Cocktail recipe
Jungle Bird
Dark rum, pineapple and bitter orange in a tropical drink with real bite.
Ingredients
- 45 ml (1½ oz) dark rum
- 22.5 ml (¾ oz) Campari-style red bitter aperitivo
- 45 ml (1½ oz) pineapple juice
- 15 ml (½ oz) fresh lime juice
- 15 ml (½ oz) simple syrup (1:1)
- Garnish: 1 pineapple wedge and 1 pineapple leaf
Preparation
Shake rum, bitter aperitivo, pineapple, lime and syrup with ice until the juice froths lightly. Strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass and finish with pineapple; the first aroma should be tropical, the last taste pleasantly bitter.
Glassware
Rocks glass with fresh ice
History
The Jungle Bird is usually traced to the Aviary Bar at the Kuala Lumpur Hilton in Malaysia during the 1970s, with Jeffrey Ong often credited as creator. It was printed in John J. Poister's The New American Bartender's Guide (1989), helping preserve the drink before its modern revival. Some modern accounts differ over the precise year and original rum choice.
Mixology View
The bitter aperitivo is essential, not an optional flourish. Our recipe leans toward a modern, slightly drier balance rather than claiming a perfectly reconstructed 1970s hotel spec.