The Throwdowns
Head-to-head latte art in a live bracket. Café floors, Coffee Fest in New York and Los Angeles, and a room that stays until the final.
See the throwdowns
About the Latte Art Circuit
It started on the throwdown floor.
Espresso State of Mind began in the latte art scene. Ten years of throwdowns later, the community that formed around those brackets is a national circuit of baristas, host shops and partners.
Join the next CircuitThrowdowns, then a circuit, then a national one.
A throwdown is simple. Two baristas, one pour each, judges, and a room that cares who wins.
Espresso State of Mind started there, in the latte art scene. We kept running brackets, the brackets became a circuit, and the circuit went national. Ten years on it has moved from café floors to Coffee Fest in New York and Los Angeles, and the network of baristas around it has grown past 2,300.
The same people now teach the monthly classes, judge the next bracket, and staff the bars ESOM builds for brands. That is the community: you compete, you teach, you work the floor, you come back.
The record so far.
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10
Years of latte art throwdowns
From the first brackets to a national circuit.
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2,300+
Baristas in the national network
Competitors, judges, hosts and the crew behind every ESOM bar.
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4
World and US latte art titles on our bench
Walter is a two-time World Latte Art Champion. Proph Alarcon is a two-time US Champion.
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32
Baristas in one bracket
The Planet Oat 2v2 at Post BK in Brooklyn: 16 teams, all plant-based, judged as pairs.
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1
Morning on national TV
Javier taught the Fox & Friends hosts to pour hearts on National Coffee Day 2026.
Four things we built. One circuit.
A decade of work, drawn the way we know best: as a bracket.
The Academy
Monthly classes taught by people who compete. Professional machines, and you pour every drink yourself.
See the classesThe craft
The Network
2,300+ baristas across the country who compete, judge, host and staff the floor.
Meet the communityThe Partnerships
Product brands inside the competition, not on a banner behind it. Planet Oat, Tenzo, Good Mood Kombucha, Hudson Valley Fresh and Citywide Slingshot Rentals have been on the floor with us.
Partner with the CircuitThe room
The Latte Art Circuit
Ten years running.
Rooms we have filled.
See the full gallery
Run by people who pour.
Our crew judges, MCs and competes.
- Javier Alvarez Co-founder, competition floor Fifteen years in coffee and a decade as a latte artist. Javi started ESOM on the throwdown floor and still runs it on competition day.
- Ruben Pereyra Founder, partnerships Plans the stops and builds the brand partnerships that keep them running.
- Walter Lead barista, educator Two-time World Latte Art Champion.
- Proph Alarcon Instructor Two-time US Champion. Teaches the precision work: tulips, rosettas and swans.
Find your way in.
- Compete or come watchHead-to-head brackets. First-timers are welcome.
- Host a throwdownYou bring the room. We bring the format, the judges and the crowd.
- Partner your brandPut your product inside the competition.
- Take a classMonthly latte art classes taught by competition baristas.