Among the three qualifiers at the district level, he went on to emerge as the national winner from 30 finalists across India. Dharun will now represent India at the World AeroPress Championship in Seoul, joining participants from over 60 countries on the global stage.
For the competition, participants were given coffee beans in advance and tasked with developing a unique recipe. Each round demanded precision and creativity, with just five minutes to prepare, brew, and present a cup for blind tasting by anonymous judges.
Beyond his design practice, Dharun is deeply engaged with the creative and poetic dimensions of coffee — from brewing as craft, to visual storytelling in the coffee world, to the experiential nuances of tasting. Recently, he and his team also built a coffee-tasting experience centre in Ahmedabad for a local roaster.
The World AeroPress Championship is a global phenomenon, spanning 175+ regional and national events across more than 60 countries every year, with over 5,000 competitors taking part.
