Rum lovers represent! If you’ve been to New Orleans, you know Hurricanes – the cocktail – are ubiquitous. Frozen, on the rocks, with fruit, or with extra rum floaters, there are infinite varieties of this quintessential drink. So the 2025 ESSENCE Festival of Culture brought together some of Louisiana’s best mixologists to see who crafts the most delicious Hurricane.
The fruity rum concoction is said to have been created at Pat O’Brien’s, a local institution that opened in New Orleans in 1933. During World War II, distilleries that produced liquor were needed for basic necessities, so whiskey and bourbon became more scarce. In contrast, rum from the Caribbean was plentiful; for every one case of whiskey, bars could get 20 bottles of rum. With all this excess rum, they experimented with recipes and found that mixing it with passion fruit juice was a best seller. It was poured in a glass shaped like a hurricane lantern, and thus this legendary cocktail was born.
In honor of this local libation, this competition was all about seeing how the top mixologists in the area would put their own unique spin on this beloved and well-known drink.
Surprise host and Bounce queen, Big Freedia, introduced the contenders after a raucous reception: Jessica Johnson, owner of Justini’s; Cale Brown, founder of JungleBird504, and Bobbi Rae, artist and storyteller. Besides the obvious rum base, each mixologist shared their special ingredients — Rae used orgeat (an almond liquor) and a homemade guava syrup made from jam, Brown’s version included dry sherry, hibiscus and strawberry syrup, and Johnson’s special sauce was cognac and orange liquor. They ranged in color from a pastel yellow to a vibrant coral, but they all looked refreshing.
Big Freedia hyped up the crowd and the expert judges — Deniseea Taylor (culture and cocktails storyteller, and BET host), Campanella Kent (“Mr. Happy Hour”), and Greg Johnson, founder of Here We Go Entertainment, sipped and deliberated. Even though Freedia seemed to be a fan of them all, there could only be one champion. Congrats to the winner, Jessica Johnson, who took the 2025 “Hurricane Royale” title! When asked what she had to say about this win, she looked into the audience and declared, “You already knowwwww” in her best Big Freedia voice.
And yes, you can try this at home!