IBA
Jungle Bird – IBA
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 13.8% ABV ∙
The Jungle Bird is a tropical rum sour built on dark rum, a red bitter such as Campari, pineapple, lime, and demerara syrup, shaken and served over ice. Bittersweet and lush at once, with a bright acidic snap that cuts through tropical richness before fading into a bittersweet, faintly syrupy finish.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: Dark rum 45 mlRed bitter 22 mlPineapple juice 45 mlLime juice 15 mlDemerara syrup 15 ml
- Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice
- Garnish with a pineapple wedge
Tips
- Pre-chill the rocks glass before straining so the drink doesn't lose its temperature the moment it hits the ice.
- Fill the serving glass fully with ice before straining so the drink stays cold without over-diluting during the shake.
- Shake hard and briefly since the mix already carries five components; a long shake over-dilutes the pineapple and lime balance.
History
This card reflects the Jungle Bird as codified by the International Bartenders Association, which added the drink to its official list in 2024 under the New Era Drinks category. The IBA specification standardizes the tiki cocktail's proportions of blackstrap rum, Campari, pineapple juice, lime juice, and demerara syrup for competition and training use worldwide.
The Jungle Bird itself traces to the Aviary Bar at the Hilton hotel in Kuala Lumpur, where Malaysian beverage manager Jeffrey Ong is credited with creating it in 1973 as a welcome drink for guests, reportedly for the hotel's opening on July 6 of that year. The name is said to come from the bar itself, which overlooked a netted enclosure of tropical birds visible through a glass panel. The drink faded into obscurity for decades before being revived by cocktail historians and bartenders in the 2000s, eventually becoming a modern tiki-bar staple ahead of its IBA codification.
