Fat Tire
A Fat Tire is 45ml of aged Caribbean rum, 30ml of amaro, 15ml of fresh orange juice and 15ml of pineapple juice, shaken, fine strained over ice into a rocks glass and finished with an orange zest twist. Difford’s Guide puts it at 2.7 UK units. Difford’s says it was discovered in San Francisco in 2006 and names no creator, so we name none. It is a bittersweet, fruity aperitivo built on a rum aged six to ten years.
Glassware: Rocks Glass
Garnish: Orange zest twist expressed over the drink and used as the garnish
Ingredients
30ml
Difford’s gives Nardini as its example. A bittersweet Italian herbal liqueur; strengths vary by bottle.
Instructions
Chill an old-fashioned glass, fill it with ice and cut an orange zest twist.
Squeeze the orange the day you serve it.
Add the rum, amaro, orange juice and pineapple juice to a shaker with ice.
Shake hard for 10 to 12 seconds.
Fine strain into the ice-filled glass.
Express the orange twist over the drink and use it as the garnish.
Source: Difford's Guide (recipe 2653, measures, method and garnish as printed (45ml Caribbean blended rum aged 6 to 10 years, 30ml amaro, 15ml orange juice, 15ml pineapple juice, shaken, fine strained into an ice-filled old-fashioned glass, orange zest twist); history as printed: discovered in San Francisco in 2006, no creator named). Last checked 1 November 2026.
Expert Tip
Choose the amaro with care. Bottles differ a good deal in bitterness and sweetness, and the drink follows it. Use a rum with some age on it. A young white rum leaves the amaro without a partner. Shake long enough that the two juices knit with the rum.
Behind the Fat Tire
Flavour Profile
A San Francisco find from 2006
Difford’s Guide says the Fat Tire was discovered in San Francisco in 2006 and notes that the spelling of tire is the American one. It prints no creator or bar, and we name no one.
Aged rum, amaro and two juices
Difford’s asks for a Caribbean blended aged rum of six to ten years. Our complete guide to rum explains how age statements and blends are read. Difford’s example is Havana Club Añejo 7 Años.
The amaro is a bittersweet Italian herbal liqueur, and Difford’s gives Nardini as its example. At 30ml it is a large part of the glass, so the bitterness is clear. Orange juice and pineapple juice soften it with fruit.
Difford’s review calls it flavourful, bittersweet and fruity, and says it will not be to everyone’s taste.
The Fat Tire beside three bittersweet drinks
Fat Tire
- Base
- Aged rum
- Bitter element
- Amaro
- Fruit
- Orange and pineapple
- Method
- Shaken
Jungle Bird
- Base
- Blackstrap rum
- Bitter element
- Campari
- Fruit
- Pineapple, lime
- Method
- Shaken
Boulevardier
- Base
- Bourbon
- Bitter element
- Campari
- Fruit
- None
- Method
- Stirred
Negroni
- Base
- Gin
- Bitter element
- Campari
- Fruit
- Orange twist
- Method
- Stirred
| Drink | Base | Bitter element | Fruit | Method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fat Tire | Aged rum | Amaro | Orange and pineapple | Shaken |
| Jungle Bird | Blackstrap rum | Campari | Pineapple, lime | Shaken |
| Boulevardier | Bourbon | Campari | None | Stirred |
| Negroni | Gin | Campari | Orange twist | Stirred |
The Jungle Bird is the closest relative, with a bitter red aperitivo under tropical juice.
Make it at home
The Spirit
Aged RumAged rum is rum that has spent years in oak casks, usually ex-bourbon barrels, and taken on vanilla, caramel and dried fruit; our recipes count it at 40% ABV. In our recipes it is the rum for drinks where you should taste the spirit: the Old Cuban, the Mai Tai, the Rum Sour and the punch bowl.
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
Who created the Fat Tire?
What rum goes in a Fat Tire?
How strong is a Fat Tire?
What does a Fat Tire taste like?
