February Cocktail - The Dark & Stormy

This has been one of my favorite cocktails for the last decade. What’s not to like – rum, ginger ale, lime, ice? After 14 variations in February (and early March), I have a few suggestions:

1. Don’t make this with fountain ginger ale. Schweppes is pretty meager in flavor, bubbly, but heavy in texture, leaving you a drink with more viscosity and less taste.
2. A smaller drink is better. Filling the glass with soda results in watery drink. If you’re a fast drinker (like me), then this is difficult.
3. Fresh lime is best. No lime is better than lime syrup. I didn’t try bottled lime juice but think that’s probably ok, but lime syrup was bad.
   

If you’re planning to make a large amount, consider making your own ginger beer. It’s not hard to do and requires one day planning.

My recipe produces a balanced but not strong drink. I like to serve in a footed pilsener glass with significant ice.

1. 1 ½ ounces OLD MONK rum
2. 1 ounce Morris Kitchen's Ginger Syrup
3. ½ ounce fresh lime juice
4. 4 ounces fresh seltzer
5. 1 slice lime

• Mix rum, syrup, lime juice in a glass.
• Stir vigorously.
• Add ice to fill glass.
• Add 4 ounces seltzer.
• Coat the rim of glass with fresh lime.

Outside of ginger syrup, I’d consider these three ginger beers (in no order)

• Fentimans
• Reed's Original
• Bruce Cost

Brief Interruption from Lands End

I received this note today. I made a little order of deeply discounted stuff. Really nice - I'm strangely touched. We've spent thousands at Amazon, hundreds at Zappos - no notes though.