This dark and stormy cocktail recipe is easy to make with three ingredients: dark rum, ginger beer, and lime. It’s refreshing, bold, and perfectly balanced.
If you’ve never had one, this drink comes from Bermuda and combines dark rum, spicy ginger beer, and fresh lime. Also called a dark ’n’ stormy, it’s bubbly, a little spicy, and incredibly refreshing.
If you love ginger beer as much as I do, try our Moscow mule recipe, which swaps the rum for vodka. Or, for another cozy cocktail made with dark rum, check out our easy mulled cider.
Key Ingredients
- Dark Rum: Dark rum is essential for this cocktail, and Gosling’s Black Seal Rum is the traditional (and trademarked) choice. If you’re feeling adventurous, Kraken Black Spiced Rum and Pusser’s Rum are excellent alternatives.
- Ginger Beer: Don’t confuse ginger beer and ginger ale. Ginger beer has a much stronger ginger flavor and a bit of heat. Gosling’s ginger beer is a popular choice, but feel free to use your favorite brand. Cock ‘n Bull, Fever-Tree, and D&G are all fantastic options.
- Lime: I always add a splash of fresh lime juice to the glass and garnish with a lime slice or wedge. Fresh lime is the way to go for the best flavor!
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Make the Best Dark and Stormy
Tip 1: Stick to the classic ingredients. You only need three things: dark rum, ginger beer, and a splash of fresh lime. That’s it! We like using Gosling’s Ginger Beer for its balanced spice and sweetness.
Tip 2: Use dark rum (not light). Dark rum is what gives this cocktail its rich color and flavor. If you want to keep it traditional, go for Gosling’s Black Seal Rum, which is the original choice. Paired with spicy ginger beer (a bolder cousin to ginger ale), it makes for one seriously delicious cocktail.
More Fizzy Cocktail Recipes
Dark and Stormy
- PREP
- TOTAL
This cocktail comes from Bermuda. It’s bubbly, a little spicy, and refreshing. Dark rum is a must.
You Will Need
2 ounces dark rum
½ ounce fresh lime juice
3 ounces ginger beer (not ginger ale)
Lime slice or wedge for serving
Ice
Directions
1Add ice to a glass. Pour rum, lime juice, and ginger beer over ice. Serve with lime slice.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Ginger beer and ginger ale are very different. Ginger beer is has a stronger ginger flavor.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
I’ve never had a dark & stormy made with gold rum. It should be black rum. Gold might make it stormy but not very dark. =D
Yep, black rum is definitely the standard.
Ahh love this! May actually have to try some of this one out – it looks like it would be so good! I love love love trying out recipes like this – makes for such a good saturday night! To be honest I’m just a massive sucker for any kind of cocktail learning thing! Ooo cocktail classes are great if anyone has done one before? Honestly though if anyone hasn’t been to one and loves cocktails as much as me – then I’d definitely recommend it! Plus it helps with recipes like these – my cocktail repertoire is probably embarrassingly large now haha. I’ve done lots of them now but my favourite was probably the Rofuto one but to be fair it was at a sushi restaurant and I am slightly obsessed with sushi so it makes sense that was my favourite I guess haha. Honestly though they are really fun! Still – can’t wait to try this out on Saturday – looks like my boyfriend is going to have to sit through another taste test aha! Thanks for putting this up!
We used to live in the Carolinas and dealt with plenty of storms and I grew up in MN and Chicago and had -40F winters. Thankfully, San Diego just gets earthquakes 🙂
Great looking drink!
Stay safe… and drink up! This looks yummy! 🙂
Another one of my favorite combos- ginger and lime. I’m sure I’d love this one too, especially with something extra spicy like a Blenheim or Ginger People ginger beer 🙂