you’re looking to make a really good fassionola. My problem was that Smucker’s doesn’t sell their Red Raspberry syrup anywhere within 100 miles of the SF Bay Area. I recommend purchasing directly from the Smucker’s website. Not only is it cheaper than Amazon, but you can get the exact quantities you need.

Grenadine

16 oz bottle POM pomegranate juice
16 oz sugar
1 oz neutral spirit (such as vodka) as a preservative (optional)

Put pomegranate juice and sugar in a saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. (Don't boil.) Cool. Add neutral spirit as a preservative and refrigerate.

Mahalo!

** Edited the title to my recipe to the NEW Original Hurricane, because any claim to actual authenticity is total speculative BS.

[ Edited by: thejp2000 2018-02-13 23:38 ]

It sounds like an interesting variation, but is there any historical evidence that hurricanes were originally red? If "supposed to be" is all that you're going on, then half the bartenders in the U.S. will argue mai tais are "supposed to be" red whilst they're dumping in the grenadine.

Nothing wrong with tinkering with the recipe. I sub passion fruit juice for syrup because I don't like mine quite so sweet. Your Fassionola riff is a worthy variation, but I'd tread warily before claiming greater historical accuracy over the Bum. If he'd come across any early-day references to the drink being red, he'd have made note of it. Heck, he can probably cite the month, year and bar where hurricanes spontaneously mutated into red. :wink:

I probably won't have any Fassionola made by this evening but thanks for the reminder. Jumbalaya and Hurricanes for dinner tonight!

This is a very good project. It's the type of thing that makes a home bar a helluva lot more fun.

I am not (yet) seeing any connection which positively connects the color red to whatever the original hurricane was. I would suggest continuing the experiments and the discussion, and over time, speaking with the Bum and Martin Cate and a few others to collect information. What is today a "thought" or "assumption" may become much more clear in the light that others may be able to shed on it.

Mix 'em up and have fun with it and let us know what you learn.

"The liver must be punished!"

One more thing... Don't overlook the non-tiki Sazerac cocktail as it also originated in New Orleans. The Sazerac and the Hurricane are from different eras, and each uses a different base spirit. A number of us here on TC have previously admitted to enjoying a well-made Sazzie, so I thought I would mention it. I don't think either cocktail is really connected solidly to Mardi Gras per se, but just to the city and people of New Orleans.

Just checked the Hurricane recipe in my Tiki+ app and the Bum solidly attributes the "original drink" recipe to Louis Culligan of Pat O'Brien's in New Orleans circa 1940s. And in the photo the drink is very red looking. The only three ingredients are lemon juice, passion fruit syrup, and dark Jamaican rum. If you can get red from those three, then you're all set. But I wouldn't worry about it because authentic ingredients and ratios would make the authentic drink and color would be secondary.

Helluva fun experiment to conduct!!!!

Fassionola is an odd beast. I have theorized that originally the company only made a passion fruit substitute and it was colored red. Later the company added a raspberry flavored version to its lineup, but had to color it red to match the flavor. Then the color of the passion fruit version was changed to orange as it now is. But people were used to the drinks being red and as a result bartenders simply started using the "right" color despite the "wrong" flavor. Again, this is only a theory, but I think it would explain the discrepancy.

Well Prikli Pear, I'm no journalist, and all the information I found was from different blog posts on the internet, so it should all be taken with a grain of salt. (And remember, I DID cop to being blasphemous up front!) However, I did find several sources claiming that fassionola was the original syrup used in the Hurricane. The best article I found was this one: https://www.eater.com/drinks/2015/9/3/9253267/fassionola-tiki-syrup

Also, from the Cocktail & Sons fassionola page: "Fassionola is considered the original component syrup for a classic Hurricane cocktail." https://store.cocktailandsons.com/Fassionola-p/00005.htm

So there IS quite a bit of evidence out there that fassionola was used instead of a straight passion fruit syrup. From what I gather (and this is purely speculation), I'm surmising that fassionola wasn't readily available until recently, and the Bum recommended passion fruit syrup as the recommended substitute. Once that got published, I think people started taking it as gospel. (Because who'd be idiot enough to challenge the Bum!? Oh, wait...)

So probably even a MORE authentic Hurricane would be to just use the Cocktail & Sons Fassionola, but it's seasonal, and isn't currently available; so that's not exactly a reliable option.

My variation can be made any time, with ingredients a lot of tiki enthusiasts probably already have in stock.

Ah ha! See there, document your sources and research and you become a true cocktail archaeologist, as opposed to "some dude on the interwebz." :lol:

I'll definitely be watching to see where this goes.

AceExplorer, yeah, I've been meaning the give the Sazerac a try!

Prikli Pear, yup. Should've known better than to make outrageous claims without backing it up in some way. Thanks for calling me out!

It's all good. I didn't intend to start anything. I'm not a big fan of flame wars. I've seen folks get excited about an idea they had and just wanted to tap the brakes a bit, so to speak. I appreciate the effort you've gone through and your alternative recipe does indeed show promise!

