Skip to main content

The Manual may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

Why the Jungle Bird Deserves to be the Cocktail of Summer 2021

James Yardley/Shutterstock

The Jungle Bird’s beauty is greater than the sum of its parts. It is like a musical chord: When in-tune, or balanced, it is one sound, or note, with much depth and complexity. The Jungle Bird is exactly that: A perfect harmony of rum, lime juice, pineapple juice, Demerara syrup, and bitter Campari.

Tiki cocktail expert Jeff “Beachbum” Berry first discovered the recipe. Berry published it in his book Intoxica, citing John J. Poister’s The New American Bartender’s Guide in 1989 as the original source. The cocktail was created in 1978 in the former KL Hilton’s Aviary Bar in Malaysia, and was later brought back into vogue by ex-New York City Giuseppe Gonzalez. Now, the Jungle Bird has established itself as a modern classic that deserves to be drunk for the whole summer.

Of course, there are more reasons why this bitter tiki cocktail is worthy of the title “cocktail of summer 2021.” We also included a recipe in case you’re craving for a cold, refreshing glass of Jungle Bird right now.

Easy to Make, Yet Complex

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Tiki, or tropical, cocktails are exciting to drink because of their fruit juices, alcoholic strength, and visual appeal (who doesn’t love a drink on fire?); but most of them involve seven or more ingredients and special ice which makes them difficult to recreate at home.

“It’s the perfect summer libation because of its approachability,” Christian Suzuki-Orellana, a San Francisco-based bartender and finalist at Bombay Sapphire’s Most Imaginative Bartender competition, says. “It’s appealing for those who may be looking for a sweet, or bitter, or funky cocktail.”

The Jungle Bird maintains the complexity of the tropical drink genre, but uses simple ingredients that are all easily purchased at your local grocery store. It’s sophisticated and affordable.

You Can Put Your Own Spin On It

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Rum is an incredibly diverse spirit category, so the Jungle Bird can taste completely different when using one style, or brand, versus another. “I’ve used [Plantation] Stiggin’s Fancy pineapple rum, or Hamilton Demerara rum in my Jungle Birds,” Suzuki-Orellana says. In addition to those rums, he explains how splitting those bases with a small dose of another rum can also augment the flavor of the cocktail.

In Berry’s Intoxica, he recorded the original recipe with Jamaican rum, but Gonzalez’s updated version uses a richer, blackstrap rum. Aside from employing different rums, new riffs on the cocktail include infusions like coffee-infused Campari, or other bitter liqueurs to change the flavor profile completely, while still maintaining the classic template.

“The traditional spec leaves an opportunity for original cocktail development,” Connor Dineen, bartender at The Amsterdam in Rhinebeck, New York, says, “particularly when diving into more complex flavor techniques and uncommon ingredients.”

That’s all to say that you can really get creative and swap out one similar ingredient for another (i.e lime juice for lemon juice, or Campari for Averna) and make this refreshing cocktail your own.

You Can Batch It for Convenience

Image used with permission by copyright holder

At small gatherings or outings where you have to BYOB, batching cocktails is an absolute lifesaver. It is a nuisance to constantly be shaking cocktails when you want to spend time with friends and family, so making a large batch of the Jungle Bird beforehand will save you the headache of mixing, while still reaping the benefits of a complex drink.

Just transpose the recipe below into cups instead of ounces and add it to a large pitcher with ice, and then pour into your glass to serve — it’s that simple. While you won’t get the frothy texture that the shaken pineapple juice provides, if you are using fresh juices, there won’t be one complaint about the quality of the drink.

Jungle Bird

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Ingredients: 

  • 1.5 oz Jamaican rum
  • .75 oz Campari
  • 1 oz pineapple juice, preferably fresh
  • .5 oz lime juice
  • .5 oz Demerara syrup (1:1 sugar to water)
  • Pineapple wedge and frond, for garnish

Method:

  1. Add ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice; shake vigorously for 7 seconds.
  2. Strain into a double rocks glass over ice and garnish.

Suzu’s Jungle Bird Variation

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 oz Plantation Stiggin’s Fancy pineapple rum
  • .5 oz Campari
  • .5 oz clarified lime juice*
  • .5 oz simple syrup (1:1)
  • 2 oz Topo Chico mineral water
  • 5 mint leaves
  • Mint sprig, for garnish

Method:

  1. Fill a tall glass with crushed ice.
  2. Add all ingredients to a shaker (except the Topo Chico), add ice, and shake vigorously for 7 seconds; then add the Topo Chico into the shaker to mix.
  3. Strain the mix over crushed ice, and garnish to serve.

*Clarified lime juice (at-home version)

Method: squeeze lime juice and let rest for a couple of hours to let the pulp separate, then strain through a coffee filter to clarify.

Editors' Recommendations

Tyler Zielinski
Tyler is a New York-based freelance cocktail and spirits journalist, competitive bartender, and bar consultant. He is an…
These are the 6 classic tequila cocktail recipes you need to know
Mixing a drink with tequila as the star? Here are 6 recipes you ought to know how to make

In the rich canon of cocktail culture, tequila is a big player. The agave spirit serves as the backbone from everything from a classic Margarita to a refreshing Paloma. In short, if you have a home bar, it better have a few decent bottles of tequila in the mix.

While there are some great sipping tequilas, much of what's out there tends to do better with some complementary ingredients. That's where these classic tequila cocktails really shine, blending the earthy and spicy punch of tequila with bright-as-the-sun citrus and more.

Read more
The real reason people are freaking out about gas stoves (and why it’s silly)
Keep the soup on, no one's coming for your gas stove
gas stove controversy explained kwon junho cdw4daf5i7q unsplash

With all the hubbub in the news lately about the gas stove debate, you probably have a few questions. We get it, and we've got you covered. The chaos all started on January 9th when Bloomberg News published an article quoting a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission member who expressed that gas stoves could potentially cause health problems. Because this poor chap happens to be a Democrat, some of those with opposing political views immediately went on the attack. On January 10th, Texas Republican Congressman Ronny Jackson tweeted, “I’ll NEVER give up my gas stove. If the maniacs in the White House come for my stove, they can pry it from my cold dead hands. COME AND TAKE IT!!” Fear-mongering tweets and comments like this from the more conservative side of the table set the red party ablaze with a rage resembling villagers with torches. And thus, the internet exploded into yet another needless, rather idiotic war, and the great gas stove controversy was born.

The simple truth is, as much as we love our gas stoves, it makes sense that lighting an open gas flame and filling our homes with these fumes could potentially not be the greatest thing for the lungs of small children with asthma, studies have found. That's just true, no matter how much we adore our beautiful gas ranges. Unfortunately, like so many other issues that have absolutely nothing to do with politics, this health issue has now become greatly politicized. Conservatives have taken the stance that their freedom to KitchenAid is being infringed upon, while Democrats are shrugging and saying, "Maybe these should be regulated if they're causing asthma in kids."

Read more
How to perfect the Penicillin cocktail, according to an expert
A modern classic, this cocktail will help you feel better in more ways than one
penicillin

 

From Carthusian monks distilling herbal elixirs to frontier doctors employing whiskey as an anesthetic, alcohol has always had close ties to medicine. Modern invalids will still ask their bartender for a hot toddy when they're feeling down, and plenty of people swear by the curative properties of their favorite cocktail. Even your cough syrup has a little hooch in it. But whether you’re after a remedy for what ails you or just a cure for the common cocktail, the Penicillin is good medicine. 

Read more