Hurricane Beryl slammed into Texas yesterday, marking the beginning of the wild hurricane season that’s been predicted. While here in Florida, our Tampa Bay Beaches dodged the first one, it’s likely it won’t be the last. Firstly, we hope that everyone evacuated and is okay in Houston! Secondly, what was your favorite hurricane party drink?!
When the Tampa Bay Weather channel mentions a hurricane is coming, the first thing most ask is “where’s the hurricane party?”. Okay, not fully true, but it’s what a lot of people think about from downtown St. Petersburg, to Clearwater Beach, over to Safety Harbor, and across the Courtney Campbell to Tampa! Legend has it, we’ve been blessed by the Indians here in the Tampa Bay area, and that’s why historically the majority of hurricanes that are meant to hit us divert somewhere else at the last minute. (KNOCK ON WOOD!) So maybe that’s why we tend to think “no work!” before we think “get prepared”. Either way, we don’t know what this hurricane season may bring or when it’s time for us to hunker down, but you may as well be prepared to host the best hurricane party you can! And what’s a better way to do that than with some delicious themed cocktails?
I Thought Hurricane Season Was Over
Ingredients:
2 oz light rum
2 oz dark rum
1 oz orange juice
1 oz passionfruit juice
½ oz lime juice
Bar spoon of simple syrup
Bar spoon of grenadine
Shake all ingredients together with ice, and strain into a hurricane glass over ice. Garnish with an orange slice and a cherry, and start sipping away those hurricane jitters!
Eye of the Storm
Ingredients:
2 oz dark rum
1 oz tart cherry juice
½ oz grenadine
½ oz lime juice
Ginger beer
Shake the rum, cherry juice, grenadine, and lime juice together with ice until cold. Pour over a large ice cube into a glass, and top with ginger beer. This Eye of the Storm is a lot more fun than the real one!
Dark & Stormy
Ingredients:
2 oz dark rum
Ginger beer
Lime wedges
Muddle the limes, and add the rum before topping with ice and ginger beer for this classic cocktail that’ll go down easy while the wind howls all around.
Storm Surge Sipper
Ingredients:
2 oz bourbon
½ oz elderflower liqueur
½ oz lemon juice
½ oz honey
1 oz apple cider
This one’s for the latter part of hurricane season when fresh apple cider and all things apples line the grocery store aisles. Shake all ingredients in a shaker with ice, and pour over ice into a rocks glass. Add a cinnamon stick and an apple slice to make it pretty to take your eyes off the trees swaying out your window! **Be safe, and evacuate to a safe place before drinking this Storm Surge Sipper so you can sip peacefully while you wait out the storm!**
The Calm After The Storm
Ingredients:
2 oz prosecco
2 oz aperol
1 oz fresh watermelon juice
Splash of club soda
After the storm passes through, there's hopefully no damage for you and your neighbors, it’s time to pick up the debris. This is the perfect post-storm refreshment to get you through the cleanup and save you from the hurricane hangover. Fill a large wine glass with ice. Add the aperol, the prosecco, and then the watermelon juice. Top with club soda, stir, and add a watermelon slice for garnish. Hurricane, and hurricane headache be gone!
Grab the ingredients for your favorite recipes now so you don’t have to rush around to Luekens Liquors, ABC, or Total Wine when the next big storm threatens the 813! While we don’t work during hurricanes in order to keep our bartenders safe, we’d love to help you out with your next event here in Tampa and St. Pete. We love creating unique custom cocktails like these tailored to your specific theme or your preferences, and if you hire a bartender with us, it includes two custom cocktail creations at no extra charge! Here’s to a hurricane season with more parties and less damage! Cheers!
