How it tastes
Pandan up front, lime mid-palate, gin underneath holding it all together. The juniper and the pandan trade off in interesting ways. Pandan reads as grassy and slightly vanilla on its own, but with juniper it gets sharper and more aromatic. The lime is doing structural work more than flavour work. Soda for length. This is a long, slow drink rather than a hit.
Why we built it
The Tom Collins is one of the easiest cocktails in the world to make and one of the easiest to overlook. Swapping the sugar syrup for pandan syrup turns a familiar template into something that tastes specifically Malaysian without trying too hard. We're not the first bar to do this. We've just kept tightening the proportions until the pandan reads clearly without anyone having to ask what it is. More on pandan extraction methods here.
Where to drink it
On request at Soluble Solids in SS2 Petaling Jaya. We don't always have it on the printed list, but we always have pandan syrup behind the bar. Ask the bartender. Walk-ins welcome. Reserve a table if you want a guaranteed seat.