Happy Caribbean Food Week! Even though the weather in London is far from tropical right now, it’s still a good time to celebrate summer… and any excuse for a cocktail is a good one. I decided to take on the Dark and Stormy, a classic mix of ginger beer and rum, but a little bit different.

I was lucky enough to get some ginger beer (plus a few other goodies) from Grace Foods, and while they were kind enough to send it over, the recipe, and the hardcore research, are all my own.

A little bit of Googling about the Dark and Stormy taught me a few things I hadn’t realized. One… the cocktail name, and its recipe, is actually trademarked in the US, by a rum brand. Two… it’s considered the signature drink of Bermuda. Three… Bermuda is a bit too far away from the Caribbean Sea to actually count as Caribbean, but a lot of people consider it part of it anyway, at least in spirit (no pun intended) and culture.

So instead of taking the traditional route for a Dark & Stormy and using a strong ginger beer and a dark rum, I decided to go for a lighter, sweeter cocktail; the younger sibling, you might say. The color reminds me of the yellow sky just before a summer shower, and it’s such an easy drinking cocktail that I decided to call it “the calm before the storm”.

The Jamaican-style ginger beer from Grace is a less spicy and more gentle ginger beer than others, and for that reason, I decided to match it with a golden añejo (or aged) rum, which is lighter in taste and smoother than the dark rum that’s traditionally used for a dark and stormy.

the calm before the storm
Serves 1

On the Counter

4 oz (115 mL) Grace ginger beer, or another lightly spicy ginger beer
2 oz (55 mL) anejo rum (I used Havana Club Especial, but go wild)
squeeze of fresh lime juice from 1/4 lime
a few cubes of ice 

What to Do

Put your ice cubes into a glass, ideally a highball, but use what you’ve got. Next, add in the ginger beer, then top it off with rum:. Squeeze in the lime juice, and give it a quick stir. Garnish with a lime wedge and tiny umbrella, if you have one.

PS: You can follow along with the Caribbean Food week fun on Twitter or Facebook. Also, if you haven’t already spotted me, you can find me at @cmdafonseca.

Summer! It has been hot here in London the last few weeks. Hot like a Northeast summer, but without the air conditioning and functioning trains. I love every moment of it, though 3 previous European summers have changed me. Humidity is rough, man. On the other hand, there’s no better excuse for overindulging in ice cream, not that I need much reason.

In other news, I have my first UK library card! Cause for celebration. The first thing to come home with me was a cookbook that I’ve been thinking about for a while. I have 3 weeks to leaf through it, take notes and try recipes. Since I love eating at Polpo so much, I’m expecting a lot from this book! Most of the ingredients are easy to find, and the recipes aren’t a million steps and 7 different cooking methods.

So when you put a hot summer together with a new cookbook, something is bound to happen. This time, that something is called sgroppino. It’s from Venice, and it’s a grown up version of a slushie. It’s sweet, tart and refreshing. The word sgroppino comes from the word to ‘loosen’ in Venetian – and if you have a few you might be more loosened than you expect.

To be honest, it barely deserves a full recipe, it’s so easy, but I love organization so here you go:

Serves: 1

On the Counter

1 generous scoop of lemon sorbet
100 mL (3.5 oz) of prosecco

What to Do

Whisk the sorbet and prosecco together and serve in a chilled glass.

If you want it to be more like a dessert and less like a drink, you can split the sorbet and add half back as a scoop after whisking.