Grab a beer, and let’s chat about alcohol. America and alcohol have been together for a very long time. They’ve seen the worst and best of each other, a married couple that should consider either redefining their relationship or divorce. We all know what happens when they get divorced, though. They secretly slip into each other’s beds at night, becoming something a little more sinister, a little more deadly (ahem, moonshine).
What if America and alcohol, then, went to counseling? What if, instead of being abusive toward each other, or rather America taking advantage of alcohol, it becomes a loving relationship again? America would see alcohol as the craft it really is instead of a way out of reality. How delicious it is, taking small sips for the enjoyment of taste only?
In that spirit, The Boyfriend and I took small sips for the enjoyment of taste of this mix for a dark and stormy, taking steps to help America see alcohol as it really is: a beautiful work of art. (How noble of us!) And we were just simply okay with our results.
Author: Andrea J. Bartholomew from The Framed Table posted on April 23, 2014
2 oz. Gosling’s Black Seal Rum
4 oz. ginger beer
1 lime wedge
- Optional: Rub rim of glass with a lime wedge then tip the glass over on to a plate full of sugar.
- Fill a highball glass with ice.
- Pour in ginger beer.
- Pour the dark rum over a spoon to help the layer float.
- Garnish with a lime wedge.
PRO 1/CON 1: THERE ARE VERY LITTLE VARIATIONS ON THIS DRINK. Now, when it comes to your ginger beer choice? You can choose whatever. We decided to spin off with the Old New Orleans Gingeroo, which is a bottled rum cocktail but tastes and acts like ginger beer. It’s very good all on its own. This is a local New Orleans beverage, released in 2012, and can be bought directly through http://www.drinkgingeroo.com or if you’re local, Dorignac’s or Martin Wine Cellar.
But when it comes to your rum? You HAVE to choose Gosling’s for it to be officially called a Dark and Stormy, which we did not use. We didn’t even use a dark rum. Bacardi Gold Rum. I know. All of my bartender friends are hissing and booing right now. Pinned Foodie, though, is about trying variations on a recipe. This is the rum we had on hand, and we thought why not? RECIPE SUGGESTION 1: DON’T VARY ON THE RUM.
We did rim our glass with sugar, a very easy process that some at home may balk at. Don’t. PRO 2: RIMMING YOUR GLASSES WITH SUGAR OR SALT ADDS A LITTLE BIT OF NEEDED FLAVOR TO SOME DRINKS. We definitely over did the sugar on our glass so be careful with that. RECIPE SUGGESTION 2: RIM YOUR GLASS WITH SUGAR, BUT DON’T OVER DO IT.
Our glass rimmed, filled with ice, and Gingeroo-ed, we go to our rum over the spoon technique. CON 2: THIS MAKES A MESS. In the process, we probably sterilized my counter with all the rum we spilled. According to alcohol professionals, when you die and go to heaven, you are given a barrel with all of the alcohol you spilled in your life. You’re made to drink it, and if you can’t, you’ll go…well, you know. With as much as we spilled, our barrels probably got a little bit fuller. (The Boyfriend comments: “We didn’t spill that much rum.”) It was everywhere, and since there is a lack of pictures on the Pinned blog we got the recipe from, we weren’t sure how to hold the spoon, pouring over the back of it rather than the bowl of the spoon. RECIPE SUGGESTION 3: USE A BAR SPOON FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR AFTERLIFE FATE. Bar spoons are smaller and would probably help avoid the mess. I mean, they are designed for these types of things.
As you can see, we didn’t use a highball glass either. This is actually a tulip beer glass. You can also tell our rum didn’t exactly float. All I can say is we tried.
We took our sips and meh’d the whole thing. Perhaps it’s the Gingeroo, perhaps it’s the rum, perhaps it’s the sugar, but we definitely messed up enough on this one that it was just okay.
FINAL SUGGESTIONS
Suggestion 1: Use a bar spoon.
Suggestion 2: Rim your glass with that sugar, y’all!
Suggestion 3: Perhaps next time, add just a little bit of bitters if you want to vary it up.
What worked in this recipe: Very easy, quick to make, and only three ingredients
What didn’t work in this recipe: Variations and the lack of knowledge and tools for the spoon technique
Will I go back for seconds?: No, but The Boyfriend will
I don’t have to revise this recipe. A dark and stormy is what it is: dark rum, ginger beer, a little bit of lime. We might have messed up on this one, but The Boyfriend is always perfecting his cocktails. Next time around it may be better. But maybe not. Did you get enough to…um…not eat?
Pinned Foodie 