Jungle Bird

The Jungle Bird is a tropical rum cocktail with a twist! Bitter Campari offsets sweet pineapple juice to make a balanced, refreshing mixed drink.

Love fruity drinks but want something more complex? Here’s the drink for you: the Jungle Bird! It’s one of the few rum cocktails to pair tropical flavors with an Italian bitter: Campari. You might know Campari from the ubiquitous Negroni: an ultra dry and bitter drink. But add it to a tropical drink and the effect is surprising. Campari perfectly balances the drink and gives the finish an intriguing complexity. In fact, it’s become a favorite around here…and that’s saying something, given our extensive library of cocktails. It hits all the right notes: sweet, tart, fruity, and bitter.

What’s a Jungle Bird cocktail?

The Jungle Bird is a tropical cocktail made with rum, pineapple juice, and Campari. The story goes that it was invented in 1978 at the Aviary bar of the Kuala Lumpur Hilton. The telltale sign it’s that it’s modern: it fuses the Italian bitter Campari with the tropical flavors. This drink recently surged in popularity, fueled by the Negroni craze. The drink is often garnished with pineapple leaves to mimic the feathers of a bird. The ingredients in a Jungle Bird cocktail are:

• Dark rum
• Pineapple juice
• Campari
• Lime juice
• Simple syrup

Dark rum vs light rum: what’s the difference?

The Jungle Bird uses dark rum: something altogether different than the light rum you’ve got for daiquiris and piña coladas. Here’s a breakdown of the differences:

• Dark rum is aged longer than white rum. It has a dark color and a developed flavor with caramel notes.
• Light rum or white rum is clear and has a smoother, sweeter flavor than dark rum.

Can you use light rum in a Jungle Bird? Sure. It won’t taste quite the same, but it’s similar. Of course if you’re a purist: go grab a bottle of dark rum!

All about Campari

Campari is an Italian bitter with a bright red color! It’s easy to find, most famously used in the Negroni and other classic cocktails like the Americano and Boulevardier.

What does Campari taste like? It’s tastes bitter, fruity, and spicy all at once. It’s infused with different herbs and fruits, part of a secret recipe. Fun fact: Campari was originally colored so brightly red due to a dye made of crushed insects! That’s no longer in the modern recipe, so it shouldn’t deter you from grabbing a bottle.

How to make a Jungle Bird

It’s quick and easy to make a Jungle Bird once you’ve got all the ingredients on hand! Shake it up, then garnish:

• Shake in a cocktail shaker. Place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker, add ice, and shake (Don’t have one? Use a mason jar!)
• Strain into a glass and garnish. Strain the drink into a lowball glass. Garnish with a pineapple wedge. If you happen to have the pineapple leaves on hand, they make a great garnish evocative of bird feathers.

More Campari cocktails

Love Campari? There are so many interesting drinks with this Italian liqueur to try outside of the Negroni. Here are some great Campari cocktails to test out:

• Negroni Sbagliato A spin on the classic cocktail using sparkling wine instead of gin. It’s bitter, sweet, and bubbly all at once.
• Old Pal Cocktail A three ingredient cocktail that’s sleek and sippable, balancing bitter and sweet with fiery whiskey.
• Mezcal Negroni The way the smoke of mezcal balances the bitter Campari makes an even better drink.
• Campari Spritz Bitter and bubbly, this cocktail mixes the popular aperativo with sparkling wine and soda water.

When to serve a Jungle Bird

The Jungle Bird is a festive and fun cocktail, great for parties or a laid back evening! It’s great as a:

• Summer drink
• Signature drink
• Cocktail hour drink
• Party drink
• Happy hour drink
• Dinner party drink

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More rum drinks

Love mixed drinks with rum? Here are a few more to add to your repertoire:

• Classic Mojito This iconic Cuban cocktail is refreshing and just sweet enough.
• Piña Colada Takes only 5 ingredients and 5 minutes and has incredible flavor.
• Classic Daiquiri One of the most classic cocktails! The perfect balance of boozy, tart and sweet.
• Hemingway Daiquiri An intriguing spin on the classic: grapefruit juice and maraschino liqueur compliment lime and rum perfectly.
• Strawberry Daiquiri or Lime Frozen Daiquiri Fresh spins on the 1990’s frozen daiquiri craze.