"It was a dark and stormy night..."

In between taste testing cocktails my regular drink of choice is Bundaberg Rum with Bundaberg Ginger Beer. It used to be plain old rum and coke but after many years of not being able to sleep properly after having a few drinks I decided to give up the caffeine hit that came with drinking that battery acid in the red can.

Seriously, have you seen what that stuff can do? Now there’s a lot of false information and rumours floating around the internet but there’s also plenty of anecdotal evidence supporting just how caustic this drink is to the human body.

Anyway, to me, the worst side-effect of a night of drinking was from the caffeine. I just couldn’t get to sleep after drinking it with my rum. So I’d be tired more than anything the next day. But now that I’ve changed to ginger beer I wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed. Well, ok, maybe not quite THAT good but much better than before.

I originally switched to ginger ale (rum & dry) but after a few years I decided to try ginger beer instead. Boy I’m glad I did. It tastes so much better than the cheap ginger ale you buy from the supermarket. And now that I’m adding fresh lime into the mix…well, it’s taken my enjoyment of drinking to another level. Actually I’m not sure that’s an entirely good thing, but…

Many years ago Bundaberg Rum brought out a pre-mixed drink called “Dark & Stormy” which is essentially what I’m drinking now (minus the lime). A few mates and I were instantly hooked and proceeded to drink barrels of the stuff. We ended up growing out of it in time but rum & coke never tasted as good after that. I guess that’s where my current taste was born.

Now I make my own genuine D&S drinks for a fraction of the price of the pre-bottled stuff. I still get a few funny looks from bar staff when I ask for one but the upshot of ordering an unusual drink is that they remember me and my order.