Could just use red passionfruit syrup and then it would look the color :D

I'm gonna chime in here again... Often when I re-create a vintage drink it may look muddy, or cloudy, or some color way other than what I have come to expect from years of looking at photos of variations. With the hurricane I would emphasize the most authentic recipe and ingredients first. Color would be entirely secondary. The drink is not called a "Red Hurricane" or anything like that - just Hurricane. This approach is the one I favor and often go with.

I purchased a bottle of Red Tropical Jonathon English's Fassionola off of Ebay this past summer and I primarily use it for Hurricane Hayward's Cobra's Fang recipe. The stuff is potently sweet! Two ounces of the stuff would overpower the entire hurricane. Maybe your homemade batch is different? I'd be willing to try maybe 1/4 or 1/2 oz of Fassinola to my hurricane in the name of science. I'll have to give this a try possibly this weekend and I'll report back with my findings.

I do my Hurricane with Fassionola

1 Passion Fruit Syrup
1/2 Fassionola (Johnathan English Red)
1/4 Grenadine (You know cause why not)
1 Lime
1 Orange
1.5 Flor De Cana White
1.5 Trader Vic's Dark Rum

This drink goes down way fast.

AceExplorer: I'm totally with you. The flavor is the most important thing (and I too have been disappointed by the muddy or cloudy appearance of some vintage drinks). Honestly, I didn't care what the Hurricane looked like, as long as it tasted good. I've seen quite a few articles and blog posts stating that the original hurricane must have been orange-ish yellow, and somewhere along the line, some bartender must have decided to add a bunch of grenadine or red food coloring. What I began piecing together though is that the original vintage recipe most likely used fassionola, which not only gave it it's distinctive flavor, but also would account for the red color, and the real reason everyone associates the Hurricane with being red. I'm not looking to make a red drink; I could've just dumped in a bunch of food coloring for that. But in using ingredients that are quite possibly very close to the original recipe, I wound up with a red drink. My point is, the Hurricane didn't suddenly spontaneously morph into being red, from what I can tell it originally WAS red, based on the ingredients. (And again, that's all just speculation.)

Also, as I said, one of my primary goals is to create a drink that tastes good. I've been making quite a few Hurricanes lately using my own recipe, but the other night I had run out of fassionola and I was too lazy to mix up some more, so I just went with the Beachbum Berry recipe, and I have to say I far prefer my own recipe with the fassionola. It's got a much more complex flavor and texture. (I'm sure I'm not biased at all!)

Chester Copperpot: Yeah, I have no idea how sweet the Jonathon English's Fassionola is. If it's like a lot of syrups, it could very well be a rich syrup ratio rather than a simple syrup ratio, which would make it a lot sweeter. I'd just use your best discretion. I started out with just an ounce of the fassionola I had mixed up, and it was still a little too tart for my tastes. I kept bumping it up until I arrived at 2 oz. (Although I don't really put in a full 2 oz.; it's somewhere between 1.75 and 2 oz.) Also remember that my passion fruit syrup is half as sweet as normal, based on Doug Winship's recipe. It definitely is a sweet drink though, I'll grant you that. If you try adding the fassionola, let me know how it goes!

mmaurice: Looks like a good recipe! Very similar to another variation I would often make, which I found here: http://looka.gumbopages.com/2010/05/08/the-original-hurricane-cocktail/

[ Edited by: thejp2000 2018-02-26 12:34 ]

Hey folks, I'm very late to this Hurricane party, but I never got an invitation :>(

I don't want to wade into the murky history of this cocktail, other than agree that what we know today as fassionola or some variation was likely the original syrup, not passion fruit. I've never been to Pat O'Brien's in New Orleans, but I know that the Hurricane mix they sell in stores is a horrible version of fassionola. I discuss my brief use of this mix in the Cobra Kiss review mentioned above.

The "original" version published by the Bum is great, but I also like to experiment with variations. In 2014, I posted the "Mai-Kai Hurricane," which includes fassionola AND passion fruit syrup, plus some other signature Mai-Kai ingredients ...
http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2014/07/15/tales-of-the-cocktails-signature-drink-packs-a-wallop-but-can-it-tame-a-hurricane-inspired-by-the-mai-kai/

It was awesome to have my drink served one night at The Mai-Kai ...

Okole maluna!

BG Reynolds put out a Kickstarter recently to bring back some of the "forgotten" syrups of tiki past, and fassionola is one of the syrups. Eagerly anticipating the two bottles I ordered to see how it stacks up to the homemade version in my fridge.

Yes, I expect a quality product from Blair. I've tried a few other products out there, and they're not quite on the mark.

On 2018-07-25 15:36, The Daywalker wrote:
BG Reynolds put out a Kickstarter recently to bring back some of the "forgotten" syrups of tiki past, and fassionola is one of the syrups. Eagerly anticipating the two bottles I ordered to see how it stacks up to the homemade version in my fridge.