TASTE: PANDA PANDA, Milas
Chawabunga at Milas, Schenectady. By Andrew Patterson | Photo: K.D. Odhiambo/The Dishing
In Schenectady, Milas’ Bar Director Andrew Patterson taps into the flavors of SouthEast Asia to craft the Panda Panda for The Dishing’s TINY Talk.
Words: Susie Davidson Powell
Photos: K.D. Odhiambo/The Dishing
Location: Milas, Schenectady, N.Y.
The cocktail: Panda Panda
The Ingredients: Brown butter sauteed pear-fat washed Mizu green tea shochu, blanc vermouth, toasted rice Pandan syrup, coconut cream, lime, force carbonation
TINY Pairing: Roasted pear topped with ginger honeycomb, toasted coconut and puffed rice — by Milas Executive Chef Devin Ziemann.
The inspiration: “I spent some time living and traveling throughout Asia so I drew on those flavors in crafting the Chawabunga and also here with the Panda Panda, a highball drink inspired by Pandan sticky rice I got from a street vendor in Vietnam. Pandan sticky rice is a popular dessert made with rice, coconut and sugar.
The build: Our cocktail version uses a brown butter pear-fat washed Mizu green tea shochu — a Japanese spirit made from barley, black koji rice and steamed fresh Ureshino green tea leaves. We batch the shochu with a toasted jasmine rice Pandan syrup, coconut, white vermouth lime and water. This cocktail is then clarified with whole milk and force carbonated for light effervescence. Served in a highball glass with long ice and garnished with the roasted pear crusted with ginger honeycomb, toasted coconut and puffed rice.
Meet Andrew in our tastemaker interview here.
View Patterson’s OG Tropical Tzatziki cocktail here + the Chawabunga here.
