Avoiding Lawsuits...

by using the right rum

‘Twas a Dark ‘n’ Stormy night, and all who sailed the seven seas clung to their beds in fear of a lawsuit from Gosling’s rum.

I know we have been here before, but today, it really is a Dark ‘n; Stormy night at the request of a long time friend from the dark and stormy world of risk management.

A while back, or back in the day, as those of us with extended memories like to say, I wrote about the Painkiller cocktail and how the evil Pusser’s rum company took a cocktail that they did not create and copyrighted the name with a recipe that used their rum. There are a couple of examples of this practice which should cause us all to refuse to use their products, but today I’m breaking that rule just to see if the official spirit makes the drink in a way that justifies their evil corporate behaviour.

In days of old when the British ruled the seas, seamen still got seasick and Ginger Beer was touted as a good cure. You have to remember that Ginger Beer is a fermented brew and as such would have been mildly alcoholic back then, so there is no doubt that, once again, we have a brew being created “for medicinal purposes”. In Bermuda, a British naval harbour, the officers wanted to get in on the business of supplying the Royal Navy and set up a company to brew Ginger Beer.

In 1806, James Gosling arrived in Bermuda having been at sea for 91 days, much longer than planned for a Britain to America crossing, and rather than continue on to his intended destination, he decided to stay in Bermuda. The Goslings went on to become ne of the most prominent families on the island founding the Goslings distillery in 1857.

James Gosling’s younger brother Ambrose and the Gosling Brother headquarters in Bermuda.

Originally served directly from the barrel, at some point Goslings started decanting their rum into old champagne bottles which were sealed with wax, and, just like that, Gosling’s Black Seal Rum was born.

Now, just as officers would mix Gin with Tonic to create something much more drinkable, so some bright spark in the ranks realised that mixing Gosling’s, heavy with molasses, rum with Ginger Beer was going to create a match made in heaven with both elements able to stand up against the other.

Some say to add a splash of lime juice, to ward off scurvy, and you have the recipe for the Dark ‘n Stormy.

The name itself comes from floating the rum on top, and seaman, rumoured to have commented that the drink looked like storm clouds approaching from sea.

The type of weather that inspired the name.

Gosling’s now defend the use of the name of the drink, insisting that only Gosling’s rum can be used, and have certainly gone after rival distilleries, namely Pernod Ricard who tried to publish a Dark and Stormy cocktail using Malibu coconut rum.

Truth be told, they are not going to bother you or me if we use another rum, but I wanted to try the real deal and so today my Dark ‘n Stormy is fully legal!

There is a fair bit of variation in recipes for this drink. Gosling’s themselves include just rum and ginger beer (their own ginger beer of course!) with a lime wedge to garnish, which is also the recipe that the IBA maintain on their website.

Others add lime juice, bitters, sugar syrup, or some combination of all three. For the sake of completeness I’ll include a couple, but the photo is of the original, a simple blend of Ginger Beer and Rum over ice with a lime wedge so that you, dear customer, can decide if you want lime or not. It should also be mentioned that the recipe does call for a fiery dry ginger beer and so adding sugar syrup does seem to be contrary to the spirit of the drink.

Dark ‘n Stormy – Gosling’s Recipe

• 60ml Gosling’s Black Seal Rum

• 180ml Ginger Beer

Instructions

• Fill a glass with cubed ice, pour the Ginger Beer over the ice leaving space for the rum and then gently float the dark rum on top of the drink creating the dark clouds on the horizon effect.

• Garnish with a lime wedge.

Alternative recipe – You will notice that the ratio of Rum to Ginger Beer is very, very different, but I leave you to make up your own mind in your own bar.

• 50ml Gosling’s Black Seal Rum

• 20ml Fresh Lime Juice

• 10ml Sugar Syrup – probably depends how sweet your Ginger Beer is.

• 2 dashes of angostura bitters

• 90ml Ginger Beer

Instructions

• If you are using sugar syrup, you are going to need to mix the syrup, the bitters, and the lime juice together first or the syrup will just sink to the bottom. So put them in the glass, stir well and then fill with cubed ice before pouring the ginger beer over the ice.

• Float the dark rum on the top as above.

• Garnish with a lime wedge.

Belay that you land lubber! I can’t see this sweet limey drink being better than the original, so just go with that or walk the plank and call your drink something else you scurvy dog.

Cheers!