The makings of a Stillwater Storm, fish-belted
Like many places, Beaufort has a collective sense of style.
That style shows in the historic district homes – the prevalence of white, the front porches, the short fences. It shows in the boats along the waterfront, as well as in the way people dress.
Seeing folks in formal wear headed to or from a wedding is not an unusual sight on a summer evening, but Beaufort is a casual town. Casual does not mean sloppy or plain though, and Beaufort style might be characterized as some combination of preppy-nautical-outdoorsy-southern.
I thought it might be fun to combine Beaufort style with one of Beaufort’s other distinctive features – excellent food & drink…in this case, drink.
This post is a bit of a rip-off of The Trad, a popular style-focused website that was one of the first blogs I ever read on a regular basis. As imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I hope the author of The Trad will forgive me and join us one day in Beaufort for a Stillwater Storm.
The Stillwater Storm is one of the drinks featured at the Front Street Grill at Stillwater’s Rhum Bar. It’s a lighter take on the famous Dark & Stormy. It features Mount Gay rum, combining Mount Gay with Saranac Ginger Beer and lime.
Mount Gay comes to us from the island of Barbados in the Lesser Antilles.
If you are as I was until a few years ago, and your experience with rum has been limited to rum and cokes, Mount gay is the place to start. It is smooth and clean and goes perfectly with Saranac Ginger Beer, which is less hot and gingery than the more famous Barritt’s Bermuda Stone Ginger Beer.
Barritt’s is a must for the Stillwater Storm’s older sibling the Dark & Stormy, but Saranac is perfect for our purposes.
A Mahi-Mahi fish belt
The fish belt is a perfect place to start for emulating a little Beaufort style.
This belt was one of my first fish belts. I was on the way to Beaufort some years ago and bought it during a stop at the Neuse Sport Shop in Kinston, North Carolina. If you have driven to Carteret County from places west of Raleigh, you will have most certainly stopped by the Neuse for a bathroom break, some bait, or maybe a $1200 Yeti cooler.
Parking lot lines at the Neuse Sport Shop in Kinston
The parking spaces are lined with fish and they often have home grown fruits and veggies for sale out front. And of course, you can always pick up a fish belt or two.
I can’t identify the brand, but I do remember that it was relatively inexpensive, around $35. Pair it with some khaki shorts (never cargo) and a polo, close your eyes, sip your Stillwater Storm, and you’re in Beaufort.
Fish belt detail
Next time you need to relax and can’t quite make it down to Carteret County, put on your fish belt, mix up a few Stillwater Storms, and bring home some of Beaufort.
The Stillwater Storm
1 rocks glass
Saranac Ginger Beer
Mount Gay Rum
Lime
Ice
Start with painfully clean glasses
Feel free to play with the proportions.
Ginger beer – ready for the rum
As with the Dark & Stormy, you can make this drink backwards and have a little fun. Start by filling the glass about 3/4 full of ginger beer and ice. Then, add a shot or two of rum on top. The rum will float on the ginger beer at first and then begin to mix. It looks a bit like a storm brewing, hence the name.
The rum will float on top of the ginger beer!
With Ginger Beer, the colder the better.
Go easy on the lime.
The final product
Relax.
Sunset at the Rhum Bar in Beaufort – the home of the Stillwater Storm
-Mark
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