The Jungle Bird

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                                      The Jungle Bird

Balance, balance, balance.   It is what I strive for when making a cocktail and it is what I search for when ordering one.   I love the idea of a Tiki style drink (honestly because I love the vessels they come in) but they are usually too sweet for me.  

The Jungle Bird is a fantastic solution with its addition of Campari, which adds just enough bitterness for that perfect equality.  The Jungle Bird was originally crafted by Jeffrey Ong, bartender at the Aviary bar in the Kuala Lumpur Hilton, in Malaysia, in the early 1970’s.   It was served as a welcome cocktail to guests, in a porcelain bird shaped tiki mug, with an elaborate pineapple garnish.  This was Malaysia’s first 5-star hotel and at the time was the tallest building.   It was considered very luxurious and prestigious and many famous people stayed there.

Since that time, the Jungle Bird has gained international acclaim and can be found in cocktail bars around the world.  It is a cocktail that has been in dozens of recipe books and has even inspired the names of bars.  

The first written recipe called for a generic dark rum (that could mean any number of styles), but most commonly you will see that it calls for Blackstrap rum.   Blackstrap rum can be very heavy, and has a rich flavor of molasses, so personally I prefer a Jamaican rum.   I say this with just about every rum cocktail I write about: Choose the one YOU prefer and experiment with it.   

Rum is such an incredibly complex and diverse spirit and you can change a drink 100 times over by just switching out the rum.   Another variation is to adjust the amount of pineapple juice or even delete the addition of simple syrup.   Have fun with this one!I have included two recipes below: what I believe to be the “original” recipe and then my personal variation.  Enjoy!!

                   Jungle Bird

  • 1.5 oz. Black Strap Rum 
  • .75 oz. Campari
  • 1.5 oz. Pineapple juice
  • .5 o.z Fresh Lime Juice
  • .5 oz. Demerara Simple Syrup

Shake all ingredients well with ice, strain into a tiki mug over fresh ice and garnish with 2 pineapple frons and a cherry.  If you don’t have a tiki mug, this will taste just as good in a regular glass, and I like to put it on one large ice cube.  

               Cris’ Jungle Bird

  • 1.5 oz. Jamaican Aged Rum
  • .75 oz. Campari
  • 2 oz. Pineapple Juice
  • 1 oz. Fresh Lime Juice

Add all ingredients into a blender with one cup of ice.   Blend for 5 seconds and then pour all into a tiki mug.   Garnish with 2 pineapple fronds, a chunk of fresh pineapple and a beautiful flower.

Cris