When Tyson Buhler packed last week for his trip to South Africa, his four suitcases contained some unusual mementos — a Kansas state flag, a photograph of his grandparents’ farm outside Lawrence and a homemade jar of pepper jelly.

Also stowed were more than 20 carefully wrapped cocktail glasses.

Buhler, a Lawrence native, is competing this week in the United States Bartenders’ Guild World Class finals after winning the national competition in June. Buhler plans to use the Kansas mementos as part of his presentation for the competition’s “Around the World” challenge, in which each international competitor makes a cocktail inspired by where they are from.

“I’m very proud of growing up there, and I think it will be fun to showcase Kansas and what it means to be from there,” he said.

Buhler, who graduated from Free State High School in 2002, is representing the United States as one of 55 competitors from around the world in the three-day competition, which is sponsored by the beverage company Diageo. The “Around the World” challenge is one of five that make up the competition, which takes place Monday through Wednesday in Cape Town, South Africa.

Buhler said a large element is the presentation of the drink, and he will accompany his Kansas cocktail — corn-infused bourbon, pepper jelly, mezcal, lemon and egg white — with the flag and photograph to better represent the area. Buhler said he doesn’t expect a lot of people to understand what Kansas is about, and he hopes the mementos will help illustrate its unique character.

“It’s tying in all those homemade things and where I come from,” he said.

In another challenge, the “Speed Round,” Buhler will make 10 drinks in 10 minutes and present them to the competition’s five judges. But it’s not just about the drinks tasting and looking good, Buhler said; you also have to treat the judges as you would a guest at a bar, and keep a conversation going.

“All the judges are right in front of you,” he said. “They ask questions and expect your full attention. You can’t just put your head down and make drinks.”

Buhler, who moved from Lawrence to attend culinary school in Arizona, currently works as a bartender in New York and has been doing competitions for five years. The top six competitors in World Class will move on to the final challenge, in which each bartender has 24 hours to create a pop-up bar that the judges will visit along with 300 guests.

“The bartender will work the bar for four hours, and the best one wins,” Buhler said.

The winner becomes the World Class ambassador for the next year, traveling for guest bartender shifts and promoting the competition.