It's Mardi Gras and Carnival season (already!) so pop some vitamin C if you're still nursing your New Years hangover because, dang it, it's party time!

The quintessential Mardi Gras cocktail is, no doubt, the infamous Hurricane. The history of the Hurricane is rather murky, with some cocktail chroniclers pointing to its purported invention in the 1940's at Pat O' Brien's as a way to alleviate the enormous amounts of rum shoved upon him by his distributors. Others cite the 1939 World's Fair in New York at the (ahem) Hurricane Bar. Whether or not it was actually invented at O'Brien's, certainly the credit for the continuing popularity of this drink belongs to that establishment. If you go today, you'll get a pre-mixed version instead of one made with real fruit juice, so maybe stick to whipping up this cocktail at home.

The Hurricane

• 2 oz. light rum
• 2 oz. dark rum
• 1 oz. fresh orange juice
• 3/4 oz. fresh lime juice
• 2 oz. passion fruit juice
• 1/2 oz. simple syrup
• Grenadine to taste

(I personally prefer this drink without it, but several recipes recommend throwing in some pineapple juice, anywhere from 1 to 2 ounces. It's your call.)

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into one of those mammoth Hurricane glasses (if you're unfamiliar with them, they're shaped like hurricane lamps and come in sizes ranging from 10 ounces to a ridiculous 29 ounces).

Garnishes are up to you. Some places go crazy with them, throwing an entire fruit salad around the rim of the glass. I like to make it a little less ornate and stick with a simple orange wheel.

There are several iconic cocktails whose origins are traced to the Crescent City, and if you're particularly interested in conjuring the spirit of New Orleans (without getting plastered on Hurricanes) by all means try a Sazerac, a Ramos Gin Fizz or a Vieux Carré (recipes available at CocktailDB.com). As far as the spirit of Mardi Gras, however, knock back a couple Hurricanes and fling some beads around to embrace the modern flavor of perhaps one of our nation's great parties.

Finally, I cannot mention Mardi Gras without also bringing up the lasting effects of Hurricane Katrina. Katrinarelief.org is a forum designed to provide information on how and where to help, and direct you to aid organizations. Two and a half years removed from the disaster, many people forget that New Orleans and its wonderful citizenry are still picking up the pieces.

(See Keith in action behind the bar at Union - 1400 First Avenue, Seattle, WA, 206-838-8000)

Related: Make a batch of Fat Tuesday pancakes