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Once solely a secret weapon among clued up bars, this tropical plant is now stepping into the cocktail spotlight. Discover how bars are harnessing pandan to elevate their menus.
There's no denying that pandan is having a bit of a moment. This nutty, floral ingredient has broken out of obscurity, making an appearance in cocktails as a syrupy drizzle, a neon-hued tincture, and offering a flavour-packed punch to desserts. Here’s how it’s being used to shake up the scene in nine top bars across the globe.
Bar Us, Bangkok
@bar.us.bkk
A new entry on The World’s 50 Best Bars 2024 list at No.41, Bangkok’s Bar Us structures its menu like a meal: starter, main, after, and all night. If you’ve got a sweet tooth, the ‘after’ section is where you’ll want to stay, and where pandan enters the spotlight. The bar’s take on a classic Grasshopper smokes the leaf for depth, but it’s in the Pandan + Jackfruit where it truly shines, served in a low coupe in a blend of vodka, fig leaf, coconut water and lime juice that brings out the sweetness of the pandan and jackfruit.
Bar Trigona, Kuala Lumpur
@bartrigona
In Malaysia, nearly one in every three desserts leans on pandan’s unmistakable flavour, according to Rohan Matmary, head bartender at Bar Trigona – No.36 on Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2024 list. So it’s only natural that the plant is put to good use in cocktails like Petrichor, a crisp, gin-based drink layered with notes of vetiver and fig leaf. “For this drink, we steep the leaves in hot water, using pandan as a tea,” Matmary explains. “This method preserves the delicate aromas and volatile oils that more aggressive techniques might erase.”
Kink, Berlin
@kink.bar.restaurant
At Kink, cocktails are equal parts art and alchemy. The team here thrives on experimentation, dreaming up playful ingredients in their on-site culinary lab to keep drinkers on their toes. The house-made pandan leaf syrup is one such concoction, drizzled into the Naked Lunch alongside bourbon redistilled with peanuts, banana, maple syrup and saline. Bar manager Schahin Dorri swears by pandan’s grassy, nutty notes to enhance the rich peanut butter and sweet banana flavours in this deliciously balanced serve.
Scarfes Bar, London
@scarfesbar
Scarfes Bar’s charm lies in its ability to combine the classic with the unexpected: think leather seating, polished wooden accents and a live jazz band, all brought to life by Gerald Scarfe’s characterful, hand-painted illustrations splashed across the walls. The team here doesn’t just do cocktails, they reinvent them: case in point, the Ramos Gin Fizz, which swaps tradition for tropical flair in a whipped and eminently sippable fusion of tequila, coconut, pandan and acorn, topped up with a refreshing kick of pineapple soda.
Roosevelt Room, Austin
@rooseveltroomatx
Austin might not be the first place you’d expect to find Southeast Asian ingredients, but at The Roosevelt Room, Justin Lavenue and his team are all about showcasing global flavours. Enter Shinjiro’s Golden Hour – a cocktail that’s both elegant and intriguing in its roll call of ingredients – made with Japanese whisky, plum wine, pickled ume fruit and kombu (kelp), and finished with a spritz of house-made pandan tincture that gives it an exotic depth.
Happy Accidents, Albuquerque
@happyaccidents.jpg)
With “Get happy” emblazoned across the wall, you know the atmosphere at Happy Accidents will be vibey. That energy spills into the drinks, especially when it comes to their many experiments with pandan, which is one of the perks of being a distillery bar with a tinkerer’s spirit. “We’re currently working on our own pandan extract,” says bar manager Zach Work. Used in the Pandan-monium, the extract enlivens this “lightly sweet and crushable” highball, alongside melon and tequila, balanced beautifully and carbonated for an effervescent kick.
Maybe Mae, Adelaide
@maybemaebasement
For a decade, Maybe Mae has been quietly shaking up Adelaide’s cocktail scene, highlighting the region’s most exciting ingredients. On the menu, pandan steals the show, twice. First, there’s White Sands, where vodka and dry curaçao get the tropical treatment, combined with rock melon, pineapple, lime and pandan before being served long over pebble ice. Then, for those skipping the booze, there’s Islands in the Sun: a lush, zero-proof libation that pairs pandan with ginger, coconut, aloe and lychee, proving pandan’s magic doesn’t need alcohol to shine.
Atwater Cocktail Club, Montreal
@atwatercocktailclub
Beneath the mirrored ceiling of Atwater Cocktail Club, head bartender Damian Herrera Li has built a drink where pandan is the undisputed star. La Recolte is all about indulgence, where fresh pandan leaves are steeped in vodka for 36 hours, after which the same leaves are blended with Cheerios-infused coconut milk to create a pandan ice cream garnish. Lemon, dates and butter cookies round out the mix, striking a rich and creamy note, but never cloying.
Hecate, Boston
@hecatebar
Set underground with just 24 seats, Hecate is the kind of bar that invites you in and then lets you in on its secrets. Here, getting to know your bartender is part of the drill, along with the clever, next-level techniques behind every pour. The Lo Pan offers a daring twist on the Mai Tai, where plum takes the place of lime, and a blend of pandan, ginger, and syrup steps in for orgeat. Beverage director Lou Charbonneau says that pandan is brilliant for adding depth, rounding out a drink without overpowering or fighting for the spotlight.
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