Pandan Coffee Is Having a Moment — Here's How to Make It at Home

What Is Pandan Coffee?

Pandan coffee is exactly what it sounds like: coffee infused with pandan — the aromatic Southeast Asian leaf that tastes like a cross between vanilla, coconut, and toasted rice. The combination sounds unusual until you taste it. The earthy sweetness of pandan rounds out coffee's bitterness beautifully, adding a layered, almost tropical quality that nothing else replicates.

It's been a staple in countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia for years. Now it's moving into specialty coffee shops across the US and Europe, being called one of the most interesting coffee flavor trends of 2026 by industry publications like Perfect Daily Grind.¹

If you want to make it at home before it's everywhere, this is your guide.

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What Does Pandan Taste Like?

Fresh pandan has a complex flavor profile that's hard to pin down with a single comparison:

• Subtly sweet, like vanilla — but earthier and more herbal
• Slightly nutty, with toasted rice or coconut undertones
• Mildly floral, clean finish
• No bitterness — it's soft and aromatic

In coffee, pandan acts as a natural sweetener and flavor enhancer. It doesn't overpower the coffee — it complements it, softening any harsh edges while adding a fragrant, exotic layer. Paired with a medium roast pour over or a smooth cold brew, it's genuinely one of the more interesting flavor combinations in coffee right now.

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What You Need

There are a few ways to get pandan flavor into your coffee. Here's what works best for home brewing:

Option 1: Fresh or Frozen Pandan Leaves

The best result, but requires an Asian grocery store. Fresh leaves are vivid green and intensely aromatic. Frozen leaves work nearly as well. You'll find them at most Asian supermarkets — they're usually very affordable.

Option 2: Pandan Extract

Bottled pandan extract (look for brands without artificial color or additives) is a convenient shortcut. A few drops go a long way. Available online and at Asian grocery stores. The flavor is slightly more concentrated and less nuanced than fresh.

Option 3: Pandan Syrup

Pandan simple syrup is the easiest way to add pandan to any cold coffee drink. You can buy it or make it in minutes (recipe below). This is the best option for iced pandan lattes and cold brew pandan drinks.

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Pandan Simple Syrup (The Base for Everything)

Make this once and keep it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. It's the foundation for most pandan coffee recipes.

Ingredients:

• 6–8 fresh or frozen pandan leaves
• 1 cup (200g) white sugar
• 1 cup (240ml) water

Method:

1. Roughly tear or knot the pandan leaves to release their oils
2. Combine sugar, water, and pandan leaves in a small saucepan
3. Heat over medium, stirring until sugar dissolves (about 3–4 minutes)
4. Reduce to low and simmer for 10 minutes — the syrup will turn pale green
5. Remove from heat, cool completely, strain out the leaves
6. Store in a glass jar in the fridge

The syrup should be lightly fragrant, pale green, and taste sweet with a clean pandan finish. If you want it more intense, add 2–3 more leaves and steep an extra 5 minutes.

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Recipe 1: Pandan Pour Over Coffee

This is the most elegant way to taste pandan with coffee. The clean, bright character of pour over lets pandan's subtle aromatics come through without interference.

Ingredients:

• 20g medium-roast coffee, ground medium-fine
• 300g water at 92°C (198°F)
• 2 fresh pandan leaves
• 1–2 tsp pandan simple syrup (optional, to finish)

Method:

1. Tie or knot pandan leaves and place them inside the pour over brewer with the ground coffee
2. Bloom with 40g water, wait 30–45 seconds
3. Pour remaining water in slow, circular pours over 3 minutes total
4. Remove pandan leaves with the used grounds
5. Taste black first — if you want more sweetness, add 1 tsp of pandan syrup to the cup

Tasting notes: Vanilla-like sweetness woven through the coffee's natural flavors. Clean finish with a soft floral note. Medium roasts from Central America (Guatemala, Colombia) pair especially well.

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Recipe 2: Iced Pandan Latte

Probably the most approachable pandan coffee for someone trying it for the first time. Creamy, sweet, and refreshing — made for warm weather.

Ingredients:

• 2 shots espresso (or 60ml of strong pour over concentrate at 1:10 ratio)
• 150ml whole milk or oat milk
• 2 tbsp pandan simple syrup
• Ice

Method:

1. Add pandan syrup to a glass filled with ice
2. Pour milk over ice
3. Pour hot espresso or concentrate over the top — it will create a layered effect
4. Stir gently and serve immediately

Tasting notes: Creamy, sweet, aromatic. The pandan syrup adds a fragrant green note that complements the milky sweetness. Instagram-worthy layers if you pour slowly.

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Recipe 3: Pandan Cold Brew

Cold brew's smooth, low-acid character is a natural match for pandan. This recipe infuses the pandan directly into the cold brew during the steep — no syrup needed.

