Tiki · Party · Autumn

Jungle Bird

Campari in a tiki drink sounds wrong until you taste it against pineapple and dark rum. Bitter, tropical and unusually well balanced.

Base: Rum
Glass: Highball glass
Method: Shake
Strength: 12.07% ABV

Ingredients

45 mlBlackstrap rum
22.5 mlCampari1 swap
Any red bitter aperitivomedium
Bitterness/sweetness varies
45 mlPineapple juice
15 mlFreshly Squeezed Lime Juice1 swap
Fresh lemon juicemedium
Slightly less floral, more tart
15 mlDemerara sugar syrup

How to make

Technique

Shake · 10–15s

Shaking chills the drink fast while adding dilution and a light texture.

Pour all ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake.
Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice.

Serve

Glass

Highball glassAlso fine: Collins glass, Tall tumbler

Garnish

Garnish with a pineapple wedge.Cut it to sit on the rim without tipping the glass.

Taste & nutrition

12.07%ABV

206kcal

1.7Drinks

StrengthLight

Sweet to dryDry

Estimated from ingredient amounts and assumed ABVs — not a lab measurement.

Good to know

Use freshly squeezed juice — bottled tastes flat.

History

Year1978

PlaceKuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Created byKL Hilton (attributed to Jeffrey Ong)

The Jungle Bird was created at the Kuala Lumpur Hilton in the 1970s as a welcome drink for hotel guests. It stands out for using bitter Campari alongside dark rum, pineapple and lime, giving a tropical drink an adult, bittersweet edge. Named for the hotel's aviary bar, it was long served in a bird-shaped tiki mug. Rediscovered decades later, it became a craft-era hit.

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