Dark and Stormy: A Cocktail for all Weather

A Dark and Stormy cocktail tastes great regardless of the weather. However, those who don’t follow this cocktail’s rule could hit bumpy water. Discover that rule in our easy Dark and Stormy recipe while you learn how to craft the classic cocktail in just two minutes.

Dark and Stormy CocktailPhoto by2foodtrippers

A Dark and Stormy cocktail isn't technically (and maybe legally) a Dark and Stormy unless it's crafted with Goslings Black Seal rum. Gosling Brothers Ltd. trademarked the name Dark 'N Stormy and, not surprisingly, expects the cocktail to be crafted with its rum.

While it's unlikely that the company will sue home mixologists, we've chosen to abide by this rule and buy a new bottle of rum to add to our ever-growing liquor collection. In our book, that's a good thing since it helps to complete our expanding bar.

What Is a Dark and Stormy Cocktail?

It would be easy to call a Dark and Stormy cocktail a Moscow Mule imitation crafted with dark rum instead of vodka but that would be incorrect.

The Dark and Stormy likely pre-dates the Moscow Mule by over a century

Plus, mixologists typically use lowball or highball glasses when crafting Dark and Stormies instead of copper mugs.

History of the Dark 'N Stormy Cocktail

We'd love to share a story about how the Dark and Stormy cocktail was invented on a dark and stormy night. That epic story would involve princesses and pirates... and would be fiction.

Instead, the Dark and Stormy traces its roots to Bermuda and a rum company.

Gosling Brothers Ltd. trademarked the drink in the 20th, a century after the Goslings crafted the original Dark 'N Stormy cocktail. Or did they?

It's possible that the Dark and Stormy was invented by sailors who added ginger to rum for medicinal purposes. Legend has it that one of those savvy sailors named the drink after its 'dark and cloudy' appearance.

We prefer this story even though it doesn't involve either pirates or princesses.

Ingredients

As is the case with most classic cocktails, the Dark and Stormy recipe only requires a handful of ingredients:

• 2 ounces Goslings Black Seal rum
• 4 ounces ginger beer
• spritz lime juice (freshly squeezed)
• ice
• lime wheel or wedge (garnish)

While you likely have a lime and ginger beer at home, you may need to make a special trip to the liquor store before you craft your first Dark and Stormy cocktail. Goslings Black Seal rum isn't exactly a liquor cabinet staple.

Distilled with a secret recipe passed through the generations, Goslings Black Seal rum has been a Bermuda favorite since it debuted in the 19th century. Originally called Old Rum and served on draught to locals, this Bermudan 80 proof rum ages in oak barrels.

The Goslings started bottling their rum in champagne bottles after World War One and sealed those bottles with black sealing wax. It was only a matter of time before the rum's name changed from Old Rum to Black Seal. Today, Goslings dark rums are sold all over the world including the US.

The original Dark 'N Stormy recipe included a specific ginger beer - Barritt's Ginger Beer. However, Gosling now makes is own ginger beer. Since we couldn't find either of these ginger beers where we live, we bought Fever Tree ginger beer instead.

Pro Tip: Use your favorite ginger beer in this recipe.

Our recipe calls for a squirt of lime juice. We tried adding two full ounces as some recipes require and the resulting flavor was, for lack of a better word, too limey. Adding a squirt provides the necessary tang without taking over the flavor.

Fun Fact: The original Dark 'N Stormy recipe didn't include lime juice.

How to Craft a Dark and Stormy Cocktail

The first step in this recipe is to fill a rocks glass half way with ice. You can use a highball glass if you want to add more ice to your Dark and Stormy cocktail.

Measure the ginger beer and pour it directly into the glass. For this step, we use a Japanese jigger to ensure accurate measurements and avoid spillage.

Use the same jigger to measure the rum.

While you can pour the rum directly into the glass, we like to float our rum using the back of a bar spoon. The result is an appearance that looks as dark and stormy as the drink's name implies it to be.

If you don't do this optional step, the drink will still taste great but will look more dark than stormy.

Pro Tip: Floating rum sounds difficult but it's actually easy.

Add a spritz of fresh lime juice and garnish with a wheel or wedge cut from the same lime.

Now it's time to commence your dark and stormy night. How many Dark and Stormy cocktails you imbibe is up to you.

Variations

Don't give up if you don't have a bottle of Goslings Black Seal rum on hand. Instead, try one of the following Dark and stormy variations:

• Replace the dark rum with gin to craft a Gin-Gin Mule.
• Replace the dark rum with whiskey to craft an Irish Mule.
• Replace the dark rum with bourbon to craft a Kentucky Mule.
• Replace the dark rum with vodka to craft a Moscow Mule.
• Replace the dark rum with tequila to craft a Mexican Mule.
• Use a different dark rum to craft a Safe Harbor cocktail.

This recipe was originally published on 2foodtrippers. Consider subscribing to 2foodtrippers if you enjoyed it.