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Dark ’n Stormy is a cocktail with a minimalist recipe, a peculiar history, and even its own trademark.
The drink comes from Bermuda. In its basic form, it consists of just two ingredients: ginger beer and dark rum. But in the U.S., the rum is legally restricted to one brand only — Gosling’s Black Seal.
The story begins in 1806. William Gosling, a London wine and spirits merchant, had a son named James. At some point, James decided to expand the family business to the New World. He chartered a ship, the Mercury, loaded it with alcohol worth 10,000 pounds sterling — nearly 800,000 in today’s money — and set sail for America. But the voyage never reached its destination. After 91 days at sea, the ship arrived into Bermuda, a thousand kilometers away of its destination, and with its freight expired. Three months on the ocean was too long, even for that era.
As fate would have it, James liked Bermuda so much that he abandoned his American plans and opened a shop in Hamilton, the island’s capital. That shop grew into the family company still active today — Gosling Brothers Limited.
The famous rum came later. In 1860, the Goslings imported their first batch of raw rum, began experimenting with blending and aging, and by 1863 released their own dark, full-bodied spirit called Old Rum. At first, it was sold straight from the barrel, poured into whatever containers customers brought. But during World War I, the Goslings found a steady supply of empty champagne bottles from the Royal Navy officers’ mess. They reused the bottles, sealing them with black wax. Customers loved it and began asking for “black seal rum.” Over time the rum changed its name to “Black Seal Rum”, first informally and then officially.
The logo came later — in 1949 — when Francis Gosling designed the Black Seal label, playing on the double meaning of the word “seal”.
Today, Gosling’s produces several types of rum. The rums are distilled in Barbados and Jamaica, then shipped to Bermuda for aging in additionally charred bourbon barrels for three to six years before being blended. Most of the rum is exported in barrels for bottling elsewhere, though local sales are bottled on the island.
And while their standard bottle looks like most rums, Gosling’s also releases a special Reserve Old Rum in champagne bottles lined with black wax — a tribute to the tradition that gave the brand its name.
In the 1920s, the British Royal Navy Officers’ Club in Bermuda operated a small brewery to make ginger beer for its own use.
Traditional ginger beer is a yeast-fermented infusion of ginger and sugar. It originated in Yorkshire, England, in the 18th century, and spread across the globe with the British Navy. It became especially popular in Great Britain, the USA, Canada, and South Africa. At first, ginger beer was slightly alcoholic, but very quickly it became practically alcohol-free. The alcohol from fermentation is removed by heating.
Today, you can find both traditional ginger beer made by fermentation, and sodas sold under the same name. There is also ginger ale, but that’s always just carbonated water with flavorings. For the Dark’n Stormy cocktail, traditional fermented ginger beer is the right choice, as its flavor is quite different from ginger soda.
Sailors took to ginger beer immediately, perhaps because ginger is known to help with nausea — and not every sailor is immune to seasickness.
So, the Officers’ Club brewed ginger beer for themselves, and eventually someone decided to add rum. The result was so much better that the idea caught on quickly.
The name Dark’n Stormy supposedly comes from an old fisherman who said the drink was “the color of a cloud only a fool or a dead man would sail under.” At least, that’s the official story told by Gosling Brothers Limited.
Of course, the officers in Bermuda weren’t the only ones who thought of mixing rum and ginger beer. But they didn’t spread their discovery widely. In Bermuda, however, the Goslings were the only rum producers, and between 1920 and 1980 they expanded their sales worldwide, promoting their rum together with the Dark’n Stormy as inseparable partners.
In 1980, the Gosling family trademarked the name Dark’n Stormy. Legally, in the United States, only Gosling’s Black Seal Rum can be used to make a cocktail sold under that name.
Today, Goslings even sells ready-to-drink Dark’n Stormy in cans. In 2009, they also began producing their own ginger beer, though this part isn’t trademarked — so anyone can mix Dark’n Stormy with their favorite ginger beer.
The cocktail itself has gone on to become one of the official drinks of the International Bartenders Association, in the “New Era Drinks” category.
Recipe according to the IBA:
2 oz (60 ml) Goslings Black Seal Rum
3 1/3 oz (100 ml) ginger beer
Process: In a highball glass filled with ice, pour the ginger beer, then float the rum on top — the rum represents the storm clouds.
Garnish: a slice of lime.
Glassware: highball glass.
These are the basics: rum and ginger beer. Often, freshly squeezed lime juice or a little syrup are added for balance. And while the cocktail is traditionally served unstirred for dramatic effect, it should be mixed before drinking.