Which amaro should I use?
Is it served up or over ice?
Can I use dark rum?
Can I make it ahead?
Sources.
Correct as of 1 November 2026.
- Difford’s Guide, “Fat Tire” (recipe 2653: 45ml aged rum, 30ml amaro, 15ml orange juice, 15ml pineapple juice, shaken, old-fashioned glass over ice, orange zest twist; 2.7 units; discovered in San Francisco in 2006; no creator printed).
- NHS, “Calculating alcohol units” (the 14-units-a-week guidance and the units calculation).
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Jungle Bird
A Jungle Bird is 45ml of blackstrap rum, 22.5ml of Campari, 45ml of fresh pineapple juice, 15ml of fresh lime juice and 15ml of demerara syrup, shaken hard for 10 to 12 seconds and strained over fresh ice in a double rocks glass, with a pineapple wedge. About 2.4 UK units. These are the IBA’s measures. It is credited to Jeffrey Ong, beverage manager at the Aviary Bar of the Kuala Lumpur Hilton, where it was poured as a welcome drink for guests; Difford’s Guide dates it to the hotel’s opening on 6 July 1973. The recipe reached print in John J. Poister’s New American Bartender’s Guide in 1989. Campari is what sets it apart. Pineapple has the body and sugar to carry the bitterness, and a heavy rum underneath holds both.
Boulevardier
A Boulevardier is 45ml bourbon, 30ml Campari and 30ml sweet vermouth, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained over fresh ice in a rocks glass, with orange peel. It is the bourbon Negroni: the same Campari and vermouth with bourbon in place of gin, and that one change makes it warmer and rounder. About 3.0 UK units. It first appeared in print in Barflies and Cocktails, Harry MacElhone’s book, published in Paris in 1927, in a chapter by the columnist Arthur Moss, as the cocktail of Erskine Gwynne, an American in Paris who, Difford’s Guide says, helped found a monthly magazine called Boulevardier. Barflies and Cocktails gives the 1927 recipe as equal parts Campari, Italian vermouth and bourbon. The measures here are the IBA’s, with the bourbon ahead of the other two. Equal parts works well with a lighter vermouth. Against a rich one such as Carpano Antica Formula, the extra 15ml of bourbon keeps the drink from turning heavy.
Negroni
A Negroni is 30ml each of gin, Campari and sweet vermouth, stirred with ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained over fresh ice in a rocks glass, with an orange peel expressed over the top. About 2.4 UK units. The measures are the IBA’s; the IBA builds the drink in the glass and garnishes it with half an orange slice. Difford’s Guide gives the most widely reported account: Florence in 1919, at the Casoni Bar, where the bartender Fosco Scarselli is said to have replaced the soda in Count Camillo Negroni’s Americano with gin. The Oxford Companion has the drink named in a surviving letter of October 1920 and then absent under that name until 1947. A French book of 1929 by Alimbau and Milhorat, in the Internet Archive’s scan, gives equal parts of the three as the Campari Mixte. Each third has a job. Gin gives strength and juniper, the red bitter gives bitterness and orange, and the vermouth gives body and sugar. With no juice or soda in the glass, a tired vermouth shows at once.
Rum Sour
A Rum Sour is 60ml of aged rum, 25ml of fresh lemon juice and 20ml of simple syrup, shaken hard with ice for 10 to 12 seconds and strained over fresh ice in a rocks glass, with a lemon wheel and a cherry. About 2.4 UK units. Egg white is optional: dry shake it for 10 to 15 seconds first, then double strain over ice or into a chilled coupe. Lemon and aged rum are the point. Lime and white rum make a Daiquiri; lemon is rounder and suits a rum with oak and dried fruit in it, much as it suits bourbon in a Whiskey Sour. The sour is an old template. Difford’s Guide says Jerry Thomas’s 1862 Bartender’s Guide has recipes for a Brandy Sour, a Gin Sour and a Santa Cruz, which it calls a rum sour.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 1 November 2026