Tiki

Jungle Bird

Made with demerara syrup · Jeffrey Ong, Aviary Bar, Kuala Lumpur Hilton, 1973

  • rocks
  • cubes
  • shake

Jungle Bird

  • 1½ oz45 ml blackstrap rum (or dark Jamaican rum)
  • ¾ oz22 ml Campari
  • 1½ oz45 ml pineapple juice
  • ½ oz15 ml fresh lime juice
  • ⅜ oz11 ml demerara syrup (scant 1/2 oz)
  1. Shake the rum, Campari, pineapple juice, lime juice and demerara syrup hard with ice.
  2. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice.
  3. Garnish with a pineapple wedge.

Garnish: Pineapple wedge

The syrup

In this recipe

Demerara Syrup⅜ oz11 ml

Demerara syrup is demerara sugar dissolved in water, usually rich: 2 parts sugar to 1 part water by weight.

Our demerara syrup is rich (2:1), so a scant 1/2 oz (about 3/8 oz) matches the sweetness of 1/2 oz of 1:1 syrup.

As printed: demerara sugar syrup, 15 ml (IBA; ratio unstated) / simple syrup 1:1, 1/2 oz (Punch)

Or use

Classic Simple Syrup½ oz15 ml

Simple syrup is equal parts sugar and water, heated just until the sugar dissolves.

Exact match for Punch's spec if you have no demerara syrup.

As printed: simple syrup (1:1, sugar:water)

Where it comes from

Beverage manager Jeffrey Ong created the Jungle Bird as the welcome drink for the Kuala Lumpur Hilton's Aviary Bar when the hotel opened in July 1973. Jeff Berry printed it in Intoxica! (2002), and Giuseppe González's 2010 version at New York's Painkiller, with blackstrap rum and far less pineapple, became the standard.

Source: Intoxica! by Jeff Berry (2002).

Checked against: IBA - Jungle Bird · Punch - Jungle Bird · Punch - The Second Coming of the Jungle Bird · Kindred Cocktails - Jungle Bird · Wikipedia - Jungle Bird (history)

Gear for this drink

Illustration of shaker
Our pick

Mixology & Craft 16-Piece Cocktail Shaker Set

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OXO SteeL Angled Measuring Jigger

Best for Measuring syrup into drinks

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Cuisinart Fine Mesh Stainless Strainers (set of 3)

Best for Every infused or fruit syrup

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