Dark 'n' Stormy Recipe: Bermuda Rum and Ginger Beer

Ingredients

2 oz dark rum Gosling's Black Seal is traditionale.g. Gosling's · Myers's · Captain Morgan · Bacardi · Kraken
3½ oz ginger beer spicy, well chilled
¼ oz lime juice optional, not in the IBA spec (optional)

Garnish: Lime wedge · Ice: Ice cubes

Method

Fill a highball glass with ice cubes.
Pour in the ginger beer, leaving room at the top.
If you like it, add the lime juice now.
Float the dark rum slowly over the back of a bar spoon so it sits on top.
Garnish with a lime wedge and serve unstirred.

Watch it made

Dark 'n' Stormy

Taste

Rich molasses and caramel from the rum against sharp ginger heat and gentle sweetness. Refreshing, fizzy and medium strong.

History and origin

The Dark 'n' Stormy is the national drink of Bermuda. It pairs ginger beer, long brewed on the island, with dark rum from Gosling's, a Bermudian merchant family that has blended and sold rum there since the nineteenth century. The exact origin of the name is not documented; the popular explanation is simply the colour, a storm cloud of rum over the pale ginger beer.

Gosling's holds trademarks on the name in the United States, so strictly speaking a branded Dark 'n' Stormy is made with Gosling's Black Seal rum. The IBA lists the drink in its New Era category with dark rum and ginger beer; many bartenders add a squeeze of lime, which is not part of the official spec.

Bartender tips

Choose a spicy, not overly sweet ginger beer; the heat is what makes the drink.
Keep ginger beer in the fridge so it stays fizzy when poured over ice.
With a lighter rum, more lime and ginger ale instead of ginger beer, it becomes a classic Rum Buck.

Variations

Moscow Mule: Vodka and lime with ginger beer, usually in a copper mug.
Rum Buck: Gold rum, lime juice and ginger ale for a lighter, less spicy highball.