New Orleans: Pat O'Brien's (September 2000)

My spouse and I enjoyed evening cocktails at Pat O'Brien's in September 2000. Their famous hurricane drinks were potent, and cause a great hangover the next morning, which was only relieved by some greasy hash browns and orange drink from McDonalds. We sat in the courtyard at a table with other guests because it was so crowded. Drinks come in huge  souvenir glasses, which you can return for a small deposit. Pat O'Brien's Bar began operation as a legal liquor establishment on December 3, 1933, at the intersection of Royal and St. Peter streets in the French Quarter. Before that, during Prohibition the bar was known as Mr. O'Brien's Club Tipperary; the password "storm's brewin'" was required to gain entrance to the establishment. In December 1942 it moved to its present location at 718 St. Peter Street, into a historic building dating from 1791. Pat O'Brien's is home to the original flaming fountain (located in the courtyard) and the hurricane cocktail. There is also a piano bar, featuring twin "dueling" pianos where local entertainers take song requests. The dueling piano bar is thought to be the first of its kind. O'Brien is reported to have invented the hurricane cocktail in the 1940s. The story of the drink’s origin holds that, due to difficulties importing scotch during World War II, liquor salesmen forced bar owners to buy up to 50 cases of their much-more-plentiful rum in order to secure a single case of good whiskey or scotch. The barmen at Pat O’Brien’s came up with an appealing recipe to reduce their bulging surplus of rum. When they decided to serve it in a hurricane glass, shaped like a hurricane lamp, the hurricane was born.