Dark and Stormy

For several years now, the Moscow Mule has been one of the most ordered long drinks in bars and restaurants, alongside the Gin Tonic. The Moscow Mule has succeeded in sparking widespread interest in ginger beer. Many manufacturers are now vying for the favour of bartenders and guests. However, this spicy ginger lemonade is not solely reserved for the vodka drink from the 1940s. Many years before, ginger beer was mixed with other spirits to create refreshing long drinks. One of these is the Dark and Stormy.

Legend has it that the drink originated around 1900 at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. At that time, rum and soda were predominantly drunk here. A bartender is said to have accidentally mixed up ginger beer with soda, thus creating the Dark and Stormy. A sailor who was at the bar at the time then associatively named the drink after a dark and stormy sea. A nice story. Whether the drink actually originated this way, however, remains questionable. Especially when you consider that at around the same time, the first documented ginger beer long drink was created in New York. Namely the Mamie Taylor: ginger beer and Scotch. The Mamie Taylor enjoyed extreme popularity among the upper class. So it's not at all unlikely that the idea of long drinks with ginger beer spread across the Atlantic to Bermuda.

The Dark 'n' Stormy is a legally registered trademark. This means that the company Gossling Brothers, which is based in Bermuda, has secured the rights to the name. Goslings has always been closely associated with the Dark 'n' Stormy and claims to be the rum originally used in the Dark 'n' Stormy.