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Pisang Garuda leans hard into the Indonesian roots of its main liqueur. Pisang Ambon takes its name from an Indonesian banana, and Garuda is the great bird of Hindu and Buddhist myth that serves as Indonesia’s national emblem. The drink itself is a light highball served in a margarita glass: white rum and Pisang Ambon over ice, topped with bitter lemon, garnished with an orange slice and served with two straws.
Bitter lemon is the key to why this works. On its own, Pisang Ambon is sweet and tropical, with banana up front and a faint herbal note behind it. Bitter lemon is a cloudy lemon soda with a quinine bite, so it pulls the sweetness back and gives the drink a dry, grown-up finish. The white rum keeps things clean and lets the banana and citrus do the talking. In the glass it turns a hazy, pale lime green.
Glass: Margarita glass | Strength: Medium | Serves: 1 | Prep Time: 2 minutes
Bartenders tip: The recipe is written in centiliters, so think roughly an ounce and a third of rum and two thirds of an ounce of Pisang Ambon. Top with about four ounces of cold bitter lemon; Schweppes and Fever-Tree both make one. A margarita glass is shallow, so use larger cubes that will not melt too fast, and pour the soda gently to keep the fizz. If your margarita glass is on the small side, a highball glass works just as well.
Steps
- Add the Pisang Ambon and white rum to a margarita glass filled with ice cubes.
- Top up with bitter lemon.
- Garnish with an orange slice and serve with two straws.
