Dark 'n' Stormy
60 ml Dark rum, 100 ml Ginger beer, 10 ml Lime juice, 1 Lime wedge
Photo: Jungle bird cocktail by BanjoZebra · CC BY 4.0 · All credits
Ingredients
Measures below are multiplied for 12 drinks. Unmeasurable amounts such as “a splash” are left as written.
- 540 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 540 ml line. Dark rum
- 240 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 240 ml line. Campari
- 540 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 540 ml line. Pineapple juice
- 180 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 180 ml line. Lime juice
- 180 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 180 ml line. Simple syrup
- 12 wedges Pineapple (optional)
Measured in Millilitres (UK). Sign in to read these in American measures. Print a kitchen card at this size.
What the jigger, the spoons and the jug hold, in millilitres and in fluid ounces, is on the measures reference.
Quick version
- Shake everything with ice and pour into a rocks glass.
Method
Batch (12 drinks)Batch (12 drinks) - about 1.68 l of measured ingredients, before ice and dilution.
Timings and per-glass steps below are written for one drink and are not scaled. A full jug takes longer to chill, so stir or shake until it is properly cold rather than by the clock, and pour over fresh ice one glass at a time.
- Put all five liquids in a shaker with ice and shake hard for 12 seconds.
- Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice - or pour it unstrained over crushed ice if the evening is hot.
- Add a wedge of pineapple on the rim.
Serve it
Volumes in this story are multiplied for the size above, along with the ingredients. Years, ratios and the capacities of glasses and jugs are left as written.
Jungle Bird
It was created in 1978 at the Kuala Lumpur Hilton by a bartender named John J. Ong, and, like most things from that decade, it was quietly forgotten for thirty years before bartenders rediscovered it and realised how good it was. It is a tiki drink made bitter by Campari, which sounds like a mistake and turns out to be the whole charm: pineapple's sweet, sharp edge meets the orange rind bitterness and both are improved.
Getting it right
Fresh pineapple juice is a revelation here, and a blender or a juicer pays for itself in one summer. The Campari is not negotiable - take it out and you have a perfectly pleasant rum punch with no reason to exist. Keep the parts as written for your first one, then nudge the Campari up if you like your drinks bitter.
Tasting notes
Bitter orange and tropical fruit, with the rum holding it all down and a long, dry, faintly herbal finish. It tastes like a jungle holiday with a storm coming in.
