Hosting Kout for the first time is mostly logistics rather than card skill. Your guests already know how to play; what they notice is whether there are enough chairs, whether the AC is on before they sit down, and whether anyone is keeping score properly.
Kout is a four-player game, so start with a headcount. One table for four, two tables for eight. Confirm players a day ahead rather than an hour ahead, because the person who says they will try to make it usually does not, and then you are hunting a fourth player at nine in the evening.
Then pick a start time and eat before you play, not in the middle. A session split by dinner loses its rhythm, and every round after that begins with someone asking where the score stood.
The table should be flat and just wide enough for four hands and four cups without crowding. Chairs matter more than people admit: a two-hour session on a hard chair makes players rush their turns and misplay.
Use one clean deck, the same size, for every round. Mixing two decks is a quiet disaster, because the backs differ slightly and sharp players notice within a couple of hands. If the old deck is bent or stained, replace it before the night starts, not halfway through.
On drinks, the lid matters more than the brand. A cup sitting on the table edge is the most common cause of sticky, marked cards. Keep tea, coffee and water on a side table when you can, and put nuts or chips in a bowl well away from the cards so nobody handles them with salty fingers.
The end of a session is where good moods go wrong: four players counting four different ways and arriving at four totals. Decide before the first deal who holds the score, and settle any argument at the end of the round, not four rounds later.
This is where the Kout Score app helps. Every session's points live in one place, with a running order the whole table can see, instead of a pen and a torn scrap of paper wedged between the cups. It is free on Google Play.
One last thing: do not host, play and serve at the same time. If someone can handle the drinks, let them, and stay at the table yourself. People rarely remember the food. They remember whether the night ended with everyone asking when the next one is.
Set up your first session in the Kout Score app and let it hold the numbers while you host. Download it free on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.q8dm.kout