Why Young People Aren’t Drinking Specialty Coffee (Next-Gen) | HANY EZZAT!
From IT’S JUST COFFEE! by Ben Bicknell & Rohan Cooke
April 8, 2026 · 27 min
About this episode
Hany Ezzat discusses the challenges young people face in engaging with specialty coffee and shares insights on coffee design and competition.
Hany Ezzat is the Founder of Ni Wares–creating science backed cups for coffee competitions and elevated everyday use. He also just won the Next-Gen Talent Award at MICE2026. We caught up with him at the expo to talk about what the win meant to him, as well as his recent (and controversial) use of the xBloom in a filter competition, why he thinks young people aren't as engaged in specialty coffee, and the importance of multisensory design. CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 01:55 Who is Hany Ezzat? 03:40 Starting Ni Wares 06:05 Designing competition cups 08:50 The science of taste perception 11:45 Multisensory coffee experiences 14:20 Using xBloom in competition 17:05 Innovation vs tradition in coffee 19:40 Why young people disengage from specialty 22:10 The future of coffee tools 24:40 Advice for competitors & creators 26:45 Final thoughts If you're new here (welcome), our show dives into some of the best coffee conversations on the internet, but we will always remind ourselves at the end of the day - It's Just Coffee! Hany Ezzat: https://www.instagram.com/barista_hany/ Ni Wares: https://ni-wares.com/ Want more coffee content? IT'S JUST COFFEE…
People in this episode
Hosts: Ben Bicknell, Rohan Cooke
Guest: Hany Ezzat
Topics covered
- specialty coffee
- young people
- coffee competitions
- multisensory design
- innovation
- taste perception
Keywords
- specialty coffee
- Hany Ezzat
- Ni Wares
- xBloom
- coffee competitions
- taste perception
- multisensory design
- young people
Sponsors
Marco Beverage Systems, Apax Lab, Condesa Co.Lab
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Ni Wares
More episodes of IT’S JUST COFFEE!
- Coffee Science vs Coffee Myths | CHRIS H. HENDON! · June 12, 2026 · 1h 23m
- We React to North America’s Specialty Coffee Report | COFFEE BREAK! · June 10, 2026 · 22 min
- Testing James Hoffmann’s Insane Americano Recipe | COFFEE BREAK! · June 8, 2026 · 25 min
- Café Red Flags We Notice In The First 30 Seconds | COFFEE BREAK! · June 3, 2026 · 26 min
- What Great Coffee Education Actually Looks Like | w DYLAN SIEMENS of CAFE IMPORTS · June 1, 2026 · 44 min
- What's Happening in Home Espresso Now | COFFEE BREAK! · May 27, 2026 · 28 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the IT’S JUST COFFEE! podcast page.