Dark, Stormy, and Ready to Drink: The Forgotten History of Goslings’ Canned Rum Cocktail

Ready-to-drink cocktails are an accepted, major component of the modern alcohol ecosystem. According to IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, the RTD market in the United States accounts for $18.2 billion in sales, and is the second largest segment by volume in the country, overtaking spirits and wine and trailing only beer. It would have been unthinkable even a decade ago, as the hard seltzer cannon that propelled the category wasn’t even constructed, let alone locked and loaded.

The trend goes back further than most realize, though. In Japan, canned whisky highballs doled out from ubiquitous vending machines and convenience stores were long a staple before American drinkers took notice. Perhaps the granddaddy of them all comes from an even more unexpected place: Bermuda. That’s right, good ole Goslings Rum, which traces its origins to 1806 and is now run by its eighth generation, delivered a prized local specialty to Bermudan consumers in the 1970s by selling the Dark ‘n Stormy in premixed, handheld fashion.

It was a natural adaptation for a rum brand, and a cocktail that had deep ties to its place of origin. “The consumers wanted it to take on the golf course, out on the boat, the ferry,” says Andrew Holmes, Goslings’ brand director. “They saw the portability of the Dark ‘n Stormy.”

The Dark ‘n Stormy’s Creation & Evolution

The Dark ‘n Stormy’s roots can be traced to the period after World War I, when the British Royal Navy, stationed in the Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda,