Gosling's Ltd. has launched what it claims to be the perfect ingredient to make the Dark 'n Stormy — Gosling's Stormy Ginger Beer.

The drinks company, which has been in business in Bermuda for more than 200 years, believes the product will complement and not be in direct competition to the ginger beer products currently available on the Island's market.

But the new product launch could spark a ginger beer 'war', with the Island's biggest soft drinks manufacturer and distributor John Barritt & Son Ltd. having produced its own brand of ginger beer for many years now, although Gosling's said its latest offering would be mainly targeted at the US market.

Malcolm Gosling, president of Gosling's Export (Bermuda) Ltd., said the new ginger beer would be the ideal companion for the company's Black Seal Rum and in its own right.

"We needed to hit the perfect balance between sweetness and spiciness," said Mr. Gosling, seventh generation president of the renowned rum maker, Gosling's Export (Bermuda). "It is also all natural, so there is no sodium benzoate used as a preservative.

"Our objective was to create a ginger beer that, when paired with our award winning Black Seal Rum, would produce the absolute perfect Dark 'n Stormy."

Gosling's has teamed up with Polar Beverages of Massachusetts to create, package and distribute the product, and Mr. Gosling reckons the ginger beer will prove to be a big hit in both the US and Bermuda.

"Just the blend itself is one that the American consumers especially warm to very quickly," he said.

"We are rolling it out to our distributor network — Polar Beverages will be selling it through traditional grocery stores in New England and outside, and it will take a few weeks to get to Bermuda — this is a very powerful product and we will have it available in our stores on the Island and at Duty Free."

He said there had been a big demand for the new product from Gosling's distributors for some time now, so the company went ahead and developed it.

"Primarily we were doing it because there was a tremendous amount of confusion as to which ginger beer was used to make the Dark 'n Stormy and it is a trademark drink," he said.

"With the design of the package it really does remove any confusion that the consumer may be faced with. It has been sampled and tested and it has come out very well.

"Gosling's Stormy Ginger Beer is the product we recommend for the ultimate Dark 'n Stormy."

The product, which took more than a year to formulate and perfect, has been well-received so far by those who have tried it, according to Mr. Gosling, but he denied that Gosling's would be looking to muscle in on the market for other soda distributors in Bermuda.

"It is obvious that there are other soda distributors in Bermuda that have all the 'soda guns' and that is not our intention to go down that route," he said.

"It is more of a tool, especially using the export markets to promote the Dark 'n Stormy in a clear and conscious way."

The new ginger beer will be available in 12-ounce cans to start out, with scope to develop that in the future.

Ralph Crowley, Polar Beverages' CEO, said: "Neither we nor Gosling's would ever put our family name on anything but an exceptional product. This is one very exceptional ginger beer."

Barritt's was unavailable for comment yesterday.

As far as what goes into the perfect Dark 'n Stormy, Winston Lee, a Bermudian bartending veteran of 43 years, 37 of which were spent at The Fairmont Hamilton Princess, where he is currently a bartender at Heritage Court, said that Bermuda's national drink is always made with Gosling's Black Seal Rum and Barritt's Ginger Beer.

He said that the Dark 'n' Stormy was the leading drink on the Island and comes highly recommended, with many of those whom he has introduced the drink often choosing to come back for a second one.