I had the Pandan Syrup, so was looking for a drink to use it in, that I thought would accentuate the exotic flavour of the Pandan. And behold! I found one that’s also uses Absinthe. I reckon that’s kind of a match made in alcohol paradise really.

This part I blatantly plagiarized from the website Liquor.com, where I found the drink.

Nico de Soto, the founder and owner of several bars including Mace in New York City, describes pandan as having a very unique taste with a long finish. “It gives [cocktails] a kind of nutty, cooked rice, vanilla flavor,” he says. “Now that it’s more available, people realize how complex a taste it has.” De Soto believes pandan is best used in drinks that infuse it in a spirit or a syrup. When shopping for pandan, be sure to choose leaves in which its distinctive aroma is most pronounced, he advises. For this drink from his bar Danica in Paris, de Soto combines absinthe, coconut milk and a whole egg with syrup made by blending pandan leaves with simple syrup and pandan extract.

Personally, I don’t quite ascribe to his description of the flavour of pandan. He describes it as having a nutty cooked rice taste? Ahh, that’s also called Pandan Rice- it’s been infused with Pandan.
It does have the scent of vanilla, but your tongue will tell you that’s not quite right. It’s a multi-hued flavour, that, to my opinion, delights the senses. It’s scented, kind of nutty, yes, definitely green flavour, but so many other things as well.

Mix it with coconut, and be taken to somewhere in the East. Singapore came to my mind. What comes to yours?

I had previously made the Pandan syrup, by a simpler method. It didn’t involve using pandan extract, nor making a simple syrup, to then infuse.

Pandan Syrup
Mine was 5 pandan leaves, sliced finely across the leaf. Than 125gm of sugar (I used fine, but use whatever you like) and 125gm of water.
1. Mix all in a saucepan over low heat, until sugar dissolves. I was wary of letting the syrup boil, as I didn’t know how this might affect the flavour of the pandan.
2. When the sugar dissolves, I turned the heat off, pit the lid on the saucepan, and left it for about 6 hours, to infuse.
3. I then cheated a bit, by gently warming the syrup again, not too hot, so that it would pass through the sieve easier.
4. I added 15ml of vodka to this as a stabilizing agent- think preservative.
5. Keep it in the fridge.

I used half each of Hapsburg Absinthe (abv 89.9%), and La Sorciére (abv 50%). The La Sorciére I bought at Half Moon Bay, in California, on a trip there a few years ago. It traveled back with me to Australia. Then over the following years, it’s made it’s way to Amsterdam, via a sleepover (for 18months) in London. So it’s well traveled.

The Pernod Absinthe just comes in at a measly 68% abv. So that’s why I cut the Hapsburg 😉.

• 30ml Pernod absinthe- used half each of Hapsburg abv 89.9%, and La Sorciére -abv 50%. The Pernod Absinthe just comes in at a measly 68%
• 1 ounce coconut milk
• 1 ounce pandan syrup- see recipe, and it’s not hard.
• 1 whole egg
• Garnish: grated nutmeg

Add all ingredients into a shaker and dry-shake (without ice) vigorously. Add ice and shake again until well-chilled.
Strain into a chilled fluted glass.
Garnish with grated nutmeg