Perfect Dark & Stormy

Fresh lime juice, zesty ginger beer, and bold, black rum are what makes a Perfect Dark & Stormy! This refreshing cocktail is great all year long, but it’s the perfect addition to a hot summer day!

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With a Perfect Dark & Stormy, you get a wonderfully pleasant, sharp ginger flavor from the ginger beer, a zesty tang from the fresh lime juice, and a smooth warmth from the rum. It’s a perfectly balanced cocktail!

Have you ever had a Dark & Stormy? The first time I tried one was at a local distillery that offered hand-crafted cocktails featuring their own house-made spirits.

They didn’t have vodka, my go-to liquor, so I opted for something called a “Dark & Stormy” made with rum. I’m glad they didn’t have any vodka, because their rum cocktail was a game changer for me!

I’ve been making this rum-based cocktail for several years now, playing with different brands of ginger beer and experimenting with several varieties of rum, and can now say that I have totally mastered it.

Since there are only 3 ingredients in this cocktail, using high-quality ingredients is a must.

Ingredients needed for this recipe (scroll down to recipe card for complete recipe):

Ginger beer – Fever Tree
Black rum – Kraken
Limes

What kind of ginger beer is best for a Dark & Stormy?

Of all the different ginger beers I’ve tried, my favorite is Fever Tree. It has a wonderful ginger bite and plenty of carbonation.

I have even tried Goslings, who is supposed to be essential in a Dark & Stormy, but found it to be a little flat in flavor and lacking in carbonation.

What kind of rum is best for a Dark & Stormy?

As for the rum, you need a dark/black rum. I like The Kraken Black Spiced Rum because like the bottle says, it’s “strong, rich, black, and smooth.”

It’s also 47% alcohol instead of the typical 40% in other rums.

Looking for more cocktail recipes?

If you prefer a fruitier cocktail, try my Sparkling Blood Orange Cocktail. It’s fruity, but not too sweet!

When it’s cold out, there’s nothing better than a mug of Spiced Apple Cranberry Warm Rum Punch or Warm Apple Cinnamon Spiced Wine to warm you right up!

I can’t wait to hear what you think of this cocktail! By the way, if you like Moscow Mules (ginger beer, vodka, lime juice), I really think you’ll love a Dark & Stormy because it is its Caribbean cousin!

NOTES:

Fever Tree makes a lower calorie ginger beer called “Refreshingly Light”. It does not have the same ginger bite as its full-calorie counterpart, and therefore, doesn’t give this drink the same flavor.
I am not getting paid by Fever Tree or The Kraken to write this post, I just genuinely love these products!
As for the lime juice, please don’t skimp and use a little, green, squeezable plastic lime, as the taste just isn’t the same as fresh lime juice!

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