Hugh was awarded the fifth place position at the world championship, which was hosted at CafeShow in Seoul, South Korea between November 9-12.

He competed in the finals against the national champions of Hong Kong, USA, UK, Japan and Canada. The official rankings after announcements were:

1st place – Dale Harris, UK 

2nd place – Miki Suzuki, Japan

3rd place – Pao Chiu, Hong Kong 

4th place – Ben Put, Canada

5th place – Hugh Kelly, Australia

6th place – Kyle Ramage, USA

In his finals performance, Hugh again used a green-tip geisha coffee from Finca Deborah in Volcán, Panama, produced by Jamison Savage. 

“Participating in the WBC and watching my competitors work with the coffees on the world stage has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life,” said Jamison.

“The attention to detail, the care, and the camaraderie is something akin to a Formula 1 racing team.”

The coffee was prepared using whole cherry carbonic maceration, a unique processing technique in which the whole coffee cherries are placed into sealed tanks, pressurised with CO2 and kept at a stable temperature.

Hugh used different dosing and extraction techniques to achieve different flavours for the judges. His flavour descriptors for the espresso included orange blossom, rose petal, orange and strawberry. The milk-based course was described as strawberry and caramel, with a creamy texture. The judges were asked to assess the aroma of both of these courses before tasting.

For his signature course, Hugh again combined two extraction styles of the geisha coffee. To the more concentrated espresso, he added a blackcurrant reduction to enhance dark fruit notes. He then created a fairy floss from a mixture of raw sugar and freeze-dried Manuka honey, before dissolving this floss with the other espresso.

The descriptors for the signature course included floral aromatics, with orange blossom, rose, peach and a hint of red cherry on the finish.

“Creativity is also a hallmark of the experience,” said Jamison. “For example, the fact that [Hugh] Kelly has been able to bend flavours of the coffee during comp using different extraction techniques is nothing short of magical,” said Jamison.

“In the end, teamwork is what has brought it all to fruition and that is the greatest reward.”