The Salty Bird
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 14% ABV ∙
The Salty Bird is a shaken rum sour that pairs white rum and a red bitter such as Campari with pineapple and lime, served long in a Collins glass over ice. Tart pineapple and lime lead, a bitter-orange edge cuts through the sweetness, and a faint saline touch sharpens the finish — a refreshing warm-weather sipper.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: White rum 45 mlRed bitter 20 mlPineapple juice 45 mlLime juice 15 mlSugar syrup 10 mlSaline solution 4 dashes
- Strain into the ice-filled glass
- Garnish with dehydrated pineapple
Tips
- Use fresh lime juice rather than bottled; its brightness balances the red bitter's bitterness and the pineapple's sweetness.
- Add the saline solution in dashes and taste as you go; a few drops sharpen flavor without tasting salty.
- Shake hard with plenty of ice so the pineapple juice fully aerates before straining into the chilled glass.
History
The Salty Bird was created by Australian bartender Lauren Schell while she worked at The Everleigh in Melbourne, and the recipe was later promoted by a Campari-backed campaign in 2013. Some accounts credit the drink as developed in tandem with Theo Lieberman, then of Milk & Honey in New York, who further refined the serve, including a pineapple garnish infused with Campari.
The cocktail is a twist on the Jungle Bird, the tiki-bar drink first documented in 1978 at the Aviary Bar in the Hilton hotel in Kuala Lumpur. The Salty Bird tempers that drink's bitterness with a savory, saline edge, nodding to the Salty Dog in name and character while keeping the Jungle Bird's rum-and-Campari base.
