Afternoon tea by the terrace I Photo by Tatum Ancheta
The 2025 Asia Best Bars results for the extended 51 to 100 list have just dropped, weeks ahead of the main event, and they’re shaking up expectations. This year’s list spotlights up-and-coming bar scenes in places you might not have considered yet, like Shenzhen in China, Phnom Penh in Cambodia, and Kaohsiung in Taiwan, nudging us to look beyond the renowned hubs like Hong Kong and Singapore. It’s an exciting invitation to go off the beaten path and uncover some truly hidden gems across the continent.
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These interesting developments stem from the hard work of independent bar owners, who are expanding their reach beyond local borders through guest shifts and participating in cocktail festivals across Asia. Big-name bars, especially those backed by hotels, leverage their resources and international network to spotlight local flavors globally, attracting visitors eager to explore all a city has to offer. So, don’t be surprised when a place like Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, located in the central west corner of China, could be your next stop for your bar-hopping adventure.
With Suma, a stylish new cocktail bar, opening ahead of the upcoming Shangri-La hotel in Kunming, which is set to debut by late 2025, it offers a fresh glimpse into the city’s emerging bar scene. As the hotel prepares to welcome more international guests and attract global attention with its luxury offerings, Suma could be your gateway to discovering Kunming’s yet-to-be-explored nightlife and local flavors.
A Window to Yunnan’s Culture
Yunnan is incredibly diverse in its ethnic makeup, with each group bringing its own unique style, culture, and traditions. Suma’s design feels like a celebration of all that diversity and there’s a lot to take in. Every detail is inspired by the cultures of ethnic groups (Yi, Bai, Naxi, Lisu, Jingpo, and Hani), who have called Yunnan home for centuries.
With a distinctive mix of indigenous traditions and influences, the venue’s design feels less ‘oriental’ or traditionally Chinese, instead highlighting a unique sense of style and cultural identity through a variety of ornaments, intricate patterns, and vibrant colors.
The bar is a massive space divided into three zones, leading you through colorful hallways adorned with handwoven textiles and intricate stonework designs. The Spirit Lounge features red and blue velvet banquettes set against a backdrop of local weaving patterns.
Outside, there’s a terrace where you can chill with afternoon tea and barbecue surrounded by greenery, a fresh herbs garden used by the bar for ingredients, and of course, good weather that’s pretty much spring all year in Kunming. At the heart of it all is the bar lounge, a spot where you can settle in for a proper meal while watching bartenders do their craft behind the stick.
Nature’s Bounty in Each Sip
Yunnan is renowned for its rich agricultural produce, boasting a diverse array of fruits, wild mushrooms, and vegetables, as well as a deep culinary tradition that has been cultivated for centuries. The province is usually visited for its exceptional cuisine, but you might not immediately think of it as a spot for great cocktails. But it’s just the kind of place where cocktails can do more than just taste good; they can tell a story.
Suma, developed in collaboration with Shingo Gokan’s SG Group (the folks behind popular bars like Tokyo’s The SG Club and Shanghai’s Speak Low), has a clear advantage. With easy access to an array of amazing local ingredients, Suma can craft inventive drinks using modern techniques that highlight Yunnan’s unique flavors.
Heading the bar team is bar manager Frankie Zou who brings a wealth of experience, from opening Beijing’s speakeasy-style Botany Bar to launching Vicu Gin, a small-batch gin that uses locally grown Chinese botanicals. Frankie’s deep knowledge of craft cocktails and his passion for highlighting regional ingredients truly shine through in Suma. When we visited Kunming in June, Frankie took us to Zhuanxin Farmers’ Market to explore the province’s treasure trove of produce and gain a deeper understanding of what goes into every glass in their cocktail program.
The market offers a true glimpse into daily life in Kunming, where locals enjoy everything from curbside tofu stands to restaurants serving tasty hand-pulled noodles with chili, chives, and soy curds, and shop for everything from freshly picked wild mushrooms and roses to peppers of all kinds and sizes, vegetables, seeds, and roots that you may not have even heard of, and an abundance of raw, dried, and pickled ingredients that chefs and bartenders only dream of.
