Jungle Bird

40ml black rum (Gosling’s Black Seal)



5ml overproof rum (Wray & Nephew)

22.5ml Campari

10ml demerara syrup (Trois Riviéres)

15ml lime juice

45ml pineapple juice

Shake over ice and strain into a glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with three pineapple leaves, a lime wheel and a maraschino cherry.

This was, I think, the first tiki drink I made, and while I have no notes on it from then I can see why - it’s complex; without obscure or niche ingredients. At the time I had a limited selection of rum and made it only with Gosling’s, and while that was a perfectly fine drink the Jungle Bird really does shine with something funkier. The original recipe calls for a blackstrap rum, made with blackstrap molasses. These reportedly have a deep molasses flavour and a unique funk to them which I wouldn’t know about; as they’re hard to come by in the UK. I tried to replicate it here with a mix of Gosling’s and the little bottle of Wray & Nephew I picked up on NYE.

It worked well fairly well: on sipping, the banana-y flavour of the W&N gives way to pineapple with the Campari deepening the flavour and adding the gentle bitterness which makes me love this drink. I have a feeling you could leave out the syrup, but I like demerara here as it helps keep the colour a bit darker and provides a deeper sweetness which I lack in my rums. I still feel as though I could make a better Jungle Bird though - hopefully I can source a proper bottle of blackstrap from somewhere.

Usually served in a tumbler, this snifter was another gift from our neighbour(s), who also suggested that I use it to do a smoked cocktail, an idea which I think is fantastic!

Recipe adapted from Aviary Bar, Kuala Lumpur Hilton, 1978.