Ingredients:

• 60g coarsely ground coffee (medium or medium-dark roast)
• 1L cold filtered water
• 4–6 fresh or frozen pandan leaves, torn into pieces

Method:

1. Combine ground coffee, pandan leaves, and water in your cold brew maker
2. Stir gently to saturate the grounds
3. Refrigerate for 16–20 hours
4. Filter out the grounds and pandan leaves
5. Serve over ice — ready to drink as-is

The pandan infuses directly into the cold brew during the long steep, creating a naturally flavored cold brew without any additives or syrups. The result is subtly sweet, beautifully aromatic, and completely smooth.

The Ovalware Cold Brew Maker works perfectly for this — the fine stainless steel filter keeps all the grounds and leaf pieces out of your finished brew without paper filters.

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Recipe 4: Vietnamese-Inspired Pandan Cà Phê

Pandan coffee has deep roots in Vietnamese coffee culture. This version draws on that tradition: strong drip or pour over coffee, a touch of sweetened condensed milk, and pandan syrup.

Ingredients:

• 150ml strong brewed coffee (espresso or pour over at 1:12)
• 1 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tbsp pandan simple syrup
• Ice (for iced version)

Method:

1. Stir condensed milk and pandan syrup together in a glass
2. Add ice
3. Pour hot coffee over — the condensed milk will slowly blend
4. Stir before drinking

Rich, sweet, intensely aromatic. This is pandan coffee at its most indulgent.

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Tips for Getting Pandan Coffee Right

• Don't over-steep with fresh leaves. More than 15 minutes at high heat starts to extract a grassy, slightly bitter note. Keep steep times short and heat low.
• Use medium roast for the most balanced result. Light roasts can get overwhelmed by pandan's aromatics. Dark roasts can clash — both are assertive. Medium is the sweet spot.
• Start light with extract. Bottled pandan extract is concentrated. 2–3 drops in a cup is enough. Too much turns medicinal fast.
• Fresh leaves freeze well. If you find fresh pandan, buy extra and freeze the rest. Frozen leaves work almost as well as fresh for syrups and infusions.
• Pair with floral or nutty beans. Ethiopian natural process coffees (blueberry, jasmine notes) and Colombian coffees (caramel, hazelnut) are natural flavor partners for pandan.

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Where to Find Pandan

Pandan is becoming more widely available as Southeast Asian cuisine goes mainstream in Western markets:

• Asian grocery stores — fresh and frozen leaves, extract, and syrup. Best prices.
• Whole Foods / specialty grocers — frozen leaves increasingly available
• Amazon / online — pandan extract and syrup ship easily
• Grow your own — pandan is a tropical plant that grows easily indoors in a pot

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does pandan coffee taste like?

Pandan coffee tastes like coffee with a soft, vanilla-like sweetness and an earthy, slightly nutty aroma — like toasted coconut meets jasmine rice. Pandan doesn't taste herbal or grassy in coffee; it adds a fragrant, slightly tropical quality that rounds out bitterness naturally.

Can I use pandan extract instead of fresh leaves?

Yes. Pandan extract is a convenient substitute. Use 2–4 drops per cup (it's concentrated) and look for brands without artificial food coloring. The flavor is slightly more one-dimensional than fresh leaf, but perfectly good for everyday pandan coffee drinks.

Is pandan coffee sweet on its own?

Pandan doesn't add sugar — it adds flavor that reads as sweet. The vanilla-like aroma tricks your palate into perceiving sweetness even without added sugar. Most people find they need less sugar in pandan coffee than in plain black coffee.

What coffee roast works best with pandan?

Medium roast is the most balanced — it has enough sweetness and body to complement pandan without either flavor dominating. Light roasts work if you want a more delicate, tea-like result. Avoid very dark roasts as the bitterness can clash with pandan's softness.

Is pandan coffee caffeinated?

Yes — pandan is just a flavoring. The caffeine content is exactly the same as your base coffee. Pandan leaves contain no caffeine and don't affect how the coffee's caffeine is absorbed.

 

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The Bottom Line

Pandan coffee is one of those flavor combinations that feels like a discovery the first time you try it. It's not just "coffee with a twist" — it's a genuinely different experience that happens to be easy to make at home.

Start with pandan simple syrup in an iced latte if you want the most approachable entry point. If you're ready to go deeper, try infusing pandan leaves directly into your cold brew or pour over — that's where the magic really happens.

The trend is early. Writing about it now means you find it before the mainstream does.

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Sources:

1. Perfect Daily Grind — 2026 Coffee Flavor Trends
2. Sprudge — Emerging Coffee Flavor Report
3. Tasting Table — Pandan: The Vanilla of Southeast Asia
4. Serious Eats — What Is Pandan?
5. Bon Appétit — Cooking With Pandan