The bar’s menu (RMB108/drink) is divided into four sections: Spice, Fruity and Floral, Umami, and Bitter, each showcasing different products and culinary influences from Yunnan. The menu offers a dizzying array of choices, but a good way to start is with the refreshing floral drink, Por Amor, a twist on the Lychee Martini made with vodka, tequila, osmanthus rice wine, and clarified pomelo juice. This drink showcases Yunnan’s edible dark roses, which are often used to make rose tea or incorporated into jams and treats, such as rose flower cake. It’s reminiscent of the Enchanted Rose from Disney’s 1991 animated film, Beauty and the Beast. Served in a coupe glass, it’s a ruby-tinted concoction topped with a rose-shaped ice block infused with rose water, frozen overnight in a mold to create a dramatic frozen rose effect.
The cocktail menu is curated by SG Group, and those in the know would be familiar with the fact that any menu they create features Shingo Gokan’s signature Tomato Tree drink. At Suma, they’ve created the Tree Tomato Tree, using Yunnan’s tamarillo—an egg-shaped fruit that grows on shrubs and tastes like a hybrid of passion fruit and a tangy tomato. Made with gin, tamarillo, yellow tomato, and mastiha, it’s easily one of the best drinks on the menu.
If you’re into spirit-forward drinks, go for the Figeroni, a nutty, herbaceous twist on a Negroni that features local fig leaf and unroasted green coffee from the Pu’er region. Or, go for the Old Fashioned riff called the Yak Butter Fashioned, inspired by Tibetan staple beverage butter tea (po cha) a salty tea frequently consumed in the morning or offered to guests as a sign of hospitality. This drink combines whisky and shochu, yak butter, Pu’er tea, and honey, resulting in a nutty, sweet, yet boozy mix. It’s served alongside a chocolate and honeycomb toffee that you can nibble in between sips.
For a dessert-like drink, the Iris Yunnan Coffee packs a punch, it’ll definitely wake you up. It’s a mix of whisky and shochu, Yunnan coffee, topped with cream and sprinkled with turmeric and strawberry powder, adding an earthy, spiced sweetness to the drink.
Bites at Suma aren’t just afterthoughts; it’s a place where you can enjoy a satisfying Yunnan forest-inspired afternoon tea (RMB268) featuring a lovely spread of savory and sweet pastries along with a variety of Yunnan teas.
A crowd-pleasing snack that pairs well with drinks is the seafood rolls (RMB88), filled with jicama, shrimp, scallops, and squid. Another favorite dish is the savory, moreish potato spheres (RMB38), served in two flavors: black truffle or fish mint (a unique herb with a fish-like taste). For a more substantial, shareable meal, try the Mixed Grilled Feast (RMB298), grilled outdoors on the terrace’s barbecue, which includes M3 Sirloin Steak, beef sausage, prawns, and lamb chops, or the grilled seabass wrapped in a banana leaf (RMB158).
A Showcase of Crafts and Talents
Suma is already gearing up to use its bar as a stage for other regional bars to showcase their talents and flavors. Last June, Shinya Beijing’s founder, Shinya Momma, visited for a one-night guest shift, and in August, they will host Changsha’s award-winning bar, CMYK (ranked No. 43 on Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2024). Another Shanghai bar is slated to take over the bar in November, continuing Suma’s exciting plan to spotlight regional mixology talent.
If you plan to visit Kunming, get your head start in Suma, and hop on to a few bar gems you could explore, like Sanxun, where you can find a curated selection of whisky, gin, and artisan cocktails featuring Yunnan ingredients. In Wenhua Alley (Culture Alley) the favorite hotspots of artists, the young crowd, and expats filled with bars and restaurants, you can find the Taste Life Secret Lounge, a cafe bay day and cocktail spot at night with live music, where young and upcoming bartender Ivy Yang, whips up well crafted cocktails—some of the best you’d taste in the area.
Easily accessible via Metro Line 3 in Kunming, Suma is located on the fifth floor of the Shangri-La, Kunming, No. 88 Dongfeng East Road, Panlong District, Kunming, Yunnan. Visit shangri-la.com or follow them on @sumakunming for updates and more info.
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