One Drink, Five Ways: Rum and ginger beer

Five bars' takes on the stiff and gingery Bermuda staple

Welcome to the first installment of a monthly feature in which we investigate (and rate) the way one cocktail varies from bar to bar (to bar to bar to bar). First up: rum and ginger beer.

It was a dark and stormy night, and we were quite happy to be drinking them. As Bermuda's official beverage, the Dark 'n Stormy® ¹ follows a strict script: Cola-colored, caramel-flavored Gosling's Black Seal rum is mixed with zesty Barritt's Bermuda Stone Ginger Beer and poured over ice in a highball glass (note: Since both Metromix and the New York Times have heard from legal counsel about using the trademarked phrase "Dark 'n Stormy®," we'll clarify: If you don't follow this recipe, including the use of Gosling's, it's not a Dark 'n Stormy®. That's trademarked.) The rum-and-ginger-beer drinks listed here were named by the bars: any trademark infringement is an issue they'll have to deal with: we report, lawyers decide!) It's a spicy-smooth Caribbean treat that, dare we say it, could dethrone the mojito as the go-to tropical cocktail. But from that classic Bermuda recipe come countless mutations (which, remember, if they're called a "Dark 'n Stormy®" and don't follow the proper recipe, run into some trademark issues!). Some bartenders tweak the storminess with summer-fresh lime and mint; others prefer to fashion their own bracing ginger beer or skip the spicy stuff altogether. Here's one drink, done five ways. —Joshua M. Bernstein

¹ Gosling's Black Seal® and Dark 'n Stormy are registered trademarks owned by Gosling's Export (Bermuda) Limited