Progressive Drink of the Month #4 - The Jungle Bird

Drink of the Month #1 - Negroni - click here to see that one
Drink of the Month #2 - Manhattan - click here to see that one
Drink of the Month #3 - Chrysanthemum  click here to see that one

DRINK OF THE MONTH #4 - The Jungle Bird

People have been excited about the Drink of the month.  We are in our fourth month now.    Roughly, each month we will present a new drink that you can make at home with the guidance from a professional.  The professional that will be providing the recipes and the instructions will be mixologist, Jeffrey Moll.

Jeffrey Moll, the Head Barman at Randolfi's
Defender of both the fundamentals and DIY cocktailing. Reverence for all things liquid. Jason Molina fan. Avid cyclist. Loyal curmudgeon.

2015 St. Louis Magazine "A-List Award" Winner

Jeffrey Moll Jr., MIXOLOGIST

Dozens of the concoctions lining bartender Moll’s mixing station at Randolfi’s were formulated by the barkeep himself. Nabbing a tincture-side seat at the bar provides a nonpareil liquid education, with Moll dispensing as many answers as imbibers have questions. The cognoscenti gather, knowing that Moll’s labor-intensive seasonal creations (such as the garnish-laden Moll’s Cup No. 3) will keep them ahead of the cocktail curve.

The drinks will be presented in a "progressive" format so that you will end up with an amazing bar at home so that you can create every drink you would ever want.  Progressive meaning that next month you will not need to buy every ingredient, it will use some of the spirits you bought in the previous month(s) and so on.


Thank you to Jeffrey Moll for his help.  You can also head down to Randofi's and have Jeffrey make the drink for you!

The Jungle Bird
Everyone seems to be riding the TIki Train these days. Tiki is certainly a lot of fun. You have drinks in crazy glasses with twelve ingredients, exotic juices and lots of garnish. Tiki as a "state of mind" is often overlooked though. As much as it is about the rums and the juice, I always dig a tiki drink that breaks the formula a little bit and proves that a whiskey or gin drink can be a tiki drink or that a tiki drink can be less than seven ingredients and feature a bitter, like Fernet Branca. Ben Bauer at The Libertine did a fantastic job of this on their tiki menu a couple of months ago. I think that the tiki drink you can easily and comfortably make at home and for guests is the most fun kind of tiki drink. So, this month we're going to explore one of my favorite tiki drinks that is very easy to put together: The Jungle Bird. For this drink your'e going to be revisiting your bottle of Campari. I will also need to teach you how to make simple syrup if you don't already know.

To make simple syrup, you take a volume of hot water and dilute an equal part sugar into it. This means for 1 cup of hot water, you will dilute 1 cup sugar into it, Some people (like myself) prefer a 2:1 syrup in most cases, but for this drink, a 1:1 is much better suited.


First: these are the tools one would need for this cocktail

• A set of Shaker Tins   ***
• Hawthorn Strainer   ***
• Conical Fine Strainer   ***
• A hand juicer
• A Double Rocks Glass, Collins Glass, or any other larger volume glass

Second: these are the bottles and ingredients that you need for this cocktail

• Appleton Estate 12 Jamaican Rum ***

or 

• Cruzan Black Strap Rum   *** :  This drink calls for a funky rum. Almost every time you see this drink, it's made with Cruzan Blackstrap Rum, but were going to choose a more versatile rum for future use that's still pretty funky. I encourage you to try it with both rums and especially with Blackstrap, but unless you're planning on drinking A LOT of these and maybe Corn & Oil cocktails, Appleton Estate 12 could be the best choice with your home bar.

• Campari  ***
• Fresh Lime Juice
• Simple Syrup
• Unsweetened Pineapple Juice
• Some fun garnish. at the very least: Fresh Mint, but if you have it, Pineapple Slices, Grapefruit or Orange Peel and Maraschino Cherries

*** In stock now - you can order them online to reserve at any of our locations


Lastly, here is the preparation for the cocktail:

• 1.5 oz of Appleton Estate 12 year Jamaican Rum (or Blackstrap Rum)
• .75 oz Campari
• .5 oz Fresh Lime Juice
• .5 oz Simple Syrup
• 1.5 Pineapple Juice (if you find the drink to be too sweet to your liking, try 1 oz)
• Add all spirits to one half of your shaker tins
• Fill tin 3/4 of the way with ice and seal with the other half
• Shake for about 20-25 seconds
• Break the seal on your shaker tins (this may take some practice) and using your Hawthorn Strainer and Conical Fine Strainer, double strain into your ice cube filled glass.
• take a few short sprigs of Mint and slap them against your hand to "wake up" the aromatics. Arrange the cluster against the inside wall of the glass.
• If you have it, use your vegetable peeler to peel a sizable strip of Grapefruit or Orange peel. Curl the peel and place in the drink. If you have Pineapple slices and Maraschino Cherries, find some room for those also.

***Pro Tip: if you bought a pineapple to cut up, save the leaves for garnishing also!***


- Enjoy!

Cruzan Black Strap Rum...$11.99

A mixologist favorite, Cruzan® Black Strap Rum features robust licorice and molasses flavors that add an exotic element to your tropical favorites. Its most popular pairings include flavors such as lemon, lime, ginger and pineapple.

Best enjoyed as a finishing element, or floated on tropical Tiki cocktails

It's also great for adding color to drinks with its deep black hue