Nico de Soto creates pandan liqueur

Kota Pandan Liqueur is a joint venture between mixologist Nico de Soto and French liquorist Maison Gabriel Boudier.

De Soto is the owner of New York City’s Mace and Paris’s Danico; he also curated the drinks programme at the Experimental Cocktail Club. Kota is named after the word for ‘city’ in Indonesia and Malaysia and is flavoured with pandan, an aromatic plant grown in south-east Asia. Nicknamed ‘Asia’s vanilla’, the plant has 750 species found in Asia, Africa and Oceania. The liqueur is produced in small batches using pandan leaves that are steeped in neutral spirit for several days before distillation. On the nose, it presents a ‘rich, buttery bouquet’, followed by ‘subtle grassy nuances’ and with ‘nutty undertones’. The palate offers a smooth and creamy texture, which its initial ‘biscuit-like sweetness’ balanced by the ‘vanillic and herbaceous’ character of pandan. Its finish is ‘long-lasting and warming’. The brand launched in Europe in 2024 and will roll out in the US this month. De Soto said: “I fell in love with pandan more than 15 years ago and have incorporated the essence of this southeast Asian leaf into my cocktails since then, with my own handmade syrups. “If you walked into any one of my bars, you’d always find a pandan cocktail on the menu. It’s been my dream to create a bottled pandan liqueur that I could share with my fellow bartender pandan fans, as well as for the home bartender looking for something exceptionally flavourful. “Kota Pandan Liqueur is the answer to this dream, and I am so proud to see it on bars throughout Europe and looking forward to the same in the US. I am happy to bring pandan to the people!” The liqueur is bottled in Wild Glass, which is made from 100% post-consumer recycled glass. Bottled at 18% ABV, it has a suggested retail price of US$34.99 for a 700ml bottle.