In The Kitchen: Dark & Stormy Cocktail

Cocktails are one of my favorite things to make at home- partly because it's much more thrifty to make them at home, and partly because I've always wanted to be a bartender (but couldn't take the hours these days). Today I thought I'd share one of my favorites, a drink that is equally appropriate for cold Northeast nights, as it is for sunny SoCal afternoons- the Dark & Stormy.

First, a tiny bit of history (this is a vintage blog after all). The Dark & Stormy was supposedly created in the late 19th century after the British Navy purchased a ginger beer plant in Bermuda. Lore has it that ginger beer and rum were both beverages readily available on British naval vessels, and it wasn't long before they were combined. Today, the Bermudan rum company Gosling's actually holds a trademark on the name "Dark 'N' Stormy" and that trademark dictates that the drink be made only with Gosling's Black Seal Rum and ginger beer- nothing more.

The cocktail I'm sharing today, while similar to, and inspired by, the Dark 'n' Stormy, is my own take on the drink so I'm using the legally safe moniker 'Dark & Stormy'.

Gosling's rum is not a liquor we usually keep on hand, however The Kraken black spiced rum is (we love it mixed with eggnog at the holiday's), so it has become our rum of choice in this drink.

Other than the dark rum, you'll need:

Fresh ginger
Lime*
Ginger beer of choice
(I like a spicy one, especially in this drink, so Fever-Tree or Reed's is my pick. If you're in Seattle, go for locally made Rachel's Ginger Beer- it's amazing and what I used when we could get it).

Start with a slice of fresh ginger combined with a lime wedge in a tall glass. Muddle the ginger and lime until the lime is juiced and the ginger is broken up a bit.

After muddling, you can opt to leave the lime and ginger in the bottom of the glass, or remove them with a slotted spoon (like I did) and then fill the glass with ice.

Add 2 oz. dark rum, top off with ginger beer, and garnish with a slice of lime.

This drink is great for parties with it's simple ingredients, and if you have guests who don't drink alcohol they can enjoy a spicy ginger beer all by itself (ginger beer is a non-alcoholic soda).

Happy Friday everyone! Hope you have an enjoyable weekend ahead of you. I think I'm heading to the Beverly West Elm tomorrow for the Etsy pop-up shop with Emily Henderson. If you'll be there- let me know- I'd love to meet up for a Smilebooth photo!

*Want to know how to pick a good lime? Look for one with even skin texture, that's a bit soft when you gently squeeze it. Didn't get a soft one? No worries- just pop it in the microwave for 5-8 seconds before cutting to soften it up and make the juices easier to release.