A jungle bird riff… with Rum Fire and suze.
Tasting Notes
Rory: Suze and Rum Fire is a weird combo.
Where the hell is the smokey flavor coming from? I think there’s a smokey flavor? It might be the weird rum fire notes combining with the suze, but ???
I’m not sure if this is aversively weird or tantalizingly weird.
Too much lime, I think? I want to say not sweet enough, but I think it’s actually plenty sweet. I’ve pulled out the lime garnish before it messed with the flavor a bit too much, but… oh, huh, that helped, maybe. I’m pretty sure it changed.
Without the dried lime, I’m getting more out of the drink - less overwhelming … well, citrus; the everything else is still powerful, but at least the sweetness and citrus feel better balanced.
I’m not sure I like it, but I don’t dislike it. I think it’s interesting, at least. No, I take it back, I think it’s good? I think if I’d left the lime out to start, I might be happier?
(Also I wonder if we’ve used the wrong guanabana juice; after weeks of searching, only managed to find a 50% juice drink, so I don’t know if it’s too sweet/underflavored/something).
The flavor in my mouth is pretty good, but the swallow is really kinda rough. It’s weird like that.
Ryan: That’s a surprising/weird combo! Here it feels like the suze actually has enough going on to stand up to the Rum Fire–the drink isn’t just Rum Fire! There’s a lot of bitter notes, as expected in a Jungle Bird riff, and the funky Rum Fire notes are very strong, but they’re definitely different Rum Fire notes than I’ve experience before. There’s less fruitiness and more… I dunno, roughness.
The soursop barely shows up, though I think this drink would be wrong with pineapple juice. The subtle and slightly creamy notes from the soursop feel like the right direction.
That’s the only sweetener in here and it definitely shows–it’s a pretty bitter drink. On Rory’s suggestion, I took out the dehydrated lime garnish and it makes a surprising difference–it’s a lot less bitter without that there. That was influencing the flavor quite a lot. Huh!
Anyway usually a jungle bird calls for at least a little bit of syrup, so I wonder how that would change the flavor profile? I do like it as-is though.
Interestingly, there is an online version of the recipe with somewhat different ratios–including some pot still aged rum, as well as a different amount of soursop juice. I think that might add a bit of depth that could be welcome here.
Recipe
- 1 1⁄2 oz Overproof Jamaican Rum (Rumfire)
- 1⁄2 oz Suze Gentian Liqueur
- 3⁄4 oz Soursop Juice
- 3⁄4 oz Lime Juice
Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass over cubed ice.
Source: Tiki: Modern Tropical Cocktails by Shannon Mustipher