Felix Hohlmann at the Barista World Championship 2026: 25th place in Panama City
Place 25 out of more than 50 national champions: That's the result of Felix Hohlmann at the World Barista Championship 2026 in Panama City. Felix competed as a two-time German Barista Champion, and after 2024 in Busan, it was his second World Championship. It wasn't enough for the semifinals. We're satisfied anyway, and so is Felix. Why is explained further below. First, it's all about his presentation: the two coffees, the milk, the Signature Drink, and the question that was the focus of his 15 minutes.
Barista World Championship 2026 in Panama City: Format and Result
The World Barista Championship took place in Central America for the first time this year, as part of the World of Coffee Panama. A fitting location: A large portion of the coffees that have won world championship titles in recent years come from Panama.
You may recognize the format from our articles about the German Championships. In 15 minutes, participants prepare four espressos, four milk drinks, and four Signature Drinks. Four Sensory Judges evaluate each drink, and Technical Judges assess work method and cleanliness. In round one, all national champions compete, with the top 16 advancing to the semifinals and six to the final.
Felix took the stage on Friday in round one and placed 25th.
Felix's Presentation in Video
"Am I good enough?" The Theme of the Presentation
Every World Championship presentation has a theme that ties the three courses together. Felix chose a question that has accompanied him since his first competition: Am I good enough?
"Am I good enough? Yes, always. But there's always more that I can learn in every moment."
Felix is the youngest of four brothers. As the youngest, you want to keep up with the older ones, and he's been very competitive in games to this day. He learned early on that losing a game and being worth less than his older brothers are two different things.
This distinction returned in 2013, at his very first competition, the Swiss Brewers Cup. Felix was so nervous that he ground his beans far too finely for his AeroPress. So finely that the carafe shattered on stage. It felt like he wasn't good enough. But he was, Felix says today. He just didn't yet know where his room for growth lay. Since then, he's competed year after year, now at more than 20 competitions.
Both coffees in the presentation connect to this story. Felix has worked with both farms before, and both have asked themselves this very same question since then.
Espresso: Gesha 1931 from Gesha Village
In 2015, at one of his first Barista Championships, Felix used a coffee from Gesha Village. The farm in western Ethiopia is owned by Rachel Samuel and Adam Overton. They ventured into the wild forests around Gori Gesha, where the Gesha variety originally comes from, and collected seeds to replant on their own farm. The name Gesha 1931 commemorates the year Gesha was first collected in this region.
"The coffee was beautiful then, the coffee today is outstanding," Felix said on stage. Because the farm has improved year after year.
The World Championship coffee comes from the Oma block at around 2000 meters elevation. After selective harvesting, the cherries were floated and then dried for 28 days as a Natural. At the beginning, the cherries lie in a thin layer to prevent overfermentation. Over time, the layer gets thicker. This slows the drying and brings high sweetness and clear floral notes.
Felix gave the jury these flavor notes for the espresso:
Plus a medium, citric acidity and a medium body with silky texture.
Normally you ask the jury to stir the espresso before the first sip. Felix instead used a technique he developed on the way to the 2024 World Championship in Busan. Together with researchers from the University of Freiburg, he found that gentle swirling of the cup prevents polymers and lipids in the espresso from clumping. This makes the espresso taste fuller and creamier. Learn more about this and how to try it at home in the article Coffee Waving: Improve Espresso with Vibration.
Milk Drink: Nitro Natural from Maguta Estate in Kenya
For the milk drink, Felix's thoughts went back to the Brewers Cup in 2013. Back then, he had a washed Kenya in his bag, and a classically washed Kenya was the standard for years.
David Maguta, also known as David Ngibuini, asks himself the same question on his farm Maguta Estate in Nyeri as Felix does: Is a traditionally washed Kenya still good enough? He started experimenting, first with a CM Washed, then with a Nitro Natural. Felix used this Nitro Natural for his milk drink.
The cherries of the SL28 and SL34 varieties are placed in a sealed tank flushed with nitrogen for six days after harvest. Then they dry for 25 days on African raised beds. The nitrogen prevents oxidation and keeps tropical fruit flavors in the coffee.
The milk is interesting. Felix used a mixture of two components:
95 percent lactose-free milk from Schwarzwaldmilch, freshly imported to Panama and thickened to half its volume through freeze concentration. This removes water from the milk in the form of ice. Sugar, protein, and fat remain behind, making the milk sweeter and giving it more texture.
5 percent coconut oat drink from ROA. The coconut note bridges to the tropical flavors of the Kenya.
Felix froths the mixture at only 50 °C to preserve the fruity flavors of the coffee. The flavors in the glass:
Signature Drink: Gesha with Grape Juice and Kombucha
The Signature Drink is the creative part of the presentation. Felix asked himself how he could transform the fine structure of the Gesha Village espresso into something completely new. The ingredients:
Plus a medium tartaric acidity.
Both coffees were roasted on a drum roaster. The Gesha Village 14 days before the competition, in 9 minutes to 190 °C final temperature, for maximum sweetness and balance. The Kenya 15 days beforehand, in 10 minutes to 189 °C. The short Maillard phase emphasizes the tropical fruit notes so they stand out against the milk.
Our Equipment on the World Championship Stage
In Panama, our new pressure tamper had its debut on the big stage. Felix wanted a tamper he didn't have to think about during competition. We developed it according to his specifications. The contact plate sits on the portafilter basket and keeps the tamper straight. Two springs ensure that every shot is tamped with 8 to 10 kilos of pressure.
KM Pro Pressure Tamper 58.55 mm
Dual spring system · 8 to 10 kg tamping pressure · fits all 58 mm portafilters
Price in shopFelix also frothed the milk with equipment from our own collection: our KM milk pitchers, which he developed together with Michel and which we use in our cafés and courses.
Place 25: What the Jury Feedback Shows Us
Felix is very satisfied with his performance, and we as a team are too, both with his work and with the placement. After the round, there was a debriefing with the jury, and their feedback was nuanced enough that we got a lot from it.
Felix was particularly praised for his technique. His flavor descriptions for the espresso and milk drink were precise. With the Signature Drink, however, we lost points—it was rated lower overall.
Then there are the points for taste. Felix's espresso was rated as good, which is three points. Four points for very good wasn't quite within reach. Since each drink is rated by four judges, every step between three and four points counts four times for espresso and milk drink. These exact points were what we needed for the semifinals.
The presentation itself ran very smoothly, technically everything worked, and Felix felt comfortable on stage. We received a lot of positive feedback from people close to us and from strangers.
One point from the debriefing really stuck with me: Felix was rather calm during his presentation. He didn't deliver a show with high energy that's all out from the first moment. He was calm, friendly, and confident, and he was completely himself. Many really appreciated that, and I thought it was very strong. You saw Felix as a person and felt that a personality was standing on stage showing itself. That fits the theme of his presentation.
Maybe a different kind of performance would have left a different impression with the judges. But it was Felix's presentation, and it was honest. I'm convinced it was exactly the right choice to do it this way, because it was so very him.
Conclusion
Place 25 at the Barista World Championship 2026, a technically clean presentation, and feedback we can work with. The difference to the top 16 came mainly from the Signature Drink and the step from good to very good for espresso and milk drink. Felix ended his presentation with a sentence that rings true for us as a team too:
"'Good enough' is not a finish line and was never a label for who we are. It's the point where the comfort zone ends and progress begins."
You'll find an overview of all our team's titles, medals, and top placements at Kaffeemacher Titles, Medals, and Top Placements.
