Brace Yourselves for the Hurricane

Up next in this series of dark rum drinks is something called a Hurricane. This is another recipe taken from the annals of Pennsylvania's Wine and Spirits Quarterly. I was intrigued by their section on dark rum and this recipe caught my eye because it looked fun and summery and it incorporates three different kind of rum: namely light rum, dark rum, and 151 proof rum.

I already had all the ingredients on hand with the exception of 151 proof rum. I don't often find myself needing such strong hooch on hand. So a quick trip to the local liquor store for a small bottle was in order. If I don't drink all of it, I can use the remainder to clean my floor. I don't own hurricane glasses so I had to improvise by using pint glasses that I typically use for beer.

Hurricane

adapted from Wine and Spirits Quarterly

-2 oz. light rum

-1 oz. dark rum

-4 oz. pineapple juice

-dash grenadine

-1/2 oz. 151 rum

Shake rums, pineapple juice and grenadine together over ice. Pour into a glass. Float 151 on top.

(As a fun side note, in the photos of the rum in my last three blog posts, you can see the level of rum steadily go down. It's sort of like a flip book of drinking.)

The big glasses definitely came in handy. The recipe calls for a fair amount of volume when ice is taken into account. As least 16 oz. I'd say. Overall, the drink was nice. The 151 didn't overpower the drink. I think it served to intensify the flavors of the other two rums. It gave them a chance to hold their own with the likes of all that fruit juice. If I'm going to pay for decent rum, I at least want to taste it. I'm not exactly sure why it was necessary to float the 151 on top of the drink. One normally does that for presentation, but the color of the rum doesn't differ drastically from the color of the drink. I'll have to play around with it some more.

I've never purchased a bottle of 151 proof rum before and I didn't realize that there's a flammability warning that reads: "Do not use this product for flaming dishes or drinks. All 151 proof rum may flare up and continue to burn when ignited, possibly with an invisible flame. Do not pour directly from bottle near the flame or intense heat. Use caution." I love it when something you intend to ingest carries the same warning that paint thinner might have. But it does give one the feeling of living dangerously...even if only a half an ounce is used.

I would make this drink again. I probably will make this drink again before the summer's over. I have to use that 151 again somehow. It's another arrow in my quiver of drinks I can use to battle this harsh summer heat. And I know I'm going to need all the help I can get; we're not even halfway through August yet. Arrgh.

Update: We finally tried the brandied cherries from a month and a half ago. The perfect drink for the occasion--I thought-- was a manhattan. I fashioned one for myself and one for Heather before we went to dinner on Sunday. I thought they added a nice syrupy richness to the drink. Heather speculated that perhaps when we become experts at canning one day, we should find a recipe that involves cooking the cherries and canning them with the brandy/sugar solution. The ones that we have at bars tend to have a more caramelized texture to them. But I would definitely recommend this recipe to someone who doesn't want to involve a stove.