BrokeAss Gourmet, The premier food, wine and lifestyle blog for people who want to live the high life on the cheap.

Last night, under the guise of needing some photos (but also really just needing to get out of my apartment for the night), I headed to Haight Street in San Francisco to Hobson’s Choice, where my friend and BG contributer Laith Hassan bartends every weekend. The scene is always interesting—sort of a hybrid of Mission hipsters and Marina yuppies, all of whom flock to the Haight and Clayton Street location to sip the house punch, peruse the large selection of beers or, like me, order the delicious Dark and Stormies turned out by the skilled bar staff.

Hobson’s specializes in rums, so it’s no surprise that they make a particularly excellent Dark and Stormy (a blend of dark rum, ginger beer and lime). Ginger beer, with its dark, rich foam can be kind of pricey when purchased in bottles, but the good news is that it’s actually pretty easy to make.

It occurred to me, as I sipped my third (fourth?) Dark and Stormy, that a pitcher of this tasty elixir would make a fantastic addition to my next party. They’re sweet but not overwhelmingly so and would complement the bright, flavorful foods I tend to favor. Plus, as per Laith’s rules for party drinks, there are only a few ingredients in a Dark and Stormy—which means I don’t have to skimp on quality to serve a tasty drink. It is, however, important to buy quality dark rum for a Dark and Stormy, since its flavor is spotlit—but with all the money I’ll have saved by making my own ginger beer and making a tasty BrokeAss Appetizer, it will surely be doable.