This Dark ‘n Stormy recipe is over 100 years old, but still hits all of the right flavor notes today. Super simple to pour, yet gorgeously zesty and refreshing to the core, it’s a great seaside sipper and tailormade for hot summer days. Here’s the best way to make one at home.
Dark ‘n Stormy Cocktail
PREP TIME 2 min
QUICK TIPS
INSTRUCTIONS
01
Fill a glass with ice, and add the ginger beer and optional lime juice
02
Float the rum on top and add a dash or two of bitters
03
Garnish with a lime wedge and serve
Best rum for a Dark ‘n Stormy
The best Dark ‘n Stormy recipe is made with a mellow dark rum. We prefer using Appleton Estate Signature Rum. This gorgeous amber-colored Jamaican rum has fruit-forward aromas with notes of dried apricots, fresh peach and hints of molasses that pairs wonderfully with the zing of a good ginger beer.
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How to serve a Dark ‘n Stormy cocktail
We prefer to serve a Dark ‘n Stormy in a highball glass. This is a type of glass that most folks are likely to have in their kitchen- or drinks cabinet. Holding between 8 -12 oz, it’s taller than a rocks glass and a little shorter than a Collins – perfect for a drink that has a lot of mixer and should be served on plenty of ice.
Highball glasses are very versatile and can be interchanged with the Collins glass, and like other stemware, can also be used to serve beer or soda. Other cocktails you could serve in a highball glass include the Garibaldi and Italian Breeze. These drinks are typically combined in a shaker and then poured into the highball glass over ice.
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Ginger ale VS ginger beer
Back in the day, ginger beer was an alcoholic drink made using fermented ginger, sugar, and water. These days, however, most commercial ginger beers are non-alcoholic, although they are still nice and spicy and stronger-tasting than ginger ale.
Ginger-ale is non-alcoholic, sweeter, and more carbonated and often doesn’t contain any real ginger, other than flavoring. Both can be used in the Dark ‘n Stormy drink recipe – it depends on how spicy you like it.
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
A Dark 'n Stormy cocktail traditionally has a dark rum base. Appleton Estate Rum is a great fit with its smooth flavor and sweet vanilla tones.
A Moscow Mule has vodka as a spirit base, whereas a Dark 'n Stormy has dark rum.
The pretty layering effect that occurs in a well-poured Dark 'n Stormy really adds to its visual appeal. As such, it's recommended to serve it with a swizzle stick and let the drinker to the mixing themselves.
The Dark 'n Stormy is a simple but beautiful drink that combines the gorgeous notes of sweet, mellow rum, spicy ginger beer and zingy lime, finished a dash of bitters to complete the flavorsome harmony.
