🥃 Pisang Ambon

Pisang Ambon is a Dutch liqueur with a strong taste of banana and tropical fruit and a bright green colour. It is produced by the house of Lucas Bols, and the brand is dated to 1948. After a new recipe in 2021 the strength is 17% ABV, and the banana flavour is natural rather than artificial.

History. The brand is linked to 1948. Sources say it is based on the recipe of an old Indonesian liqueur, but they do not say which drink was the original or how the recipe reached Bols, so we present this with care.

Name. “Pisang” means banana in Malay and Indonesian, and this fruit sets the main flavour of the drink. “Ambon” is an island in the Maluku archipelago, where bananas are important to the economy, so the name is often read as “banana island”. Another explanation concerns a banana variety; sources differ.

How it's made. The full recipe is not disclosed. It is known that in 2021 Bols switched from artificial to natural banana, combining three flavour profiles, and reduced the strength from 21% to 17% ABV. The colour remains a deep emerald, and the taste is described as banana with tropical notes. The Pisang Ambon Guaraná Lime version has a purple colour and is a separate product.

Why this matters to you. Some sellers still list the old 20 to 21% ABV, so check the figures on the bottle itself. This is a liqueur, not a vodka: it contains a lot of sugar, and in the EU a liqueur must have at least 15% ABV. The WHO reminds us that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.