An ice cream illusion made with Bandoeng’22 Pandan Liqueur
Some cocktails are built to impress with technique. Others are built to trigger a memory. Ice Ice Baby does both.
Created by Kiril Hadjiev, founder of Phi Cocktail Bar in Sofia, this drink was designed around one simple idea: make a cocktail that looks like ice cream, tastes like ice cream, but is unmistakably a proper cocktail. The result is a nostalgic, dessert-like serve with a clean structure and a surprisingly balanced finish.
The secret weapon is Bandoeng’22 Pandan Liqueur. Pandan’s soft, vanilla-like character blends beautifully with milk and pistachio, enhancing that creamy “scooped” sensation while keeping the flavor elegant, never heavy, never cloying. Topped with a pistachio milk foam, it genuinely feels like you’re sipping on ice cream.
Why this cocktail
Kiril and the Phi team wanted to surprise guests with something playful at first glance, then win them over with complexity and harmony. The creamy presentation draws you in, while pandan and vodka keep the drink crisp, aromatic, and clean.
A sustainable twist in the presentation
Ice Ice Baby is served in a Bulgarian edible cup patent, originally created for hot coffee drinks in cafés. Phi was the first cocktail bar to use it for mixed drinks, as part of their sustainability program, turning the vessel into part of the experience (and eliminating waste).
How to make the Ice Ice Baby cocktail
Here’s Kiril’s recipe, so you can make it yourself:
Ingredients
30 ml (1 oz) vodka
20 ml (0.6 oz) Bandoeng’22 Pandan Liqueur
Pistachio milk foam (recipe below), to finish
Pistachio milk foam
Mix:
375 ml milk
100 ml (3 oz) sugar syrup
15 g pistachio paste
10 g Proespuma Cold
Chill the mixture, then charge it in a whipping siphon with 1 Nâ‚‚O cartridge.
Serve
Pour the vodka and Bandoeng’22 Pandan Liqueur, then finish generously with the pistachio milk foam. Serve in an edible cup if available for the full “ice cream” illusion.
About Kiril Hadjiev (BG)
Founder and owner of Phi Cocktail Bar, Sofia
With 12 years behind the bar, Kiril has worked his way through nearly every corner of hospitality, from nightclub bartender to restaurant bartender, cocktail bars, barista work, and eventually bar management. After building the experience (and the confidence), he opened his own place: Phi.
Phi is known for a modern cocktail approach with a playful edge. The bar is a space where technique and creativity meet guest-friendly storytelling, drinks that are visually exciting, but always built with balance and intent. Kiril and his team love creating cocktails that surprise at first glance, then win people over with flavor, texture, and aroma. More about Phi Cocktail Bar here.
Sustainability also plays a role in Phi’s identity. For Ice Ice Baby, the team chose an edible Bulgarian cup patent, originally developed for hot coffee drinks, and became the first cocktail bar to use it for mixed drinks as part of their sustainability program. It’s a small detail that says a lot: at Phi, presentation is never just decoration, it’s part of a bigger idea.
Kiril’s personality is woven into the bar as well: skilled, curious, and humorous. As he jokes, echoing an old saying, “Every failed footballer becomes a bartender.” And his own story fits the vibe when he finished high school and said he wouldn’t go to university, his teacher replied: “You’re cool, you’ll make a great bartender!” (He eventually did go, but hospitality pulled him in completely.)
You can find Kiril and Phi Cocktail Bar on Instagram: @KirilHadjiev and @Phicocktailbar
