On a Dark 'N' Stormy Night

On the Pennsylvania trip we took last weekend, I picked up the publication the state owned liquor stores put out. It's called Wine and Spirits Quarterly, it's free and as you would imagine, it comes out every three months. The things published in it need to be taken with a grain of salt because the only things featured happen to be the same things featured in the store. At least thats the way it seems to me. But I like to flip through and see what the people on the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board have to say about what's hip in the world of cocktails.

The cover story focused on the genre of dark rum based drinks. The one that caught our eye was the Dark 'n' Stormy cocktail. Neat, I thought. I like rum. However, the thing that caught my attention was that the recipe was provided by Gosling's rum. The very people that produce the rum used in this very cocktail. This made the recipe dubious at best. Highly dubious.

As it turns out, the Dark 'n' Stormy cocktail is a registered trademark of Gosling. They own the drink. And stranger still, I've heard of it. I'm not sure if it's just the weird apostrophe n spelling that's trademarked or if it's the drink itself. What if I use an ampersand? I decided not to ask too many questions. I don't need legal trouble right now. Gosling's even produces a line of ginger beer for the specific purpose of making Dark 'n' Stormys. I can't easily get it, so I went with another brand. I hope I don't get sued by Gosling's.

The drink originated in Bermuda, where Gosling's is produced, and has since been exported to various other places according to Wikipedia. It's become popular in Australia since traveling rugby players discovered it and has become popular in the United States among sailing communities along the east coast. I went to an all boys prep school for grades nine through twelve and Heather likes to give me guff about it. Since discovering the popularity of the drink in the sailing community, Heather has this picture in her head of me standing on the deck of my yacht with a captain's hat on my head, my high school diploma in one hand, a dark 'n' stormy in the other and singing my school fight song. Heather thinks that would be quite yare.

Full disclosure: I would have done this cocktail for last week's blog, but I was having trouble tracking down ginger beer. Further disclosure: I didn't know what the difference was between ginger ale and ginger beer. The internet tells me that ginger beer is more gingery than ginger ale--like ginger ale with a kick. So I went to the Gourmet Garage near my work and dished out $1.99 for a 12 oz. bottle. That extra ginger kick isn't cheap.

Dark 'n' Stormy

adapted from Gosling's Rum

-2 oz. dark rum

-ginger beer (5-6 oz. give or take)

-lime wedge for garnish

In a tall glass filled with ice, add rum. Top with ginger beer. Garnish with lime wedge.

Presto. Yet another exciting and yet refreshing summer cocktail. And I would recommend springing for the ginger beer because it makes the drink taste better. My opinion might be slightly biased because I'm not the biggest fan of ginger ale.

Heather and I both felt that the Dark 'n' Stormy was like a more sophisticated version of a rum and coke. It makes sense if you think about it. Both cocktails are comprised of rum, a sugary effervescent beverage, and a lime wedge. But the deepness and spice of the dark rum and the bite of the ginger give it a nice savory quality that would make me want to pay more for it in a bar than a rum and coke. I hate to admit it, but part of the satisfaction of crafting cocktails yourself is knowing that somewhere in this world, some poor schmuck is paying top dollar for the thing you're drinking on the cheap. I never said that smugness wasn't one of my motives.