Suhas Dwarakanath, India

Benki Brewing Co

Please tell us a little about yourself:

I run Benki Brewing Tools out of INDIA — we distribute espresso machines, grinders, and brewing equipment across India, manufacture coffee machines at our own factory, and run Benki Coffee, our café. Our mission is simple: get India drinking better coffee, and more of it. I also train baristas through the Specialty Coffee Academy of India.
I represented India at the World Barista Championship last year and made it to the semi-finals. A few years ago I bought a coffee farm of my own, which changed how I think about the cup — it put me on the other end of a chain I'd spent years teaching from.

Off the counter, I'm into motorcycling, and I share a lot of my coffee world on Instagram — mostly aimed at helping the next generation of baristas figure out the parts nobody tells you.

What are you excited to do while you visit the Panama city?:

I have visited other origin countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, South China and Ethiopia and I could not experience or learn more than what I had already experienced and learnt in my own country in terms of technology and processing methods. However, in Panama, I am very excited to learn these new techniques, and I have already lined up farm visits for after the competition.

What are your interests outside of coffee?:

I love motorcycling and traveling. So far, I've gone on motorcycling expeditions in four countries UAE, Thailand, Nepal, and of course my home country India. I can't wait to do more of this in other countries, hopefully, if time permits, in Panama as well for a couple of days.

Is there anyone you would like to thank or recognize, or who helped you to prepare for the WCC?:

I would love to thank my friend Jeremy Hammer who travelled all the way with me to Australia for my training and has been an emotional support. From the time I have won the national championship this year, he also is accompanying me to Panama and also helping me source coffee through his friend's farm here in Panama.

In addition to this, he is spending close to a month here with me in India to practice and know my routine so that he can be my backbone when I am in Panama.

Not only this, in my national championship I used a device that he invented called the coffee key, which is made of copper and helps reduce the tannins and the chlorogenic acid in coffee.

So overall, I must say that he has been a part of this journey for more than a year now and he is trying to see this through with me and working with me to help me win the competition.

Follow on instagram