I know you don't need a reminder, because your calendar is already marked, but it's my birthday week. And I also know Floral & Fury was supposed to be the official drink for the occasion (it'll still make an appearance), but, well, I need a batched cocktail to serve these party guests quickly — a rum punch if you will. Enter the classic Jungle Bird.
A little background: I work three jobs, which means I don’t get much "me" time. So every year, for my birthday, I try to get out of town for at least a long weekend. This time around, however, I decided to stay local and rent a condo on the beach with a group of friends. I also invited some other pals to come hang out, but before I knew it, my signif had created a Facebook event page to really get the merriment going (while the gesture might seem minor, it was fucking awesome to your boy). We're now a few days away, and most of my loved ones are attending the celebration.
This is all to say that, well, being a cocktail columnist comes with certain responsibilities. Ya dig?
I've talked about this in the past, but I can't properly entertain with rum and Coke. Good thing, too, because I've been on a huge Campari kick this summer. I seriously can't get enough of the amazing apéritif, and the beauty of using it in a rum punch is that its bitter flavor profile balances the shit out of tiki drinks. Campari is the answer to avoiding a drink that's too sweet and not realistic for the long day-drinking sesh ahead.
Jungle Bird doesn't call for your typical white rum — we're going dark. Dark as in blackstrap rum. Blackstrap molasses is the byproduct of the sugar-making process's third boiling, whereas white rum calls for pure sugar cane. Molasses gives the rum a dark hue and rich flavor, and it pairs mighty fine with pineapple juice, our star mixer.
Don't hesitate to whip up this week's Jungle Bird. Even if you're not coming to my birthday.
Makes 1
1 1/2 ounces Black Strap rum
3/4 ounce Campari
1 1/2 ounces pineapple juice
3/4 ounce simple syrup
1/2 ounce lime juice
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, then add all of your ingredients. Shake until well-chilled. Strain the cocktail into your favorite tiki (or rocks) glass filled with ice. Garnish with a slice of pineapple — unless you don't have one, like me, in which case you can start drinking now.
Connect with CL columnist Chris Fasick (@cfasick) on Twitter, or email him at cdfasick@gmail.com if there's a cocktail or recipe you'd like featured.
This article appears in Jul 5-12, 2018.