Are you a Discerning Drinker?
Join thousands of like-minded professionals and cocktail enthusiasts, receive our weekly newsletters and see pages produced by our community for fellow Discerning Drinkers.
Forum
Jungle Bird
Bittersweet and fruity with pungent rum notes, sipped through crushed ice. Properly Tiki-tastic
Jason Grigorchuk
12th April at 10:57
Too bitter, might try with Aperol instead of Campari.
5th May at 03:45
Try Coconut washed campari
19th September 2025 at 14:16
Even better with an additional half oz of falernum (or full oz to replace the simple syrup)
24th August 2025 at 01:51
If you have the stuff on hand here's a riff I call Jungle Boogie
1.5 oz blanco tequila
.5oz strawberry infused campari (or hull and muddle 2 strawberries when you build the drink)
1.25 pineapple juice (fresh is worth it)
.5 lime juice
.5 agave nectar/syrup
3 drops of 4:1 saline
Shaken for 12-14 seconds, double strained onto a big cube, lime expressed and discarded. I usually serve it with a single luxardo cherry on a pick sat atop the ice.
1.5 oz blanco tequila
.5oz strawberry infused campari (or hull and muddle 2 strawberries when you build the drink)
1.25 pineapple juice (fresh is worth it)
.5 lime juice
.5 agave nectar/syrup
3 drops of 4:1 saline
Shaken for 12-14 seconds, double strained onto a big cube, lime expressed and discarded. I usually serve it with a single luxardo cherry on a pick sat atop the ice.
5th May 2025 at 21:12
My favourite! I enjoy it on a large ice cube and the most current combination I settled on employs equal parts, 30 ml each of:
- lime cordial (I am preparing an oleo-saccharum ahead of time)
- pineapple juice (packaged, unsweetened)
- Campari
- Smith & Cross
- lime cordial (I am preparing an oleo-saccharum ahead of time)
- pineapple juice (packaged, unsweetened)
- Campari
- Smith & Cross
28th April 2025 at 18:42
beautiful
26th October 2024 at 01:44
Definitely needs a darker rum. Tried this with a Flor de Cana reserva and Curzan Black Strap and it is significantly much more interesting with the Curzan.
5th October 2024 at 13:28
This one can definitely handle some added bubbly, for even more summer. We went with 30ml prosecco. In a Collins glass. And we used a lychee for the garnish...the cherry seemed out of place.
7th September 2024 at 02:00
Have made and enjoyed this several times with Bacardi Black and Plantation Dark. Was even better with Myers's! Thanks Simon for a fantastic resource over the years. Well worth a few coins.
7th September 2024 at 10:01
It's literally a labour of love. Many thanks for your support, Calvin.
21st August 2024 at 09:14
I really enjoyed the pineapple-Campari contrast. I believe using freshly squeezed pineapple juice is a must on order to balance the bitterness.
9th August 2024 at 20:14
Tasty, but on the bitter side. To make something that's more balanced for the Tiki palette I've found that swapping the Campari for Select and using brown sugar syrup instead works wonders.
15th April 2025 at 01:34
I also used Select Red Bitter but went with the 3/4 oz from the original recipe since I don't mind the bitter. This is a good place for a "funky" rum. I used Smith and Cross. I kept everything else the same as Simon's recipe. Very good!
21st July 2024 at 08:11
I do this with 2 shots rum, 3/4 shot Campari, 2 shots pineapple juice, ½ shot lime juice and ½ simple syrup. A bit smoother and moreish than other jungle bird recipes I've tried.
20th July 2024 at 08:54
Great, but I liked an extra half shot of navy rum otherwise it is very diluted.
23rd June 2024 at 04:29
We substituted Peychaud's Apertivo for the Strucchi's and it was delightful! Very balanced and the pineapple taste really came through. Best Jungle Bird cocktail I've ever had!
23rd April 2024 at 12:06
I made a pitcher of this for party guests recently. They loved it so much that there was a chorus of "more please!". But the rum bottle was now empty. So I went 'eeny meeny miny mo' and landed on a bottle of Jim Beam yellow label rye, which I substituted for the rum. And to try to bring a whisper of the rum back into the cocktail, I added two drops of ginger bitters. "What's it called? was the call from my guests. As you may have already guessed, and so was born the "Jungle Jim".
9th February 2024 at 11:05
As another DD noted, I think I prefer cubed ice over crushed in this instance to get more flavour spread on the palate. Excellent cocktail!
7th December 2023 at 04:56
Do yourself a huge favor and add 15ml falernum syrup. bitters and falernum balance each other out wondefully.
17th July 2023 at 18:51
I exchanged the Campari for Strega, also works quite nicely. Altough I toned it down to 10ml.
10th June 2023 at 00:36
Im doing it Like this:
4CL Plantation Isle of Fiji
2CL Campari
5CL Pineapple Juice
1,75CL Lime Juice
1,75CL Agave Syrup
I use normal ICE cubes or one big ice Block instead of crushed Ice.
Definitely in my top 5, Love this one
4CL Plantation Isle of Fiji
2CL Campari
5CL Pineapple Juice
1,75CL Lime Juice
1,75CL Agave Syrup
I use normal ICE cubes or one big ice Block instead of crushed Ice.
Definitely in my top 5, Love this one
23rd August 2024 at 22:14
this is a great variation
30th April 2023 at 17:12
Used Amaro instead of Italian red or Campari and it's very nice.
9th February 2024 at 11:03
Worth
9th February 2024 at 11:02
My girlfriend doesn’t like Campari so, yes’s, I think Averna def with a try here.
1st February 2023 at 06:16
Since making my first one a couple of months ago, I’ve been making them in large batches. Restocking as soon as I finish the last one. A fantastic summer drink!
8th January 2023 at 22:46
A tropical coctktail with multiple levels of taste sensations... and the whole thing is beautifully balanced.
Me, the Bird, white sand, coconut palms, a warm green sea and a mini baracuda... I'm there!
Me, the Bird, white sand, coconut palms, a warm green sea and a mini baracuda... I'm there!
20th November 2022 at 08:06
Fantastic drink and a great way to introduce people to Campari.
6th November 2022 at 21:55
Now this was delicious, unexpectedly. Rum and Campari? Who knew? Not tasted anything like this before.
1st November 2022 at 03:00
One on my favorites. Try adding 1/2 oz coconut rum like rumhaven or similar.
30th June 2022 at 13:08
I like to use a little Smith and Cross or Denizen because while I like Goslings Rum it is a touch too sweet for my taste and because I like that funky flavor and how it dances with Campari.
11th June 2022 at 19:45
Dear god that’s good! Used Don Papa rum for extra spice. Oh - no way does this fit in an old fashioned glass; I used a hurricane glass.
5th June 2022 at 23:46
We both really like this drink. I mixed it just as this recipe suggested, thought it might be to sweet but it was just right. The Campari keeps this from just being a Tiki drink and back to a true Cocktail. (Spiced Rum is good as well) (6 of 8 of “Her Maj’s” Difford cocktails for the Jubilee)
3rd April 2022 at 14:21
Literally BitterSweet! May try it with Aperol just to see the difference...
3rd June 2022 at 13:32
That will not work.
28th March 2022 at 18:30
Very nice. I used equal parts of Goslings and Myers which gave a nice rummy backbone. So easy to drink.
28th February 2022 at 04:08
Don't know why I waited so long to try this. The Campari, pineapple, and citrus come together to enhance the rum. Lovely, balanced, not too sweet.