Backdoor Bodega’s Koh Yung Shen is raising the bar for Penang’s drinks scene with Penang Cocktail Week

While it might seem unusual for a mixologist to be so multi-talented, Koh draws from his previous experiences. He first began his career in advertising and design, his first business being apparel line The Swagger Salon, which now hides the entrance to the Penang-based speakeasy, Backdoor Bodega. Koh moved back to Penang from Kuala Lumpur in 2014 when he had an offer from the landlord of Hin Bus Depot to open the physical retail store. 

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“When I first moved back to Penang, there weren’t as many places to eat, let alone any to drink,” he recalls. With a creative mind always bubbling with ideas (and partnered with the fact he didn’t yet have a bar licence), Koh came up with the idea of selling drink tokens as part of The Swagger Salon. Customers would buy an overpriced pin outside at RM100, which would entitle them to four drinks within the hidden bar he dubbed Backdoor Bodega in 2016 (he liked how the word bodega sounded, and branding wise, the B fit perfectly within the middle when he designed the logo). 

Chinese New Year is always a festive time in Penang, and 2017 was no different. “Everyone comes back from abroad—the UK, Australia, Singapore, places where the cocktail scene is much more prevalent,” he reminisces. With exposure to the international bar scene, such patrons would search out similar haunts upon their return to Penang. Backdoor Bodega fit the bill perfectly, the concept took off, and soon became an iconic name on the island. 

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With Koh going on to win his fair share of cocktail competitions, and Backdoor Bodega one of the first Malaysian bars to be listed on Asia’s 50 Best Bars in 2022, it comes as a surprise that his bartending skills are all self-taught. “Since I wasn’t a bartender, I never made classic cocktails, but instead turned to what we had in the market,” he says.

“The first drink I ever created was the Kelapa Hotak—fresh coconut infused with rum for two days before it is strained and combined with pandan syrup and kaya.” Today, a fancier, clarified version of the drink sits on the menu, facing a page detailing the origins of the bar.

In 2023, Koh also founded No Bar Here, which he tells me is a name rooted in irony, as “with the glass exterior, it is very obvious that there is a bar inside” unlike its sister speakeasy, Backdoor Bodega: “I was inspired by music from the ’80s, so the idea of a disco era-themed bar came about with fun drinks—ice blended, with a cherry on top—but elevated to today’s standard.”

In the same year, Koh also organised the inaugural Penang Cocktail Week, a celebration of the island’s bar scene. “Penang has always been known for its food, but less so the drinks scene, and I always felt it needed more love,” he explains. “We are home to many owner-operated bars—the founders are the ones opening the bars in the evening, running operations, and closing in the morning, so the experience we provide is as personal as it gets.” 

Koh was planning to host Alquímico, #9 on The World’s 50 Best Bars 2023, during this period, and other Penang bars also had plans to bring in international names. “I felt pulling together more events in the same week could be cause for more celebration,” he says, and Penang Cocktail Week was born.

With activations throughout the week, from multiple guest shifts each evening to a series of panel talks and masterclasses, it is hard to believe how Koh and the team at Backdoor Bodega are single-handedly organising all the logistics. In fact, after I meet him for the interview, Koh rushes to the airport to pick up the Jigger and Pony team, in his car he picked me up from my hotel in. “It helps that Penang is small, bars are nearby, and having lived here for so long, I understand the market,” he humbly says.

Not only does the event work to bring in some of Asia’s largest names in the bar scene (the lineup for 2024 includes Coa’s Jay Khan, Jigger and Pony’s Gan Guoyi, and Maybe Sammy’s Sarah Proietti), it also works to provide education and experience to local Penang-based bartenders. “Where else would one get the chance to ask [Gan] how Jigger and Pony deals with difficult customers, or pick the brains of Jay Khan about his fitness regime?” he laughs. 

Koh hopes that Penang Cocktail Week will only get bigger and better, hosting more bars from different emerging and upcoming Asian cities. “I am so thankful the community in Penang is so close-knit, and the celebration gives everyone a chance to step up their game, putting Penang on the global map.”

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