Beam Suntory opened up their portfolio to include a more cost-effective whisky, Toki, as well as a gin (Roku) and Vodka (Haku) to round out a catalogue of Japanese spirits that could play in the cocktail and high-volume space.

The brand wanted to bring Japanese culture to US bartenders. Looking at the special aspects of Japanese culture and what could inspire the US market, we created an experiential event that would travel across the US to 8 key markets. Tess worked to curate the list of influential attendees the series which we called Crafting Hospitality, which taught the trade audience about Omotenashi and Monozukuri, bringing famous Japanese Bartender Kenta Goto to every market along with traditional Japanese knife sharpening instructors. Each event included an intimate tasting paired with authentic Japanese food and special cocktails from the new range. The cocktail recipes from all eight events were collected and designed into a pocket-sized book titled “Crafting Cocktails” that was distributed as a gift to attendees.

“Crafting Hospitality” was designed to be simple and focused on the cocktail, with no distraction, true to cultural Japanese aspects we were focused on. The result was clean and focused photography with elegant yet refined typography and graphics.

Tess lead all creative execution as well as focused on attendees in each market, developed strategy and oversaw the design of the printed materials.