Comment: Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2025 signals a shift in the region’s cocktail hubs

The latest edition of Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2025 offers a glimpse beneath the surface of what appears, at first, to be a stable ranking — revealing instead a quiet but significant reshuffling of the region’s cocktail capitals. Nimmi Malhotra breaks down what the rankings signify.

For years, Asia’s 50 Best Bars list has been dominated by two cities: Singapore and Hong Kong. And at the very top, that pattern held steady this year. Hong Kong’s Bar Leone retained its crown at number one for a second consecutive year and Singapore’s Jigger & Pony came it at no.3. Seoul’s Zest retained second place.

Beyond the top three, the landscape is shifting. The 2025 list welcomed 20 new entrants, and for the first time, longtime leaders Singapore and Hong Kong showed signs of loosening their grip. Singapore’s representation dropped to five bars on the list, down from 11 in 2024, while Hong Kong featured six, down from last year’s nine.

Meanwhile, other cities stepped forward. Bangkok now leads with seven entries. Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta each claimed four spots, firmly establishing themselves as emerging cocktail destinations.

Newcomers also included Changsha, the capital of China’s Hunan province, and Kumamoto, located on Japan’s Kyushu Island. These were not fringe appearances — Changsha’s CMYK ranked sixteenth, while Kyushu’s Yakoboku placed at no.25, signalling a broader regional diversification.

A changing of the guard

Does this mark a turning point for Asia’s cocktail scene? Many industry observers believe so.

“I think this has been a long time coming,” said Tariq Widarso, a Jakarta-based content creator for Campari Academy Asia and a close follower of the 50 Best list. “What’s really pushed the change is that small cities are getting hungrier; they want to do more.”

Indra Kantono, founder of Singapore’s Jigger & Pony Group, agreed. “Cocktail culture is becoming global. Each year, new cities are joining the Asia and World’s 50 best list.”

Earlier this year, Kantono convened a roundtable in Jakarta, inviting representation from what he calls Asia’s “rising cities”. Among them were bars like Three X Co (Kuala Lumpur), Penang’s Backdoor Bodega and Goa’s Boilermaker.

The focus? To explore how to build sustainable cocktail cultures in emerging economies, tackling challenges such as infrastructure, staffing, training and consumer engagement.

“We came away feeling really empowered”, recalled Kantono. “We believed our rising cities could resonate with consumers.” Serendipitously, five out of these six bars that participated in that roundtable went on to be listed in the 2025 rankings.

Jakarta’s best showing yet

Jakarta delivered its best performance yet with four entries: Modernhaus (no.12), St Regis Bar (no.22), Carrots Bar (no.34), and Cosmo Pony (no.38), Jigger & Pony’s Indonesian outpost.

Post-pandemic, the city has seen a surge of innovation and independent concepts like Carrots flourish. However, it was the collaboration between Union Group and Singapore’s Jigger & Pony that sparked a step-change.

Kantono’s influence, combined with Union Group’s deep local roots, brought international attention to Jakarta — despite challenges such as high alcohol taxes and logistical barriers.

“Cosmo Pony brought Singapore’s standards to Jakarta. Their presence has really helped,” said Widarso, noting that the city has hosted 100 international guest shifts since January 2025.

Kuala Lumpur talent returns home

For Kuala Lumpur, the momentum is being driven by a wave of returnees — bartenders who trained abroad and are now bringing their expertise home.

“Many of our current talents have lived and worked overseas. They’ve seen what’s possible and are now applying that vision here,” said Amanda Wan of Three X Co (no.15), a returnee herself from Hong Kong.

She highlighted figures like John Lee of Penrose (no.10), Joel Poon of Reka Bar (no.47), and her colleague Angeline Tan as key drivers of the city’s bar scene. The fourth spot was claimed by Bar Trigona (no.39).

With four listings this year, Wan identified a “strong sense of national pride”.

Bangkok craft cocktail renaissance

“Cocktail culture has long moved on from hotel bars to craft and is no longer tied to western concepts”, noted Supawit ‘Palm’ Muttarattana, co-founder of The Dry Wave Cocktail Bar. “Bangkok is creating its own cocktail culture – the Thai way.”

Bangkok scored an impressive seven entries in 2025, including Bar Us (no.4, named Thailand’s Best Bar), BKK Social Club (no.19), G.O.D (no.26), Vesper (no.29), Opium (no.43), and Bar Sathorn (no.48).

Dry Wave Cocktail Bar, Palm’s own venue, debuted at no.5 —this year’s highest new entry. Only 18 months old, the bar has already earned acclaim for its obsessive attention to detail.

Palm credited his team’s success to “a singular focus on every element: drinks, design, service, music and experience”.

“Bangkok is Asia’s new cocktail destination,” he declared, attributing the city’s rise to a strong sense of community, “where bars grow together”.

Rising cities, shared values

Seoul continues to perform well, with four entries, and Bengaluru made its mark with three. The diversification of the list reflects a more inclusive snapshot of Asia’s thriving bar scene.

But what of Hong Kong and Singapore – have they lost their edge? Far from it.

Lists aside, both cities lead the subcontinent in their deep, diverse and dynamic cocktail cultures. In addition, they are also training grounds for the region, developing talent that helps elevate cocktail standards across Asia.

Seen through a broader lens, the 2025 list is not a disruption, but a rebalancing. It’s a celebration of Asia’s growing dominance in cocktail culture and a testament to shared values.

“The camaraderie within the Asian bar community is tighter than before,” said Kantono, who also sits on the Business Advisory Committee of Tales of the Cocktail Foundation.

The list only has 50 spots, Kantono noted, and at the core it is a “statistics problem”. One in, one out is how it works.

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