The objective of the KL Cocktail Week is to highlight the art of cocktail making and also promoting the city’s growing cocktail scene. — Tricia Toh/KLCW
The first ever Kuala Lumpur Cocktail Week (KLCW) is happening next week, with a lineup of activities, guest shifts, and masterclasses being held throughout the city from April 24 to 30.
The event is organised by a group of local industry leaders and stakeholders with the objective of highlighting the art of cocktails, and promoting the city’s growing cocktail scene. It also provides a city-wide platform for local and international bartenders to showcase their skills, and for enthusiasts to explore the art of cocktail making.
The main event of the KLCW is the KLCW Festival Village, a day-long cocktail extravaganza that will take place on Apr 27, 3-11pm, at APW Bangsar. There will be drinks booths by many of the participating bars, live music, masterclasses, games, and more.
The finalists of the KLCW Open cocktail competition will also be featuring their drinks at the Festival Village. The competition, which was open to bartenders from all over Malaysia, required participants to create a cocktail using one of the KLCW’s sponsored brands under the theme “Local Malaysian Ingredients”. The Top Six bartenders will be presenting their drinks to a panel of international judges at the Festival Village.
Bar Trigona is one of the bars that will be involved in KLCW. — Photo: Bar Trigona
In order to cover a wider range of bars and restaurants, the event has been divided into five “zones” across the Klang Valley, namely Bangsar, Petaling Jaya/Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Damansara Heights, Chinatown, and KL City, with bars in each zone hosting exclusive events throughout the week.
These include bars that have been featured in the Asia’s 50 Best Bars list, such as Penrose, Bar Trigona, Three X Co, Reka, and JungleBird; as well as popular and rising bars like Bar Terumi, Rakh, Frank’s Bar, Here & Now, Ikiya 2.0, Jann, and more.
A number of Asia’s top bars will be hosting guest shifts at these bars, including acclaimed ones from South-East Asia such as Singapore’s Atlas, Employees Only, Nutmeg & Clove and Last Word; Thailand’s GOD and Teens Of Thailand, and Indonesia’s The Cocktail Club and Cosmo Pony.
Other international bars taking part are Alice Cheongdam (South Korea), Bar Long Fong (China), Bar Leone (Hong Kong), Room By Lekief (Taiwan), Sidecar (India), and Tokyo Confidential (Japan).
BarKar is one of the restaurants that will be hosting exclusive cocktail pairing dinners during KLCW. — Photo: BarKar
Another aspect of Cocktail Week will focus on the importance of pairing drinks with food, and this will be done via six exclusive cocktail pairing dinners that will feature acclaimed KL restaurants such as Jwala, Jus, Terra Dining, Yellow Fin Horse, BarKar, and Waig.
Follow the KL Cocktail Week Instagram (@klcwofficial) for more information about the event.
Michael Cheang is looking forward to trying some new cocktails in the coming week. Follow him on Facebook (FB.com/MyTipsyTurvy) and Instagram (@MyTipsyTurvy).
