People often ask me what my favorite cocktail is. I can never answer; I change my favorite so often. I have a different favorite at least every month, if not every week. This month, it’s a Dark and Stormy.
In this drink, the warmth of the dark rum contrasts with the freshness of the ginger beer. The sweetness and spiciness do a little dance on the back of your tongue. It’s so good, you have no other choice but to make another drink. Good thing you just made a gallon of ginger beer (recipe below).
Dark and Stormy
(makes 1 drink)
1.5 oz. dark rum (Myers’s)
Around 4 oz. ginger beer
.25-.75 oz. brown sugar syrup
Lime wedge
Prepare the ginger beer according to instructions below. To make brown sugar syrup, combine 1 part water, 1 part brown sugar over heat until dissolved; allow to cool.
To make the drink, combine ginger beer, rum and syrup with ice. Garnish with lime wedge.
Ginger Beer
(makes 1 gallon)
1 gallon water
1 lb. fresh ginger
2 limes, halved
1/2 c. brown sugar
Boil 1 gallon of water. Mince the fresh ginger in a food processor. After you do this there should be around 4 c. of ginger. Once water is boiling, remove from heat. Squeeze the limes into the water and throw the juiced rinds into the water as well. Add brown sugar and ginger. Stir and let steep for one hour. Strain and let cool. Store in the fridge for up to three weeks.
(recipes adapted from The Craft of the Cocktail
You can squeeze the lime wedge into the drink or not. It makes for two different drinks, both terrific. Experiment with how much sugar you use. I use .5 oz. in mine most often. It depends on how potent the ginger beer is.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
This looks like the drink that you can never go tired of. Looks refreshing and the flavors are uniquely combined. Cheers to the holidays and the coming New Year! Thanks for sharing!
One of my faves…. Brown Sugar syrup? Never heard of this… Is it bottled or homemade? Must try!
The recipe for brown sugar syrup is the same as simple syrup, you just use brown sugar instead. Super easy!
Beer. Doesn’t this need to ferment? Carbonate? I would love to make this. Maybe I need to buy the book….
Ginger beer is similar to root beer in that it’s not fermented. Some ginger beer is carbonated, some is not. You could easily make this, let it cool, and carbonate it in a Twist N’ Sparkle or other carbonating system.