Dark and Stormy
Dark rum poured over ginger beer so it floats in a storm cloud. Two ingredients, and the order matters more than you would think.
Built to the standard modern spec; not yet tested in our kitchen. How we test.
The recipe.
Scaling adjusts quantities only. Prepare shaken drinks in individual portions.
Let’s make a good drink.
Fill a highball glass with ice.
Add the ginger beer, and the lime juice if you are using it.
Pour the dark rum slowly over the back of a bar spoon so it layers on top.
Serve with a lime wedge and let the drinker stir it in.
A thoughtful finish
- Ginger beer first, rum last. Reverse the order and you get a uniformly brown highball with none of the visual effect the drink is named for.
- Use a properly spicy ginger beer, not ginger ale. Ale is sweet and mild and leaves the drink flabby.
- Pour the rum over the back of a spoon held just above the surface. The float is the whole trick and it takes five seconds.
Common mistakes
- Building it in the wrong order and losing the layered look entirely.
- Ginger ale in place of ginger beer.
- Using a light or spiced rum. Spiced rum adds vanilla and sugar the drink does not want; a light rum simply vanishes.
A few good questions.
Does it have to be Gosling's?
Legally, in the United States, the name is Gosling's trademark and tied to their rum. In practice any good dark rum makes the same drink — a Demerara rum from Guyana is excellent in it. We use the common name and note the mark.
Is lime part of the recipe?
The IBA spec is rum and ginger beer only. Lime is a very common addition and most bars include it; it brightens the drink considerably. Both are defensible.
Why does mine not layer?
You poured too fast, or poured the rum straight in rather than over the back of a spoon, or your ginger beer was not cold enough. Cold liquid is denser and holds the float better.
What is the difference from a Moscow Mule?
The Mule is vodka, lime and ginger beer, served in a copper mug. Same ginger backbone, but the dark rum makes this a much deeper, more molasses-driven drink.
Variations
- Moscow Mule — Vodka in place of dark rum.
- Mexican Mule — Tequila in place of dark rum.
- Rum Buck — Aged rum, lime and ginger beer, stirred rather than floated.
- Kentucky Mule — Bourbon in place of dark rum.
Where it comes from
c. 1920s · Bermuda · Royal Naval Officers' Club
The drink is Bermudian, and the usual account places it at the Royal Naval Officers’ Club in Bermuda in the years after the First World War, when a local ginger beer plant sat alongside a British naval base well supplied with dark rum. The name describes the look: the dark rum poured last sits in a cloudy layer on the pale ginger beer, which someone is said to have described as the colour of a cloud only a fool or a dead man would sail under. Gosling’s holds United States trademarks on the name tied to its own rum and has enforced them, which is why bars often list the same drink under another name.
Sources
- Gosling Brothers Ltd., company history, current (producer)
- United States Patent and Trademark Office, registered mark 'Dark 'n Stormy', current (trademark record)
- IBA Official Cocktails list, current (standards body)
Strength. About 1.33 US standard drinks at an estimated 10.7% ABV, estimated from the ingredients and technique, not measured. What that means.
A little character in every sip.
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