Hong Kong bartender and World Cocktail Championship 2023 winner Leo Ko on overcoming ‘curveballs’ at the event to put city on the map

Being crowned World Bartender of the Year at the World Cocktail Championship 2023 made Alibi’s Leo Ko the latest Hongkonger to shine on the world stage

The bartender talks about making Hong Kong ‘one of the best destinations for cocktails’ and how being trained by a sommelier helped him win the tricky contest

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World Bartender of the Year, Hong Kong’s Leo Ko, at the World Cocktail Championship 2023 in Rome. The Cordis hotel beverage manager talks about how being trained by a sommelier helped him to victory. Photo: Cordis, Hong Kong

Published: 7:15am, 20 Dec 2023

With a population of 7.5 million, Hong Kong is small compared to some other cities around the world, so any Hongkonger who makes their mark on the world stage is sure to be celebrated at home.

Past examples of this include athletes Lee Lai-shan and Cheung Ka-long, who won gold for Hong Kong at the Olympics in 1996 and 2022 respectively.

Hong Kong-born Reeze Choi is one of the world’s best sommeliers and, speaking of drinks, Hong Kong bar Coa was named Asia’s Best Bar for the third time in 2023.

Leo Ko can now be added to the list of talented Hongkongers the city can be proud of, because he has just won the World Cocktail Championship 2023, an annual competition organised by the International Bartenders Association. He is the first Hongkonger to do so.

Ko celebrates as he is crowned the winner of the World Cocktail Championship 2023. Photo: Cordis, Hong Kong

The 34-year-old is the beverage manager of the Cordis hotel in Mong Kok, Hong Kong, and head bartender at Alibi, the hotel’s restaurant and bar.