On Sunday, September 27, a backyard patio on South Rogers Street in Bloomington turned into a little piece of SoHo. GUIZIO, Danielle Guizio's New York label, brought its college pop-up tour to Indiana University, and IU students showed up for a weekend-only, IU-themed zip-up hoodie they couldn't get anywhere else.
We were out on the patio with the matcha.
How we ended up at a fashion pop-up
The pop-up was produced by Pop Collective, an agency started by two University of Wisconsin–Madison students that brings fashion and beauty brands to college campuses. Their events are built to feel like a party with clothes in it, so they wanted a drink station that looked like GUIZIO, not like a caterer who happened to be in the corner.
They hired us to run a full-service iced matcha bar for three hours of the 11-to-5 pop-up. The job was easy to explain and a lot of fun to do: make every drink look like it came from the brand.
The cart got a GUIZIO makeover
Our cart showed up dressed for the occasion. The custom wrap was white with tiny red polka dots, with GUIZIO across the front in big varsity letters and the IU trident tucked inside a red heart underneath. Two teddy bears held down the corners, one of them in a polka-dot GUIZIO tee, with little red and black hearts scattered around them.
GUIZIO pennants hung on the wooden fence behind us, so the whole corner of the patio read as one setup. Even the clear cups were printed with the GUIZIO logo in crimson.
Three iced matchas on the menu
The menu sat in a framed GUIZIO sign on the bar, and it kept things simple:
Vanilla Sprinkle Matcha: iced matcha, vanilla bean syrup, vanilla cold foam and rainbow sprinkles on top
Lavender Honey Cloud Matcha: iced matcha, lavender honey syrup, vanilla cold foam and a honey drizzle
Banana Bread Matcha: iced matcha, banana bread syrup, vanilla cold foam and a dusting of cinnamon
Every drink came with a choice of whole or oat milk. The cold foam on all three did one more job, too: it gave us a smooth white top to print on.
The GUIZIO logo on every drink
Before the toppings went on, each matcha got the GUIZIO logo printed onto its foam with our Ripples printer. Then came the sprinkles, the honey or the cinnamon. The result was a drink you want to photograph before the first sip, with the brand name sitting right in the middle of the shot.
That's the point of branded drinks at a pop-up. Shoppers carry them through the racks, hold them up for photos and post them, and every one of those cups says GUIZIO.
Why matcha made sense here
A college fashion crowd on a sunny fall afternoon was always going to want something iced, and a pastel-green matcha suits GUIZIO's look better than a cup of drip ever could. Three set drinks also keep a bar moving, because nobody has to decode a long menu, while the milk choice and toppings still make each cup feel picked out for you.
Planning a pop-up or brand activation in Indiana?
Everything from this event can be built around your brand:
A custom cart wrap in your artwork and colors
Cups printed with your logo
Your logo printed on the foam of every drink
A matcha bar, an espresso bar, drip coffee or a mix, with a menu named for your event
We're based in Indianapolis and travel across the state, including Bloomington and the IU campus. For a different kind of launch, read how we wrapped the cart for the Nike Caitlin Clark 1 launch at Long's Bakery.
Book early for busy weekends, though we can move fast when an event comes together quickly. Tell us about your event and you'll have a custom quote within 24 hours.
Thanks to Pop Collective for bringing us in, and to GUIZIO for letting us put their name on every cup we poured that day.
Quick answers
Can you run a matcha bar instead of a coffee bar? Yes. We can run a matcha-only bar like this one, a full espresso bar, or both, with oat milk available.
Can you print a logo on drinks? Yes. We print logos right onto the foam of each drink, so every cup carries your brand.
Do you cater events in Bloomington? Yes. We serve Bloomington and Indiana University events, along with Indianapolis and the rest of Central Indiana.
