How to make ...
Dark and Stormy
The ultimate rum cooler, this classic high-ball features dark rum, Angostura bitters and lime juice topped with fiery ginger beer.
Ingredients
50ml Dark Rum
20ml Lime Juice
2-3 Dashes of Angostura Bitters
Ginger Beer
Lime Wedge to Garnish
Times:
Prep: 2 Minutes
Make: 30 Seconds
Total: 2 Minutes and 30 Seconds
Calories:
194 calories
Allergens:
Contains ginger
Servings:
Serves 1
Method
Take your high-ball glass and, using your Mexican elbow and your jigger to measure, squeeze 20ml of lime juice and add it to the glass.
Fill the glass with cubed ice and then add ginger beer, leaving about an inch of space at the top.
Using your jigger to measure, carefully pour the rum into the drink so it floats.
Add a couple of dashes of Angostura bitters and garnish with a lime wedge.
Serve and enjoy!
Equipment
Jigger/Measure
Mexican Elbow
Cubed Ice
History
The Dark and Stormy originated in Bermuda sometime after world war one via Bermudian rum brand Gosling’s Black Seal.
Gosling’s was started wine and spirits merchant, James Gosling. Gosling left England in 1906 on a ship bound for America, but after 91 days at sea, his charter expired and the ship made port in Bermuda. Gosling decided to stay and 55 years later in 1860 they were selling their first branded dark rum. Gosling’s rum wasn;t called black seal to begin with, it was first sold straight from the barrel and buyers would bring their own bottles to fill, but as demand grew Gosling’s began bottling their rum in reclaimed champagne bottles from the British officer’s mess, they sealed the bottles with black sealing wax and soon people began asking for ‘Black Seal.’
The drink apparently originated in a local ginger beer factory that was run by the Royal Naval Officer’s Club. The sailors soon discovered that a splash of Gosling’s Black Seal made a great addition to the ginger beer. The name is said to come from a sailor who saw the drink and remarked that it was the colour of a cloud only a fool or a dead man would sail under.
Though drinks recipes can’t be patented, their names can and Gosling’s trademarked the name Dark ’n’ Stormy, so technically it’s illegal to make a drink called a Dark ‘n’ Stormy with any rum other than Gosling’s Black Seal.
Another version of the drinks origin suggests that it was created when a drunken old sailor got mad because he was cut off and tricked with a glass of ginger beer. The sailor demanded rum, so the bartender poured some Gosling’s over the ginger beer where it clouded the top of the drink. The sailor allegedly stared into the glass and said it looked like storm clouds over the ocean.
Though drinks recipes can’t be patented, their names can and Gosling’s trademarked the name Dark ’n’ Stormy, so technically it’s illegal to make a drink called a Dark ‘n’ Stormy with any rum other than Gosling’s Black Seal.
