The Salty Bird

An Italian bitter aperitif made infusing herbs and fruits in alcohol and water. ABV ranges from 10% to 29% based on country.

These rich rums get their dark color from added caramel, not necessarily aging. Flavors are caramel and brown-sugar forward. Common examples are Meyers's and Coruba (Jamaican) or Gosling's Black Seal (Bermuda). A key ingredient in many classic tiki-era cocktails.

A tropical fruit, used in many tropical cocktails for its sweet flavor and yellow color. You can either juice a real pineapple, buy pineapple canned in juice (not syrup) or buy pineapple juice in a container.

The second most common juice used in cocktails. This citrus juice is about 6% acid; 4% from citric and 2% from malic, with small amounts of succinic acid (this is what gives it a little bloody taste). Lime juice should be used the day it is squeezed, some like it freshly squeezed and others like it a few hours old.

A syrup made from dissolving granulated sugar (sucrose) in water. Regular simple is made by combining 1:1 sugar:water by mass, rich simple is 2:1 sugar:water by mass although only 1.5 times as sweet as regular. We always use 1:1 syrup unless otherwise noted in the recipe itself.

Often used to rim a glass for cocktails or made into a solution to add to the liguid itself in order to balance the flavors. Table salt or common salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in its natural form as a crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite.

A tropical plant with a tart yellow fruit. Most often used in tiki cocktails and fizzes.