Dear Coffee Lovers, You Deserve Better Than a Monster.
Why we invested in Esspo, and why this is the drink the afternoon has always needed.
“Put that coffee down! Coffee’s for closers only.” — Blake, Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
I’ve known Philippe Von Borries and Justin Stefano for a long time. Not as friends. More as rivals. Refinery29 and POPSUGAR competed for the same ad dollars for years. You learn a lot about someone by watching them chase the same thing from a different angle.
I first heard about this from Kat Hantas, a friend whose daughter and mine were thick as thieves at Hamlin middle school, fresh off selling 21Seeds, her tequila brand. She was building something with Philippe and Justin called Mad Dutchess. The vision was bigger and broader then. Over time they cut it down to the core. Kat moved on. Katharine Leitch, also Kat, came in as COO. The company became Esspo. Most founders add. The good ones subtract.
When we sat down I quickly realized they weren’t just building a product. They were building a point of view.
At Sugar Capital, we’ve long believed that the best consumer bets are rituals, not products. The afternoon slump is universal. That moment around two when the morning coffee is long gone and you need something. The options are grim: a milky latte (the Italians famously forbid cappuccinos after noon for a reason), a cold brew that sits in your stomach like a meal, or an energy drink that tastes like a chemistry experiment, Lucky Energy excluded. That’s it. That’s the shelf.
Esspo is carbonated espresso. It gives you lift without the spike, clarity without the crash. The caffeine is paired with L-Theanine so it feels smooth, not wired. Under 40 calories, no dairy, no fake sweeteners. Cherry Vanilla that tastes like a soda shop reimagined by someone who actually drinks coffee. Sweet Lemon that’s bright and clean in a way nothing on the coffee shelf has any right to be. You crack it open and immediately think: why did it take this long.
When a product makes you feel slightly annoyed that it didn’t exist sooner, you’re probably looking at something real.
The can is doing something too. Bold swirling color, confident typography, nothing brown or beige or clinical. This is a thing you want to be seen holding. Celsius is a gym bag drink. Esspo is something you pull out at your desk, on a patio, walking into a meeting, and it says something about you without needing to explain itself. The can works all day. That’s rare.
Then happy hour hits. Pour it over ice with a shot of vodka and you’ve got an espresso martini that didn’t require a bartender or sixteen dollars.
Philippe and Justin spent years building a media brand deeply attuned to one audience. They understood what that person wanted before she knew how to ask for it. That kind of cultural intelligence doesn’t disappear when you change industries. It compounds. Kat brings the operational rigor to match. Vision without operations is just content. This team has both.
I used to compete with these founders. Now we’re on the same cap table. The market has a sense of humor.
The best brands don’t just fill a shelf. They fill a moment. A specific, human, daily moment that people didn’t know they were missing until someone handed it to them.
Two o’clock is that moment. It’s been waiting.
Go try it. drinkesspo.com. Use code DRINKESSPO for 25% off.