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Is Kuala Lumpur Asia’s next big cocktail hot spot?
Nimmi Malhotra catches up with two household names in the Kuala Lumpur cocktail scene to see what’s driving innovation in Malaysia’s capital city.
Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, is experiencing a vibrant evolution in its cocktail culture. Pioneering bars like Coley, Junglebird, Three X Co, Backdoor Bodega, and sustainability champion Bar Trigona have set the pace for incoming bars.
Now, a bevvy of new names like Vér, Reka and Rakh are making noise, particularly Penrose, for injecting a dose of audacity by modernising the classics.
This year, three of these bars made their mark on Asia’s 50 Best Bars list: Penrose soared to No. 8, marking the highest ranking for any Malaysian bar; Bar Trigona secured the No. 36 spot; and Reka made a notable debut at No. 41.
We asked two bar industry leaders — Bar Trigona head bartender Rohan Matmary, and Penrose founder John Lee — what’s driving the local cocktail market.
Growing awareness
The quality of cocktails is rising at a fast pace, says Lee. “I’ve seen a growth of cocktail drinkers. Malaysians are travelling more and now understand that the bar culture has more to it than mojitos and old fashioned.”
A place to be seen
According to Matmary, new bars are designed as socialisation hotspots. “You go to a restaurant to eat, but go to a bar to meet. People come to socialise, take pictures and enjoy the ambience. Drinking is the second agenda,” he says.
On average, guests order two drinks per sitting, lasting more than two hours. In response, bars focus on crafting quality cocktails with low ABV so guests to enjoy more drinks. Non-alcoholic drinks are featured, but they haven’t quite taken off. Matmary says they account for under 6% of his billings.
Tequila and mezcal are booming
Influenced by neighbouring cocktail economies such as Hong Kong and Singapore, agave spirits are on trend.
“We listed one agave drink at Bar Trigona when we started. Now, we offer three agave-based drinks on our new menu Colour Me Curious,” says Matmary, who designed his menu around native honey sourced from indigenous stingless bees called trigona and spotlights local Malay ingredients, like rose apple.
For now, the market only offers a handful of agave brands like Campari-owned Montelobos and Mezcal Los Siete Misterious, but smaller boutique players are slowly making inroads, he added.
Lee from Penrose – a sleek and minimalist bar where his pared-down menu offers clean, modern classics – works with Koch and Los Seite mezcal. His prediction? “Mezcal will be the bigger trend, and it’s going to have a boom in the next two years.”
Rising operational costs
Malaysia faces unique staffing issues. “Bartenders can make three times as much their salary across the border in Singapore and prefer to come back home for the weekends,” says Matmary.
However, he argues that when homegrown talent returns to their roots – as Singapore-trained Lee has done with Penrose – it drives innovation.
Having worked in Tippling Club, Singapore, chef-turned-mixologist Lee understands the economic problem all too well. “Our currency is quite low, and it’s a big challenging to sustain a decent lifestyle with F&B jobs.”
The cost of running a bar has increased with average cocktail prices up 33% from MYR 45 (£7.50) to MYR 60 (£10) before tax.
His solution is to reward his team with above-market-rate salaries and encourage training, growth and leadership opportunities.
Growth markers
Lee expects more bars to open in the coming years. He believes growth should be centred around “trying to find solutions to a problem people have not identified yet.” To that end, he says he plans to “open more bars to offer them growth opportunity and help the economy.”
Matmary believes the city is primed to be a bar hotspot. Earlier this year, when the city launched the first KL cocktail festival, it was supported by 14 international guest shifts from leading bars in Asia. This coming-of-age event cemented Kuala Lumpur’s spot in the flourishing Asian bar scene.
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