Skinny n’ Stormy

Thirsty Thursdays

For this week’s Thirsty Thursday (where I send a new and delicious cocktail every Thursday so you can make it friday) I wanted to make a transitional fall cocktail, two classic ginger-beer based cocktails came to mind: the Moscow Mule and the Dark ‘n Stormy. They’re really similar drinks, but Moscow Mules are made with vodka and ginger beer, and a Dark ‘n Stormy is made with Gosling Black Seal Rum. Despite its name, Ginger Beer is a soda, not a beer, with a strong ginger taste—like a ginger ale on steroids. It’s delicious, and by all means, use it if you prefer, but for my skinny version, I am opting for ginger-flavored kombucha. It has the same gingery zing, with a bit less sugar and the addition of probiotics! I’m personally a fan of skinny cocktails, not because of the lack of calories, but because of the lack of sugar, lessening my hangover.

If you made last week’s Thirsty Thursday Drink, the Liliko’i Mai Tai, you probably have dark rum to use up in more recipes. I personally prefer vodka, but both ways are great. Use whatever brand of dark rum or vodka you have at home, but beware: there’s actually a lot of drama surrounding the name of a Dark ‘n Stormy. Basically, the are trademark wars over the name, and technically you need to use Gosling Black Seal Rum for it to be called a “Dark ‘n Stormy”.

I’m going to call my version of this drink a Skinny ‘n Stormy just to be safe or a Skinny Moscow Mule. Since kombucha is a lot less sweet than ginger beer, you may want to add a bit of natural sweetener to balance things out, but that depends on your taste.