Who doesn't love the vibe of a tropical tiki cocktail? Colorful, fun, and delicious; this Jungle Bird is a classic drink on many tiki cocktail menus and with only one variety of rum, it's easy to recreate at home!
Jungle Bird Tiki Cocktail Recipe
I love a tiki drinks but many of the classics call for a variety of rums and liqueurs which make them challenging to recreate without a full bar. The Jungle Bird however, like the Pain Killer, only requires a few simple ingredients.
This Jungle Bird will transport you to a tropical vacation hotel bar with the first sip, guaranteed.
Jungle Bird Cocktail Ingredients
Fresh lime juice is a must in this cocktail as well as good pineapple juice. I really like the cold pressed fresh pineapple juice from Trader Joes.
I recommend skipping canned pineapple juice for this drink if you can find a fresher option as it makes a huge difference in the flavor!
- Jamaican Rum - Such as Appleton rum or a blackstrap rum. The variety of rum is important for achieving the proper flavor of this drink so I would not recommend using Bacardi or a dark rum like Meyers. Leave those to the Mai Tai!
- Campari - this gives a beautiful color and a slightly bitter herbaceous flavor to the drink.
- Pineapple Juice - fresh pressed or as fresh as you can find.
- Lime Juice - fresh squeezed.
- Demerara Syrup - I'll share the recipe for this here in the blog post.
- Fresh Pineapple - for garnish
How to Make a Jungle Bird
- In a cocktail shaker filled with ice add rum, Campari, pineapple juice, lime juice and demerara syrup. Shake until well chilled.
- Pour into a cocktail glass filled with ice and garnish with a wedge of pineapple and a couple of pineapple leaves. Cherry optional.
- Serve immediately and enjoy!
Demerara Syrup Recipe
Demerara is a type of sugar and refers to a refined sugar with some of the molasses still remaining. Here in the US you can substitute Sugar in the Raw for Demerara Sugar or order it online.
Demerara Syrup is just a simple syrup made with Demerara sugar and water. To make it combine equal parts sugar and water in a small sauce pan, bring to a simmer and cook until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and cool.
For this recipe you can make demerara syrup or purchase it here. I made my own with Sugar in the Raw and water.
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More Tropical Cocktails to Make:
- Painkiller
- Mai Tai
- Coconut Blood Orange Margaritas
- Frozen Banana Daiquiris
- Passion Fruit Mojito
- Blue Hawaiian
Jungle Bird Cocktail
A classic tiki cocktail with rum, pineapple juice and Campari.
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Jamaican Rum or Blackstrap Rum
- .75 oz Campari
- 2 oz Fresh Pineapple Juice
- .5 oz Fresh Lime Juice
- .5 oz Demerara Syrup, see notes
- Pineapple wedge- for garnish
- cherry- for garnish
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker filled with ice add rum, Campari, pineapple juice, lime juice and demerara syrup. Shake until well chilled.
- Strain and pour into a cocktail glass filled with ice.
- Garnish with a wedge of pineapple, a couple of pineapple leaves and a Maraschino cherry.
Notes
Demerara Syrup is a simple syrup made with Demerara sugar and water. To make it combine equal parts sugar and water in a small sauce pan, bring to a simmer and cook until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and cool.
A substitute for Demerara sugar is Sugar in the Raw. You can also purchase Demarara Sugar or Syrup.
