Designing cocktails

THERE’S something cool about Yun Shen Koh, whose bar Backdoor Bodega got listed as one of Asia’s 50 Best Bars in 2022 and 2024. Maybe it’s the facial piercing; maybe it’s the fact that he used to design T-shirts.

On Nov. 21, Mr. Koh, along with his colleague Thaneshkumar Sivakumar, brought Backdoor Bodega to Peninsula Manila’s The Bar for a takeover.

Drinks were made with spirits from sponsors Remy Martin and Cointreau. There were four that evening: Biggie Smalls (Remy Martin VSOP, Cymar, China-China, Dolin Dry, Luxardo Maraschino), Val d’Or (Remy Martin 1738, Antica Formula, rose apple cider — a.k.a. macopa — and gold), Spellbinder (Remy Martin VSOP, cane molasses, soy sauce, Granny Smith apple soda, rice paper crisp), and the Eugene (Cointreau, The Botanical Island Dry, Monin yuzu, lime blend, and mishti doi).

We’d gladly drink the Biggie Smalls and the Spellbinder over and over again. The first cocktail had a scent reminiscent of Tiger Balm ointment (said with affection), and the taste captures the scent, so it’s refreshing, medicinal, and surprisingly invigorating. The Spellbinder takes a dimension when one dips the rice crisp in the drink: it also calls back to home with a taste like plum juice served after Chinese meals (but you know, fun).

This year, Backdoor Bodega’s menu — The Backdoor Bodega Guide to Penang — won the Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu Award 2025 under Asia’s 50 Best Bars. We understood why: more than a menu, it explains ingredients and neighborhoods, and it’s a very absorbing read. It’s almost like we’re reading Mr. Koh’s palm as he makes his way through the region.

For example, his knowledge of Penang explains why his bar thrives in a country with alcohol restrictions for its Muslim-majority population. “I feel like in Penang, we have a bit more liberty. Penang has always been, I guess, the rebel child. We are similar to Singapore in many ways,” he said, pointing at the larger Chinese population in Penang, not to mention its former British ties. “It’s a very different mindset in Penang.”

Praising his bar’s ascent as one of Asia’s 50 Best Bars, he laughed it off. Asked what he did right to get on the list, he laughed and said, “I still don’t know, man.” He expressed his surprise that they first got in the list in 2022, just crawling out of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. “That caught us off-guard, to be honest.”

On a serious note, he said: “It helped that we were one of the earlier bars in Penang. I guess that helped us a little.

“The pros: it was nice to be recognized,” he said. “The cons: that’s when people put a spotlight on you, and then you have so many expectations to meet.”

The bar started in 2016 after a venture in T-shirts: in fact, that’s where the name comes from. The bar is the backdoor to the former bodega (storeroom) for the T-shirts. “I only started bartending when I started the bar,” he told BusinessWorld. “I am a designer at heart,” he said, noting that aside from the T-shirts, he had been in advertising.

“I feel like making a cocktail is design,” he said. “You design the recipe, the flavors; you design how it looks,” he added. “After doing the same thing for years, which was clothing, doing the cocktails were a breath of fresh air.”

The bar’s menu talks about ingredients and inferences: ginger flower, bamboo, all sorts of native herbs and flavors. “Whatever was in the market, I would use those,” he said, though eventually, using pandan leaves and lemongrass over and over became old hat. “It’s always a challenge to try to find things that represent Penang, but not something that’s so predictable,” he said: hence the rose apple, the soy sauce. “It’s just there: the things that we take for granted.”

The Backdoor Bodega is in 37, Jalan Gurdwara, 10300 George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. For more information, visit the website at https://www.backdoorbodega.com/ or on Instagram @backdoorbodega. — Joseph L. Garcia