The Dark ’n Stormy® is one of the simplest cocktails to make, involving just three ingredients: dark rum, ginger beer and lime served over ice.
It’s claimed to have been invented by Gosling Brothers – a Bermuda-based distillery – around the time of the First World War, using their Black Seal rum. Anecdotally the drink has probably been around a lot longer, with sailors finding a combination of their daily rum ration with ginger beer easier and tastier to drink and the lime added for vitamin C to ward off scurvy.
The drink is one of the few cocktails that are actually trademarked; others include the Painkiller, the Sazerac and the Hand Grenade.
Gosling Brothers registered the name Dark ’n Stormy® (one apostrophe) as a trademark in the USA in 1991, so bartenders need to include Gosling Black Seal rum to use the name. Today, pretty much the only country in the world where you can use the name is Australia, as another brand has already registered it.
Gosling Brothers claim that they have protected the name and recipe as it only tastes right with their products:
Add 45ml of Gosling Black Seal rum to a tall glass of ice cubes
Then add around 120ml of Gosling Ginger Beer
Stir, then garnish with a wedge of lime
There are lots of twists on the Dark ’n Stormy® including using cider in addition to ginger beer. And, of course, you can still make the drink with any dark rum… you just can’t legally call it a Dark ’n Stormy® unless you want to face the wrath of the Gosling Brothers' legal team!
By Nick Mosley @brightonn1ck. This story first appeared on www.thehaguecocktailweek.com @thehaguecocktailweek