Leo Ko was crowned world bartender of the year at the International Bartenders Association (IBA) World Cocktail Championship in 2023. Yet the 36-year-old Hongkonger does not drink alcohol himself.
He gave up booze a little over three years ago, before he took the coveted title. He used to be a heavy drinker.
“I trained in hospitality in Germany during my late teens, and it was while living there that I learned about alcohol and got to sample different beers,” he says.
“I started working as a bartender 11 years ago and that’s when my alcohol intake increased – I was easily drinking six or seven beers a night and I could polish off half a bottle of hard liquor by myself within three or four hours.”
Currently director of beverage at the Cordis hotel in Hong Kong’s Mong Kok district, Ko also clinched the cocktail of the year (low ABV category) and best sensory skill awards at the 2023 IBA championship.
He says he did not experience any obvious health issues during his drinking days, when he was young and in relatively good shape.