Past Work

Productions, not catering. Trade show floors, brand activations, and a national competition circuit. Every project below was built, staffed, and run by ESOM from load-in to last pour.

Selected Projects

Odeko — DC Season Finale

Challenge: Odeko wanted to close the 2025 season in a new market and sit at the center of the Washington D.C. coffee community — as the host, not a logo on a banner.

Solution: A full competition night produced on the sixth floor at 918 F St NW. Sixty-four-barista bracket, staging, judging, run-of-show, crew, and event photography.

Results: 64 baristas competed for a $2,000 purse on November 8, 2025 — the largest prize pool of the season.

Coffee Fest — Los Angeles + New York

Challenge: A trade show floor rewards whoever draws the crowd. Exhibitors needed a booth people would line up for across two of the largest specialty coffee shows in the country.

Solution: Full booth espresso programs for multi-day runs in Los Angeles and New York — competition-trained baristas, dialed-in equipment, and stage throwdowns timed to floor traffic. Off-floor, we produced the Lontra kickoff party in LA.

Results: Two markets, two show floors, one crew and one production sheet from show open to strike.

The NYC Summer Circuit

Challenge: One night in one cafe reaches one neighborhood. The brief was a summer-long presence across the New York coffee scene.

Solution: A four-stop series produced across the city — launch at Nook in Brooklyn on July 25, a 64-barista bracket at Café Grumpy on W 39th, the debut of our 2v2 team format at Black Fox on Pine Street, and a SoHo finale.

Results: Four venues, four formats, one continuous audience through summer 2025.

Ground Support — Roaster Throwdown

Challenge: Ground Support wanted its espresso in the hands of the baristas who set the standard — in a room where the product gets judged in public.

Solution: A latte art throwdown built entirely around the roaster's coffee. Bracket production, judging, house baristas on bar, and a full photo set delivered for the brand's own channels.

Results: A night of head-to-head competition on Ground Support espresso, documented end to end.

Tenzo — Brand Activation Cart

Challenge: Tenzo needed a mobile format that could hold the brand's identity in rooms it did not control — lobbies, booths, sidewalks.

Solution: A branded activation cart built to Tenzo's look, with a matcha-forward menu and trained staff running service at event pace.

Results: A self-contained unit that travels, sets up fast, and reads as Tenzo from across the room.

1883 Maison Routin — Wellness Bar

Challenge: Not every activation should serve coffee. 1883 needed a zero-proof program that felt like a bar, not a sampling table.

Solution: A sparkling mocktail and wellness bar built on the 1883 syrup range — signature builds, garnish work, and bartenders running full service.

Results: A non-alcoholic beverage program that holds a room the way a cocktail bar does.

The 2025 Season

9+ events. Productions delivered across the 2025 season, from show floors to cafe takeovers.

4 cities. New York, Los Angeles, Portland and Washington D.C.

$6,000+. Prize money awarded to competing baristas over the season.

400+ baristas. Competitors who stepped up to an ESOM bar, drawn from a national network of 2,300+.

Your Project, Next

Tell us the room, the date and the headcount. We will scope the rest. Book an Experience or Request a Quote to start.