A new flavor meets the Dutch bar community

We came to Perfect Serve Barshow Amsterdam with one big question: what will bartenders think of Spiced Tamarind? After months of developing, tasting and refining our second Bandoeng’22 liqueur, September 8th and 9th marked an important moment. For the first time, we introduced Bandoeng’22 Spiced Tamarind Liqueur to the Dutch bar community.

Together with one of our distribution partner Pineapple Drinks Club, we poured the first samples, mixed the first cocktails and, most importantly, listened. The response exceeded our expectations.

First taste, first reactions

Throughout the two-day event, Mariska van Beek and Fajar Ramadhany welcomed visitors in front of the bar, while Marc Pieplenbosch took his place behind it. The idea was simple: taste Spiced Tamarind first. Then discover what it can do in a cocktail.

Visitors could sample the liqueur neat and experience its combination of sweet, sour, spice and umami. For those wanting to take the next step, we mixed Tamarind Mezcalitas and Tamarind Daiquiris. That is where things became particularly interesting.

Bartenders immediately started thinking about possibilities. Instead of simply commenting on whether they liked the flavor, conversations quickly turned to what they could create with it. What spirits would work with tamarind? Could it replace another ingredient in an existing drink? What would happen in a signature cocktail? Exactly the conversations we had hoped for.

When bartenders bring other bartenders

Perhaps the best response came from something we had not planned at all. After tasting Spiced Tamarind, several visitors went off to find fellow bartenders and brought them back to the stand: you need to taste this. For a new product, there are few better compliments.

Among the visitors were experienced bartenders, including competition bartenders and award winners. One even asked whether he could take a bottle with him to experiment with for an upcoming bartender competition. That curiosity is exactly what we wanted Spiced Tamarind to create. We did not develop it to prescribe one perfect serve. We created it as a new ingredient for bartenders to work with, interpret and make their own.

From tasting to cocktail menus

The conversations also quickly became concrete. Several bartenders asked where they could order Spiced Tamarind. With new cocktail menus currently being developed for the coming season, the timing turned out to be particularly interesting: if the liqueur becomes available soon, they can already consider it for their next menu.

We made several appointments to visit bars in the coming weeks, taste together and explore how Spiced Tamarind could work in their cocktails.

Pineapple Drinks Club also received the first orders and enquiries during the show.
And afterwards, we received another comment that stayed with us: Spiced Tamarind had been one of the surprises of this year’s Perfect Serve Barshow.

For a liqueur being introduced to the Dutch bar industry for the very first time, that was quite an encouragement.

Now the real work begins

A successful introduction is only the beginning. Our next priority is making Bandoeng’22 Spiced Tamarind Liqueur increasingly accessible to the Dutch hospitality and retail market. Together with our partners, we are working on availability through wholesalers, so bars, restaurants and liquor stores can order the new liqueur more easily. For where to buy in The Netherlands, click here (regularly updated) 

At the same time, we will be visiting some of the bartenders we met at Perfect Serve. Not simply to sell them a bottle, but to get behind the bar together. To taste. To experiment. To see what happens when their ideas meet the sweet, sour, spicy and savory character of Spiced Tamarind.

Because if Perfect Serve showed us one thing, it is this:
We may have created Spiced Tamarind, but bartenders will show us what it can become.