Hurricane (Gold Fassionola) – Recipe & History

What Does The Gold Hurricane Taste Like?

This might be my favorite of the three fassionola hurricanes, along with the Pat O’Brien’s Hurricane. Passion fruit is a beautiful flavor and blends well with the other rums and citrus in the hurricane. While the Green and red hurricanes have more complex flavors, there is something refreshing and delightful about the simple gold hurricane.

The History Of The Hurricane.

The hurricane was invented in the 1940s during World War 2 at Pat O’Brians in New Orleans. The story goes that the folks who controlled the import of European spirits jacked the prices way up and set conditions that for each bottle of European spirits purchased, a certain amount of the more plentiful but less desirable Caribbean rums had to be bought too.

With tons of unused rum about, the owner of Pat O’Brians decided to mix a drink using as much of it as possible. The result is this massive and boozy drink with a lot of juice and sweetener to hide the whopping 120 mLs (4 oz) of rum. This will get you drunk, which is the best way to experience New Orleans.

Now while the origins of the hurricane are pretty much agreed upon, the original hurricane recipe is widely disputed. Jeff Beachbum Berry states in “Beach Bum Berry’s Remixed” that the original recipe is 2 oz lemon juice, 2 oz passion fruit syrup, and 4 oz black rum. At the same time, a very reputable source, even Jeff’s recipe, is disputed. Other well-researched authors state it was not 4 oz of dark rum but 2 oz of both dark and light rums (I can’t remember the source, but I remember reading it). Even Jeff Berry says the original used fassionola instead of passion fruit syrup. Long story short. No one can agree upon a single original recipe, and it doesn’t appear that it was written down. The creator Pat O’Brians gives one recipe, Jeff Berry gives another, and then adds modifications. Who knows. If you have some information I don’t have, please send me an email or comment, letting me know.

The History Of Jonathan English Fassionola

Fassionola was a line of tropical syrups made by the San Diego-based Jonathan English company. Jonathan English made Gold, Red, and Green fassionola syrup, each with a unique flavor. The gold was primarily passion fruit flavored, the red was fruit punch, and the green was mainly lime and guava. It is widely rumored that the Jonathan English company went out of business, and it was, but before the company went entirely out of business, it was bought by a new owner. I learned this from a Reddit post. The new owner still makes the classic Jonathan English red, green and gold fassionolas. There is an eBay seller who ships these original fassionolas, but it seems distribution is limited to the San Diego area.

It’s not uncommon to find individuals who want fassionola to make their own. I’ve made my own, and it turns out pretty good. Again considering there is no definitive recipe for fassionola, make something fun and tropical. I built my recipes knowing that red is supposed to be fruit punch, gold is passion fruit, and green is lime and guava.

Why Is It Called A Hurricane?

The name for the hurricane comes from the hurricane lantern, which the traditional serving glass for this drink looks like. Personally speaking, this glass looks like a standard indoor kerosene lamp. The Hurricane lamp is a cold or hot blast lantern that redirects air through tubing along the sides so high winds do not extinguish the flame. Therefore, a standard indoor kerosene lamp doesn’t have to worry about high winds and does not have this tubing. This cocktail instead uses the iconic tapered top design the kerosene lamp uses to prevent air from entering the light from the top. Not that anyone cares about the science or design of dead flame lamps, so I will end it there. I suppose ordering kerosene was not as cool sounding as ordering a hurricane.

Recipe Resources

• 2007 Sipppin’ Safari – Berry