Cocktail I made last night: The Tornado Cloud

LET US LAY THIS on you: You don't always have to invent an entirely new drink to come up with something banging and classy. Our recent interview with Rob Skoro (see below) touched not only on this idea, but also on the Dark and Stormy. Skoro's version sounds delicious, but the letter of the law dictates the following:

2 oz. dark rum
1/2 tbsp ginger or simple syrup
3 to 4 oz. chilled ginger beer
2 lime wedges

Get yourself an old-fashioned glass, put in ice, the rum, and the ginger syrup, then stir. Top with the ginger beer and squeeze those lime wedges in there.

That's your basic Dark and Stormy, but what if you wanted to keep the ginger overtones and bring in some aspects of a mojito or caipirinha? Here's what we'd do, and we'd call it the Tornado Cloud, because instead of being Dark and Stormy, it has the pale green color of clouds that are threatening to turn into funnels.

4 lime wedges
2 tsp. sugar
2 oz. Mt. Gay Sugar Cane Rum
2 oz. ginger-infused vodka
Club soda

Muddle the lime wedges with the sugar in the bottom of a highball glass, then add ice, the rum, and the vodka. Top off with club soda and stir. Voila. You've got a refreshing drink that retains some of the gingeriness and the rumminess of the Dark and Stormy and mixes it with the lime-muddling and effervescence of a mojito. (McPHERSON)