Dark & Stormy Cocktail: How to Make It (with a Spiced Rum Twist)

A Dark & Stormy is a highball built by pouring fiery ginger beer over ice, then floating dark rum on top so it drifts down like a storm cloud, finished with a squeeze of lime. It's traditionally made with dark rum — but a good spiced rum makes a warmer, more aromatic version. Here's how to build both.

Ingredients

• — 50ml Dilay 1949 Spiced Rum (or dark rum for the classic)
• — 100–120ml fiery ginger beer (the spicier and drier, the better)
• — 10ml fresh lime juice (about half a lime), plus a lime wedge to garnish
• — Cubed ice

Method

1. Fill a highball glass to the top with ice.
2. Add the lime juice, then pour over the ginger beer, leaving room at the top.
3. Slowly float the spiced rum over the back of a bar spoon so it sits on top and cascades down through the ginger beer — this is the signature "storm cloud" effect.
4. Garnish with a lime wedge. Serve unstirred so the layers show, and stir just before drinking.

The classic vs the spiced version

The Dark & Stormy is Bermuda's national drink, and the traditional recipe uses dark rum with ginger beer and lime. Swapping in a spiced rum keeps the drink's signature dark-over-stormy look but adds warming spice — with Dilay 1949, that means cardamom, ginger, black pepper and a gentle chilli finish — it drinks a little rounder and more aromatic, and it's especially good in the colder months. Both are built exactly the same way; only the rum changes.

Tips for getting it right

• — Ginger beer, not ginger ale. The drink lives or dies on a proper fiery, dry ginger beer. Ginger ale is too sweet and mild.
• — Float, don't stir. Pouring the rum last over a spoon gives the layered "storm" look. Stir only as you drink.
• — Keep the lime. A little fresh lime cuts the sweetness and lifts the spice.
• — Plenty of ice. A full glass of ice melts slower and keeps the drink crisp rather than watery.
• — Ratio to taste. Start at 1 part rum to ~2 parts ginger beer and adjust.

Variations

• — Spiced Dark & Stormy (this one): spiced rum in place of dark rum — warmer and more aromatic.
• — Extra stormy: add a second float of rum on top for a stronger serve.
• — Long & light: lengthen with a splash of soda for a lower-strength highball.

A note on the name

The drink comes from Bermuda and is closely tied to one particular rum house, which holds the trademark on the "Dark 'n Stormy" name. The version here is our own spiced-rum take on the classic ginger-beer-and-rum highball — same idea, our own spirit.

Related serves

Want the simpler everyday serve? Spiced rum and ginger beer

Frequently asked questions

More spiced rum serves

• — Spiced Rum & Coke
• — Spiced Rum and Ginger Beer
• — Spiced Rum Old Fashioned
• — All 12 spiced rum cocktails

Dilay is for adults of legal drinking age. Please drink responsibly.