Multi-hyphenate Michael Harris Conlin just added another designation to his growing roster of accomplishments. The social entrepreneur (he’s CEO and president of Henry and Sons), 2025 National Barista Champion, two-time World Barista Championship semifinalist, and Manila Bulletin Agriculture contributor (you can read his columns in our magazine and on agriculture.com.ph) is also an inventor.

Conlin recently placed 13th in the World Barista Championship (WBC) in Milan, an event that he calls “the F1 of the coffee world.”

“It’s baristas from over 50 countries bringing the best of the best coffees and we're all urged to innovate and push the boundaries of coffee forward within a set of rules. Being able to just compete is a huge honor already.”

The first time Conlin competed was in 2019, where he placed 15th using an Ethiopian, Philippine coffee blend. “At the time, a lot of people were saying it was a fluke. And I felt it was a fluke, too,” he said. “That's what pushed me to compete again. I wanted to see if I could make it into the semifinals. The hope was really to win. Nobody ever competes not to win.”

This year, he placed 13th using the rare Colombian eugenioides and our very own Philippine Liberica, commonly known as barako.

“I used something that nobody else uses on the world stage. It's non-Arabica. It's really something the judges didn't know. I wanted to just blow them away.

“All the other competitors were using Arabicas. And if you're a judge and you've been drinking Arabica coffee all day, the only way to stand out is to bring something totally different… and I really wanted to highlight Philippine coffee.’

The bigger win for Conlin was he was able to debut the Better Vessel, a crema-extracting contraption he invented with his son, Liam with inspiration from his WBC coach, Federico Bolanos of El Salvador’s Alquimia Coffee.

“I wanted something else to help with the clarity and the flavors because Liberica on its own, is savory and the acidity is high, so if you roast or brew it wrong, there's a chance it'll taste like soy sauce. I had to find a way to make that coffee work. We started removing crema and experimenting with ways to improve the taste.”

The crema is the layer of foam that sits on top of an espresso. “It’s made out of CO2, and even though CO2 has no flavor, it captures all the oils, lipids, polyphenols, and the limonoids—the bitter compounds. By removing the crema, you take these compounds out and you enhance the sweetness and the clarity of the coffee.”

The Conlins began working on the Better Vessel three years ago, when Liam was just 14. It works by trapping crema on its surface and allowing the rest of the coffee to flow through. “Liam did the math to check the most surface area to collect as much of the crema as possible as it comes out of the nozzle,” Conlin said.

The duo experimented with over a hundred prototypes before settling on the current version in 2024.

The Better Vessel caused a lot of discussion when it was used in the WBC. “We were in Italy, the birthplace of espresso, and espresso, to a lot of people, must have crema. The WBC rules say that when you serve your espressos, there should be crema. So when I served my espresso on the Better Vessel, there was crema. I served it to the judges, and I asked the judges to evaluate the crema [before] I asked them to place the vessel on their cup. So basically, I asked them to remove the crema themselves. I got full scores on the crema and they consumed the beverage without the crema.”

Other baristas saw the potential of the Better Vessel as well. Conlin brought 30 pieces with him to Milan, and all were sold out after its debut. They've shipped over 100 to the US, around 60 to Europe, and a few to South America, and are still taking pre-orders on thevault.ph.

Colin is still reeling from the Better Vessel’s success. “In terms of being an inventor, it's kind of wild. I never thought I would make an impact that way. I've always been into fermentation, microorganisms, and farming.”

Conlin will be spending December and January in Mangkayan, Benguet, to work with his new farm collaborator. After that, he’ll be going to Canada, Shanghai and hopefully Japan to promote the Better Vessel. And of course, he’ll be preparing to join the WBC again. “That’s unfinished business. We need to win it.”