Kevin Kos: Engineering Modern Cocktail Education

Most bartenders today meet Kevin Kos on a screen before they ever meet him at a bar. You’re between shifts, scrolling, and a calm Slovenian voice starts explaining how to get more juice from one lemon, or how to batch an Old Fashioned so it pours perfectly every time.

Two minutes later you’re not thinking “nice YouTube video” – you’re thinking “we should change our prep.” That’s the typical Kevin effect: he takes something you already do, shows you the numbers and the logic behind it, and suddenly your bar looks different. Through his platform “Cocktail Time with Kevin Kos”, he’s turned advanced mixology and bar science into usable systems – videos, calculators and tools designed to help bars serve better drinks, more consistently, with less waste.

Who Is Kevin Kos?

Kevin Kos is a bartender and mixologist from Slovenia, with close to two decades of experience in the hospitality industry.

He originally earned a degree in civil engineering, but chose the bar over the building site when he realised he cared more about building cocktails than structures. His passion for mixology was recognised early: he won his first cocktail competition in Slovenia, and several others followed.

On the Cocktail Time team page he’s described simply as a mixologist and bartender from Maribor who “loves to spread the knowledge he gained in his bartending career” – which sums up both his background and his current role quite well.

Today he is best known as:

• the face of Cocktail Time with Kevin Kos, an independent online mixology platform,

• a YouTube creator with a large, global audience,

• and a guest speaker and educator at bar shows and cocktail festivals in cities such as Athens and Montréal.

  
  

From Civil Engineering to “Cocktail Time”

The turning point came during the pandemic. In 2020, Kevin teamed up with two friends – director Robi Fišer and director of photography Sašo Veber – to launch a YouTube channel called “Cocktail Time with Kevin Kos.”

From the start, the idea was to move beyond casual home-bar content and build something more structured:

• clear storytelling and step-by-step logic,

• cinematic visuals,

• and a focus on technique, homemade ingredients and cocktail history rather than only quick recipes.

The project has since grown into a small studio and community:

• a team behind the scenes that presents Kevin as mixologist/host alongside his collaborators,

• the “Friends of Cocktails” community across YouTube, newsletter and socials,

• and a full educational website with recipes, articles, newsletter, calculators, “Your Bar Coach” services and a shop.

What started as a lockdown experiment is now a global classroom for bartenders and cocktail fans.

What Makes His Approach Different

1. An Engineer’s Mindset Behind the Bar

Kevin treats cocktails like systems: measurable, repeatable, optimisable.This mindset is most visible in his Cocktail Time calculators, a suite of online tools on his official platform designed to take the math out of R&D and prep:

• Super Juice calculator – dialling in acids and water for citrus peels.

• Syrup calculator – targeting consistent sweetness and texture.

• Pre-batched cocktails and liqueurs calculators – building stable, repeatable batches.

• Plus tools for foamers, cordials, soda and ABV calculations.

He has also played a major role in explaining and popularising Super Juice more broadly: a method (originally created by Nickle Morris) that can dramatically increase juice yield, extend shelf life and intensify citrus flavour in cocktails.

2. Bridging Cocktail History and Modern Technique

On both YouTube and the blog, Kevin often revisits classic cocktails through an “old vs new” lens:

• reconstructing historical specs,

• then presenting modern versions using tools like Super Juice, clarified components, more precise dilution and updated balance.

Instead of simply saying “this is my twist,” he explains why he changes ratios, citrus, or sweetening agents. For a working bartender, this is essentially a live demonstration of recipe development, not just a list of specs to copy.

3. Sustainability and Zero-Waste Thinking

Kevin consistently links technique to sustainability and efficiency. His work on Super Juice and batching is framed as a way to:

• reduce citrus waste and cost,

• extend the shelf life of prep,

• and make service smoother without sacrificing flavour.

Beyond the bar, Cocktail Time has used its community to support causes such as Movember, for which Kevin created the “Gentleman’s Health” cocktail and raised funds together with other content creators and brands.

4. Treating Content as a Professional Tool

Cocktail Time is run less like a casual channel and more like a small education studio. The ecosystem integrates:

• long-form articles on techniques and ingredients,

• calculators and downloadable tools,

• a newsletter,

• and a “Your Bar Coach” section for one-on-one coaching and consulting.

For bartenders, this is a practical blueprint for how bar knowledge can live in videos, spreadsheets and written guides – not just in a physical spec book or pre-shift talk.

Why Kevin Kos Matters for Serious Bartenders

For readers of The Double Strainer, Kevin’s relevance is very concrete:

• System over intuition: He shows how clear systems (calculators, documented specs, standardised prep) reduce variance and free mental space for creativity and hospitality.

• From following recipes to designing recipes: By explaining each decision – not just showing the final drink – he models a thought process you can copy when building your own menu or R&D program.

• Blending craft, education and business: Cocktail Time demonstrates how a bartender can expand into education, content and consulting without leaving the bar world. For many modern professionals, that hybrid path is increasingly attractive.

  
  

How to Use This Article (Concrete Next Steps)

If you want this profile to actually change how you work behind the bar, not just give you another name to follow, here is a simple plan:

1. Watch with intention: Pick 2–3 Cocktail Time episodes on:

   • Super Juice / citrus optimisation,

   • batching cocktails,

   • and the modern take on a classic you already serve (for example, Daiquiri or Old Fashioned).Watch them with a notebook and write down any idea that could fix a real pain point in your bar (waste, speed, consistency).

2. Adopt one calculator for one week: Choose one calculator (Super Juice, syrups or pre-batched cocktails) from his official platform and apply it to a real prep task for at least a week.Track waste, flavour and team feedback. Keep what clearly works; adapt or discard the rest.

3. Turn insights into SOPs: Take the best idea that survived your test week and formalise it:

   • update your spec sheets,

   • tweak your PAR levels and prep lists,

   • or add a short “Kevin-inspired” segment to your next in-house training.

In this way, Kevin Kos becomes more than a YouTube reference – he becomes part of your bar’s operating system.

Where to Find and Contact Kevin Kos

If you want to study his work more closely or get in touch:

• His official website and blog, where you can find recipes, calculators, articles, newsletter and services.

• His YouTube channel, “Cocktail Time with Kevin Kos”, with hundreds of videos on cocktails, techniques and bar craft.

• His newsletter, which mixes technique, history and behind-the-scenes notes.

• His social channels and community initiatives, including the “Friends of Cocktails” community and collaborations on campaigns such as Movember.

• His coaching and consulting services, offered through the “Your Bar Coach” and contact sections of his platform.

Written by: Riccardo Grechi | Founder & Beverage Editor

Keep Learning with The Double Strainer

If you want to discover more professionals who are reshaping the way we think about cocktails, visit the People section on The Double Strainer. There you will find other profiles, stories and perspectives that can help you refine your own approach behind the bar.

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