Craving a dark and stormy recipe you can make tonight? Fill a tall glass with ice, add 6 oz ginger beer, float 2 oz dark rum on top, and finish with a lime wedge.
For the wider picture of drinking out in the city, see our guide to the portland maine cocktail scene.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Rum in the brand’s recipe | 2 oz Goslings Black Seal Rum |
| Ginger beer in the brand’s recipe | 6 oz |
| Goslings rum strength | 40% ABV (80 proof) |
| Date Goslings trademarked the drink in Bermuda | June 9, 1980 |
The figures come from the Goslings website and VinePair’s November 2023 report. Recipes and brand details can change, so check the sources before you rely on them.
The dark and stormy recipe, step by step
The drink has only a few parts, so the method matters more than a long ingredient list. This is the build on the Goslings site:
- Fill a tall glass with ice.
- Pour in the ginger beer, using the amount the brand gives in the table above.
- Float the Goslings Black Seal Rum on top, again using the brand’s amount from the table.
- Stir until it looks like a storm cloud, as the brand puts it.
- Add a lime wedge as an optional garnish.
Other versions flip the order. A Paste Magazine recipe from March 2015 uses a Collins glass filled with ice, adds the rum first, and tops it with ginger beer. It also garnishes with a lime.
Both builds are rum and ginger beer over ice, so the real choice is the order you pour in. The brand pours the ginger beer first and floats the rum on top, while Paste adds the rum first and tops it with the beer.
Why the rum matters
Goslings describes Black Seal Rum as the essential ingredient in Bermuda’s signature cocktail. VinePair’s November 2023 report goes further and says a true Dark ‘n Stormy must be made with Goslings. At its essence, it adds, the drink is a simple two-ingredient spirit and soda mix, like a Gin & Tonic.
The name is a trademark. VinePair reports that Goslings trademarked the Dark ‘n Stormy on June 9, 1980, first in Bermuda, and later sought the same status in the United States and beyond. It also notes a 2015 dispute in federal court in Massachusetts against Pernod Ricard.
Cocktail writer Matt Pietrek, quoted by VinePair, calls the drink essentially a Rum ‘n Coke where you have switched ginger beer for cola and a heavier rum for a lighter rum. That is a handy way to picture the flavour balance: a rich, dark rum against sharp, sweet ginger.
If you swap in another bottle, you are making a rum and ginger beer in the same style. Paste’s 2015 piece jokes that the Gosling family is protective of the recipe, so it is fair to call the swap a cousin of the original.
Where the name and the drink came from
Goslings says it was born in 1806 on Bermuda and is now an 8-generation family business. VinePair traces the drink to the period after World War I, when the British Royal Navy built a ginger beer manufacturing facility in the Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda. It was not long before that ginger beer met the local Goslings rum.
Paste notes that Bermuda is only around 20 square miles, so the two drinks soon ended up in the same glass. It also gives two theories for the navy’s ginger beer: ginger’s effect on seasickness, or an effort to wean sailors off rum.
The name has a legend behind it. According to Paste, a sailor sometime after WWI called the drink the colour of a cloud only a fool or a dead man would sail under. As of Paste’s March 2015 article, it was the official cocktail of Bermuda. VinePair says that almost a century on it is the island’s most popular cocktail.
Can you buy a dark and stormy in a can?
Yes, and the idea is older than you might guess. VinePair reports that Goslings sold a ready-to-drink version in Bermuda in the 1970s, in 28-ounce glass bottles at 15 percent ABV. Over the years the format moved to a 12-ounce can at 9 percent.
The company launched the canned version in its export markets in 2011. If you want a quick pour on a boat or a golf course, that is the kind of use it was built for.
Making it at home or ordering it out
At home, the whole drink depends on cold ice and fresh ginger beer, since there is little else to hide behind. Use a tall glass, keep the lime fresh, and measure the rum rather than guessing.
If you want to try spirits made closer to home in your next highball, start with our guide to maine craft distilleries. When you are ordering rather than mixing, our notes on how to order at a cocktail bar will help you ask for the rum you want.
Drinks served under the dark and stormy name at any bar may follow different recipes. Ask what rum and ginger beer go in the glass if you want the classic build.
Frequently asked questions
What is in a dark and stormy?
Show answer
Rum, ginger beer and a lime garnish. The Goslings recipe uses 2 oz of Black Seal Rum and 6 oz of ginger beer over ice.
Do I have to use Goslings rum?
Show answer
As of VinePair’s November 2023 report, a true Dark ‘n Stormy must be made with Goslings, which trademarked the drink. You can still mix another dark rum with ginger beer, but it is a rum and ginger beer rather than the trademarked original.
Why is it called a dark and stormy?
Show answer
According to a legend retold by Paste, a sailor sometime after WWI said the drink was the colour of a cloud only a fool or a dead man would sail under. The dark rum floating on the ginger beer gives the storm-cloud look.
Is there a day for the drink?
Show answer
VinePair says to mark down June 9 for the annual celebration in Bermuda. That is also the date Goslings trademarked the drink in 1980.
Does it come premixed?
Show answer
Yes. VinePair reports that Goslings sold a ready-to-drink version in Bermuda in the 1970s and launched it in export markets in 2011.
