Dark 'N' Stormy (Difford's recipe)

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (286 ratings)

Serve in a Collins glass

Ingredients:
1 23 oz Dark/black/blackstrap rum
23 oz Lime juice (freshly squeezed)
13 oz Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)
2 dash Angostura Aromatic Bitters
3 oz Thomas Henry Ginger Beer
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Garnish: Lime wedge

How to make:

SHAKE first 4 ingredients with ice and strain into ice-filled glass. TOP with ginger beer and briefly stir.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 5/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 6/10

Review:

A Daiquiri made with pungent dark rum, topped and made refreshing with spicy ginger beer. Part of the Mule family - but is distinctive due to the assertive flavour of the dark rum.

View readers' comments

AKA: Dark 'n' Stormy

Variant:

Simpler Dark 'N' Stormy Highball

History:

The national drink of Bermuda, where ginger beer and Gosling's rum (a brand of dark rum often associated with this cocktail) are produced.

Who first made or named the Dark 'n' Stormy is unknown, but legend has it that it was created, or at least first enjoyed, by British sailors on shore leave in Bermuda after World War I.

Nutrition:

One serving of Dark 'N' Stormy (Difford's recipe) contains 204 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.1 standard drinks
  • 8.74% alc./vol. (8.74° proof)
  • 14.9 grams of pure alcohol

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Showing 10 of 19 comments for Dark 'N' Stormy (Difford's recipe).
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21 hours ago
Made it with Wood's old navy – technically not what the receipt asks for, but a match made in heaven nonetheless!
Simon Sedgley’s Avatar Simon Sedgley
30th September 2024 at 04:07
Quite summer sunny on the first few sips, with a change in the weather as one ventures deeper into the glass. We love a good storm. But, like other commenters, we dialled back the ginger beer; in our case to 50ml to match the rum.
Frederic D.’s Avatar Frederic D.
16th August 2024 at 23:03
Definitely the best version of the DnS for me, the lime and sugar make a huge difference here, an excellent drink for a summer evening. I prefer using Reed's ginger beer, as I find its stronger ginger kick works well against the lime.
Chris Haley’s Avatar Chris Haley
2nd July 2024 at 03:32
Q (maybe others I'm not aware of) makes a tropical ginger beer that goes great with this drink. The black rum is very much "at home" with the mango and passion fruit essences in this particular ginger beer. They were made for each other.
Morten Carlsbaek’s Avatar Morten Carlsbaek
24th May 2024 at 17:31
This is the best Dark 'N' Stormy. So much more interesting and fullfilling than Goslings' own recipe, which is the same as the simpler highball version linked to above. Lime, sugar syrup and Angostura do their Caribian magic vibe with Goslings Black seal.
Avery Garnett’s Avatar Avery Garnett
1st May 2024 at 18:21
a very nice drink; a "dark" and "stormy" (I used worthy park 109) highball that is very nice but nothing more than you'd expect.
John CARR’s Avatar John CARR
12th February 2024 at 10:47
Used home made ginger beer following Klaus St Rainer’s recipe, and this was truly a delight. One part fresh ginger juice, 1.5-2 parts sugar, 3 lemon, 10 sparkling mineral/soda water. Really 4.5 if not 5 stars.
Yorey C’s Avatar Yorey C
22nd December 2023 at 13:25
Gosling's | Gosling's ging | Super Lemon Juice ... Good with SLJ at 75-80% called-for ratios. tried also with Myer's. more distinctive but gosling's is more balanced
20th November 2023 at 22:41
Had this tonight, using 2 rums, Havana club 7 year aged and a botanical infused golden rum, Anno lady Franklin, my ginger beer of choice is Palmers, a Dorset based brewery's ginger beer (I highly reccomend).
I did add a dash of paychauds bitters as well as the angostura, because I had a hankering for their flavour, but absolutely cracking!
Patrick Brady’s Avatar Patrick Brady
17th September 2023 at 23:05
Delicious. A definite improvement over the original highball, so worth the extra effort. I made mine with Fentimans Ginger Beer and the traditional Goslings Black Seal.

I chased it later with a Goslings Rum Old Fashioned (which I quite enjoyed) since dark rum has been a bit of a mystery ingredient until now - just go easy on the sugar.