The Aviary's Jungle Bird
The Aviary bar in Chicago puts out some of the most creative and delicious cocktails I've ever had. Here we recreate one of my favorites, the Jungle Bird, and learn some advanced techniques like spherification.
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Aviary’s Jungle Bird
4.5oz (135ml) jungle bird base (see below)
40 Gosling’s spheres (see below)
1oz (30ml) chilled Campari
2oz (60ml) chilled rum water (see below)
1oz (30ml) chilled Gosling’s Dark Rum
Add jungle bird base to a collins glass
Using the spherification spoon, gently add the Gosling’s spheres
Using a layering device or a spoon, add Campari, rum water, and dark rum in that order
Add in your glass straw
Stir and enjoy!
Gosling’s spheres
1L filtered water
7.5g sodium alginate
125g water
26g dark brown sugar
20g sugar
3.3g calcium lactate
Gosling’s Black Seal Rum
Combine filtered water and sodium alginate in a large bowl. Use immersion blender and blend until no clumps remain and strain.
Let the slimy liquid sit for at least 1 hour or overnight so that bubbles dissipate.
Make a brown sugar base by combining water, brown sugar, sugar, and calcium lactate in a saucepan. Heat gently and whisk to dissolve before placing in an ice bath. Strain liquid.
Fill sphere mold about 3/4 to the top of each hole, then freeze solid.
Prepare 2 bowls of cold water and heat the sodium alginate bath in the microwave for about 30 seconds
Drop 5-6 frozen spheres into the warm bath, taking care not to let the spheres touch each other. They will start to form a membrane
After spheres have fully encapsulated, use the spherification spoon to transfer to the first cold bath, rinse, then transfer to the second cold bath. This whole process should take about 30 seconds.
Carefully transfer the spheres into a container, such as a mason jar.
Cover with Gosling’s rum and let sit for at least 4 hours to allow rum to infuse into spheres.
Rum Water
100g Casa Magdalena Ron Blanco Rum
100ml water
Combine rum and water in a glass bottle, chill in the freezer. Note that this will freeze solid if left in too long.
Jungle Bird Base
294g fresh pineapple juice
142g fresh lime juice
107g water
100g sugar
Combine all ingredients in a blender, blend on high to dissolve sugar.
Strain and transfer to a glass bottle.
Let chill in an ice bath.
