Happy Mardi Gras, everyone! Is anyone doing anything fun? In a perfect world, I would be down in New Orleans right now, stuffing my face with fried, powdered sugar-covered beignets, drinking like a fish, and enjoying 60-degree weather. Instead, however, I’m sipping a healthy green smoothie, glaring out the window at the giant muddy snow piles on the sidewalks, and wishing it weren’t 22 degrees outside. Things could be worse…but they could also be way better, ya know?
My original plan for my Mardi Gras post was to make Nutella-stuffed beignets. I found this great recipe online, and was actually looking forward to working with yeast again (excuse to break out my awesome wedding-gifted stand mixer). But then it snowed a bunch, and we had a snow day, and naps happened, and I had to help Dan shovel the car out of our parking spot, so…I scrapped the beignet idea and made Hurricanes and Irish Nachos instead (recipe forthcoming). Healthy living, that’s our motto.
Until yesterday, all I knew about Hurricanes was that my friends Brad/Amy love them (and regularly drink their body weight in them whenever they’re in New Orleans) and that they are super strong. I ordered one once during brunch at our favorite Cajun seafood place, but the first sip was basically 95% rum, which was just a little overwhelming for 11am, so I quietly pushed my drink to one side and ignored it for the rest of the meal (which was delicious…mmm, shrimp). Not a great introduction to the cocktail but, given Brad and Amy’s ringing endorsements, I was willing to give Hurricanes another shot.
And I’m so glad I did! I made us these cocktails after our snow-shoveling adventures yesterday afternoon, and I don’t know if it was the physical exertion/wintry chill or the fact that I was able to control the amount of rum that went into each drink, but…they absolutely delicious. Sweet, fruity, and not at all overwhelming in its rummy-ness. Of course, there was still enough booze in each drink to make us almost immediately tipsy, but hey – that’s kinda sorta the point, right? <wink wink>
- 2 oz passion fruit flavored rum (I went with Pirate Bay’s passion fruit flavored rum b/c the original recipes called for passion fruit juice, but I didn’t have any on hand)
- 2 oz dark rum
- 1 oz lime juice
- 1 oz simple syrup
- 3 oz orange juice
- ½ oz grenadine (You can use more than this – I’ve seen up to 2oz in some recipes. But, I ran out, which is why my hurricanes are not as red as usual.)
- Ice
- Orange wheel (for garnish)
- Fill one large glass or 2 smaller ones with ice.
- Combine all cocktail ingredients in a shaker and fill with ice.
- Shake vigorously to mix, then strain mixer into your glass(es).
- Garnish with an orange wheel.
- Enjoy!
(Slightly adapted from this recipe and this recipe)
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