Pandan Liqueur cocktail by Joana Kartalewa & Kamea Koleva

The Nana Pandanana is a vibrant pandan liqueur cocktail created by bartenders Joana Kartalewa and Kamea Koleva in Sofia, Bulgaria. Inspired by tropical flavours and modern cocktail culture, this drink combines the aromatic sweetness of pandan with fresh citrus and balanced acidity.

Using Bandoeng’22 pandan liqueur, the cocktail develops a distinctive emerald-green colour and a flavour profile that is both refreshing and exotic. Pandan is often called the “vanilla of Asia”, known for its warm, slightly nutty aroma and subtle sweetness.

The Nana Pandana is a perfect example of how pandan liqueur can bring an Asian twist to modern cocktail recipes.

Universal taste of home
In the heart of Sofia, where historic facades meet a quietly thriving cocktail scene, something warm and aromatic is being poured into tall highball glasses. At BAR COBA, bartenders Joana Kartalewa and Kamea Koleva created a drink rooted in a simple yet powerful question: What is the universal taste of home?

For them, the answer was pandan. Soft. Warm. Comforting. An aroma woven into desserts and rice dishes across Southeast Asia, yet remarkably familiar, even to those tasting it for the very first time. From that idea, Nana Pandanana was born.

The Inspiration
“When we started building this cocktail, we kept circling back to comfort,” Joana explains. “That feeling of recognizing something, even if you don’t immediately know why.” Pandan carries that emotional quality. It’s nostalgic without being obvious. Exotic without being loud.

Using Bandoeng’22 Pandan Liqueur as their base allowed them to work with a layered, spiced expression of pandan, not raw or grassy, but rounded, elegant and structured. The liqueur’s subtle spice notes integrate seamlessly with rum and bitters, while the tropical brightness of pineapple shrub lifts the drink into refreshing territory. The result is a highball that feels both contemporary and timeless.

The Pandan cocktail recipe

A vibrant, structured highball with tropical depth and a dry, elegant finish.

Ingredients

• ¾ oz (22 ml) Bandoeng’22 Pandan Liqueur
• ½ oz (15 ml) bitter apéritif
• 1½ oz (45 ml) light aged rum
• ¾ oz (22 ml) pineapple shrub
• ¼ oz (7.5 ml) fresh lime juice
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• Dry tonic water (to top)

Method
1. Add Bandoeng’22, rum, bitter apéritif, pineapple shrub & lime juice to a shaker with ice.
2. Shake hard until well chilled.
3. Double strain into a chilled highball glass over fresh ice.
4. Add one dash of Angostura bitters.
5. Gently top with dry tonic water.
Serve tall. Let the aromatics open up.

House-Made Pineapple Shrub
The shrub provides acidity, structure and a subtle fermented complexity that beautifully balances pandan’s warmth.

Ingredients

• 10 oz (300 g) fresh pineapple, small cubes
• 7 oz (200 g) white sugar
• 6¾ oz (200 ml) white wine vinegar (approx. 6% acidity)

Method
1. Combine pineapple, sugar and vinegar in a sealed container.
2. Let macerate for at least 48 hours.
3. Fine strain through sieve or cheesecloth (do not press to avoid cloudiness).
4. Bottle and refrigerate at least 24 hours before use.

About the bartenders Joana and Kamea

BAR COBA
Located on Moskovska Street in Sofia Center, BAR COBA has built a reputation for refined hospitality and precise craftsmanship. The bar blends a vibrant yet intimate atmosphere with a menu that showcases both technical cocktails and thoughtful non-alcoholic creations. It is a space where detail matters and where hospitality feels personal.

Joana Kartalewa 
Founder and bartender of BAR COBA, Sofia

Joana has been working in the industry for 19 years and as she puts it, “it’s still one hell of a ride.”
She started in a cocktail bar with a menu of 140 drinks, a very different era of bartending. What continues to inspire her is the evolution of the craft. “The way everything changes and how we now truly have an art form, that’s what makes me fall in love with bartending again.”

For Joana, BAR COBA is the natural outcome of that passion: a bar built from experience, curiosity and constant reinvention.

About Kamea Koleva
Bartender at BAR COBA

Kamea has been behind the bar for eight years. She entered the industry when she realized bartending wasn’t just something you pass through while waiting for “real life” to begin. It is real life.

She became a bartender because people believed in her talent and because she wanted to carve out her own place in what was traditionally seen as a man’s world.

She stayed because she discovered something deeper. “To make it kind. To make it meaningful. To be the social network that never goes out of style.”

You can find Joana and Kamea on Instagram: @barcoba.sofia,  @nik_jokar and @kamea.kv

Interested in more Pandan drink recipes?

Whether enjoyed in a pandan coffee, a pandan dessert or a delicious cocktail, Bandoeng’22 Pandan Liqueur offers a versatile flavor that bridges Asian tradition and modern hospitality. For more Pandan cocktail recipes click here.

Why bartenders use pandan liqueur in cocktails

Bartenders around the world are increasingly experimenting with pandan liqueur because of its unique flavour and colour. The aromatic pandan leaf adds tropical notes similar to vanilla and coconut, while its natural green colour creates visually striking cocktails.

Bandoeng’22 pandan liqueur was developed specifically to bring these Southeast Asian flavours into modern cocktail culture.