Creating the cup of competition

Hany Ezzat started a movement in the world of coffee competition with a side hustle that has since become a major influence on the international scene.

People who compete in coffee competitions are always looking for an extra edge. From novel roasting processes to new water mineral concentrates, it’s the one-percenters that determine whether you make the final round, lift the title, or head home empty-handed.

Hany Ezzat knows all about what it takes to compete at these high levels. As an Australian Brewer’s Cup finalist every year between 2020 and 2025, and coach of 2024 Australian Roasting Champion and seventh-place winner at the 2025 World Roasting Championship, Sangchul Lee, he has seen how little changes can equal big results.

That desire to find an extra edge inspired Hany to create Ni Wares cups. Over the past five years his vessels have gained traction all over the world.

“I’ve been doing coffee competitions since 2017. Competitions were what inspired me to join the industry in the first place, and I’m really lucky to work around a lot of inspiring people that have created a lot of incredible coffee tools,” says Hany.

“Working with the likes of Saša Šestić at Ona Coffee enabled me to see these things that changed the game, and it inspired me to find my own way. When I was prepping for the 2020 Brewer’s Cup I was testing a bunch of vessels, and I ended up really liking two of them for my competition coffee.

“One of my co-workers had made his own cups for a competition before, and I thought I could try and make a hybrid between the two I really liked. The biggest features were the thick and thin elements of the rim which had a profound difference on the way the coffee was perceived. I was connected with a renowned local ceramicist, Madeline Cardone, and I ended up finishing second in Australia.”

Ni Wares cups, on the surface, look like a perfectly smooth, pastel pink cup that, from the top down, look slightly asymmetrical with a small dimple poking up through the bottom.

Every aspect, however, has been deliberately crafted with the perfect delivery of coffee in mind. The specific shade of pink has been scientifically proven to make things taste up to 20 per cent sweeter, while the smooth texture has also been designed to positively influence the experience of the user.

The different thickness of the two sides has also been carefully considered. The thinner, sharper lip promotes a thinner layer of liquid on the palate to support delicate notes like florality and brightness. On the other side a thicker, rounder lip supports more intensity, texture and sweetness.

Finally, the small, protruding dimple has been designed to promote swirling in the liquid and prevent sediment from settling.

Hany says the current versions of the different Ni Wares vessels are the result of years of research.

“I ended up sending my first handmade cups to someone in Thailand and he ended up winning a competition with them, fast forward a couple of years of R&D where we slightly changed the shape, the colours, the weights, and I got really inspired,” says Hany.

“I found scientific papers that proved things taste sweeter out of a pink cup, and that weight and shape all influence the way coffee tastes. I started on my mission to design the perfect cup and started connecting with local designers in Canberra, FORMSWELL, to start mass producing in 2021/22.

“The first prototypes from the factory came out in 2023 and I gave them to Kristóf Maróy for the World Brewer’s Cup, and he made the semi-finals using them. Since we fully launched in early 2024 it’s just been gangbusters.”

Currently, there are four different cups in the Ni Ware catalogue. The original Bouba, the thinner Kiki, and the Espresso and Milk Toto variants.

“The Bouba cup is designed specifically for coffee competitions, but the more I learned and developed I realised we had to make different cups for different coffees, just like we do for wine,” says Hany.

“Bouba and Kiki are our filter options. They’re effectively a red wine glass and a champagne flute – the thin shape and small surface area of the Kiki is going to intensify the sweetness and body of a coffee, so things like washed coffees taste amazing in thinner and more delicate cups.

“Big, natural coffee and co-fermented coffees taste better when you open them up, so that’s what the Bouba is perfect for. We want people to hold and swirl it like a wine glass. I was super lucky to work with Hugh Kelly who is a three-time Australian Barista Champion who made the world finals three times to create an espresso cup for his competition.”

The espresso cup used by Hugh has also been used by the likes of recently crowned World Barista Champion Jack Simpson alongside a range of national champions from all over the world.

“I can’t even count how many champions have used them, but at least 13 different national champions used this at this year’s World Brewers Cup,” says Hany. “We’ve also had World Barista Championship finalists, and Jack won with them this year. We’ve even had them in latte art finals, and runner-up at the World Ibrik Championships Paul Ungureanu used them.

“The espresso cup has become a bit of a staple in the world competitions. The goal is to put our cups in the hands of the best athletes in the game, and they’ve been my biggest supporters and advocates.

“It’s amazing to know we’re changing the way people look at coffee. Having all these champions engage with it around the world, it’s like a big family that extends across the globe. It’s super nice.”

Hany has become a leading voice in how each of the five senses combine to alter the coffee experience. In 2025 he embarked on tours to the likes of South Korea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Japan, Qatar, and Indonesia, and demand for Ni Wares products continues to skyrocket.

Now, the brand has partnered with CoffeeTools to help more coffee enthusiasts get their hands on the cups.

With a host of brands that prioritise the best possible coffee experience in its stable, CoffeeTools Director Curtis Arnold says he’s excited to help Ni Wares continue to grow.

“Competition breeds technology and innovation, and that ends up trickling down to the consumer. This is the perfect example of that,” says Curtis. “Hany’s cups have been used in so many competitions at global and local levels all over the world.

“At that level of competition, you’re always looking for that small point of difference, but this is also an opportunity for less sophisticated coffee drinkers to experience some of this competition-level equipment and experiment with these high-level concepts.

“Apart from the pleasure of working with someone like Hany, Ni Wares aligns really well with some of our other brands like Barista Hustle and xBloom, where the focus is on true specialty coffee and the attention to detail that comes along with it.

“The Ni Wares cups are also beautiful and feel lovely in your hand, they’re appealing on a number of levels. You don’t have to have a world-class palate to appreciate the difference they make and to enjoy using them.” 

For more information, visit coffeetools.au or ni-wares.com