Thugz Passion: Tupac's Own Cocktail, From a Song to a Real Bar Menu

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Most celebrity drinks are invented by publicists. Tupac's was invented by Tupac. The Thug Passion started as a title and a toast on All Eyez on Me in 1996, built on Alizé and Hennessy — and two decades later it appeared on an actual cocktail menu in New York, mixed the way his own notebook-era ideas suggested, ice and all.

The Drink in the Song

"Thug Passion" paired two bottles that defined 1990s hip-hop luxury: Alizé, the French passion-fruit cognac liqueur, and Hennessy. The combination was sweet, golden and unapologetically flashy — a drink designed for a toast, not a tasting menu. It became one of the era's signature pours simply because the song put it in everyone's hand.

The Drink on the Menu

When Powamekka Café — the restaurant Tupac sketched in his notebooks — opened as a pop-up at New York's Sweet Chick in April 2017, the bar program reached into his own ideas. The Thugz Passion served there was a bartender's build on his theme: gin, Alizé, lime, pomegranate ice and Champagne, served in a coupe. Next to it stood the Ghetto Russian, his twist on a White Russian — Rémy Martin, Bailey's and condensed milk, closer to a coquito with cognac. And for the non-drinkers, the menu listed his own simplest pleasure: a can of Sunkist.

Why It Holds Up

Strip away the mythology and the instincts are sound. Alizé brings tropical sweetness, cognac brings weight, citrus and Champagne bring the lift the original two-bottle mix always needed. The 2017 version is less a museum piece than a quiet correction — the drink Tupac imagined, finished by people who mix drinks for a living.

FAQ

What is in a Thug Passion?
The original drink from Tupac's 1996 song is Alizé and Hennessy. The version served at the 2017 Powamekka Café pop-up in New York was gin, Alizé, lime, pomegranate ice and Champagne in a coupe.

What was the Ghetto Russian?
Tupac's twist on a White Russian, served at the same pop-up: Rémy Martin cognac, Bailey's and condensed milk — a rich, dessert-like pour closer to coquito than to the classic.

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