After a dark and stormy the other night, I got to thinking about the ones we used to make in Charleston… back in grad school when we were so poor all we had to eat was shrimp, crab, and the occasional flounder. We had to go catch said food in the creeks, but that’s a story for another time.

We lived in this tiny little apartment behind a house on Broad St. in the historic district, and we had a neighbor – retired Navy – who made his own ginger beer using fresh ginger, brown sugar, fresh lemons, and a little champagne yeast. He was wealthy enough to own a house on Broad Street, but he preferred freshly caught seafood over anything he could buy at the market. We’d trade him a bucket of shrimp or two dozen blue crab for stories over the ginger beer and rum drinks he’d make. I’d never had a dark and stormy before those, and I’ve not had one to match the quality since. Maybe it’s the memory of drinks consumed with stories told on wide porches in historic Charleston, or maybe the home made ginger beer just made that much difference…. We’ll soon know.

I combined several methods/recipes found online to make a batch tonight – my first attempt. We’ll know by the weekend whether or not I was successful.