Notes
* Optional cooked banana-infused Campari Recipe:
- One 750mL(26oz) bottle Campari
- One whole banana (peel and flesh)
Directions:
Using a sous vide, heat the water to 145ºF (62ºC).
Peel the banana. Mash banana to a paste and add to a BPA-free freezer bag. Dice peel into ~ 1cm squares and add to bag. Pour bottle of Campari into the bag and incorporate it all together. Remove all the air from the bag and seal it. Add the bag to the 145ºF water and submerge, ensuring the bag is completely sealed. Sous vide for 2 hours. Remove bag and pour contents over a fine mesh strainer to filter the thick particulates out. Then using a coffee filter or double- layered cheese cloth, filter the remaining pulp particles; then bottle. Shelf stable for 1 year.
History
Born out of a love for the Blackstrap and early 2000s versions of this beloved cocktail. Myself, finding neither hit quite right, started brainstorming. The blackstrap rum version of the cocktail was too molasses forward, and the early 2000s version lacked that molasses funk. Knowing that there was an improvement in there somewhere, I started developing through the Morgenthaler improvement method (See Morgenthaler's Amaretto Sour) . I settled on Coruba for its distinct funky banana note and molasses characteristics, Planteray Original Dark for its complexity and well-roundedness. I changed the simple syrup to a raw sugar syrup and reduced it's amount, and added a hint of fancy molasses syrup to bring out that rich, spicy bitterness. Then reduced the pineapple to not overshadow anything else. Next, to highlight the funkiness of the Jamaican rum, I added just a hint of Giffard's Banane du Brasil. Although, almost perfectly delicious, it still tasted a bit too artificial banana for me, and instead of the banana liqueur, I opted for a Cooked Banana infused Campari (recipe in notes). To me it was perfectly what I was searching for in a Jungle Bird.
