As drinks design specialists, we usually create brands for other people. But this concept, product and packaging is all our own. Invited to take part in an exclusive innovation packaging initiative, we dreamt up Corretto Nero—a new entrant into the wide open global coffee liqueur category, and a showcase of our drinks branding and spirits design work in full creative freedom.
If you’re not familiar with Make a Mark, it’s an exclusive packaging innovation initiative developed by global industry leaders Estal, Avery Dennison and LEONHARD KURZ.
Driven by a community of top packaging designers around the world, it delivers original and boundary-pushing concepts that showcase creativity and technical excellence.
With this kind of flex, you can imagine the unusual degree of creative and production freedom participants get to enjoy when they’re fortunate enough to score an invite.
As luxury drinks branding experts, we didn’t want to just peddle out a design for a well-worn category. The eyes of the world stage watch Make a Mark, and we really wanted to demonstrate our drinks design chops. So we identified a new opportunity in the market, conceived a product from scratch and then built a compelling brand around it.
The Inspo.
The coffee liqueur category is screaming for a new contender. It’s on every back bar in the world, yet the global category is dominated by only a handful of established brands from Mexico, Jamaica and Australia—and one of those owns half the market.
Espresso Martini, premium cocktail culture and appetite for authentic, provenance-led products just keeps on growing. Despite Italy dominating espresso culture, it has remarkably little equity in the global coffee liqueur category.
“The coffee liqueur category is screaming for a new contender. It’s on every back bar in the world, yet the global category is dominated by only a handful of established brands”
The Result.
Please meet Corretto Nero. Inspired by us, created by us, delivered by us.
Corretto Nero brings together authentic Italian espresso and grappa, spurred by the Italian ritual of caffè corretto—espresso “corrected” with a splash of spirit.
Our Corretto Nero honours sophisticated Italian design culture, which blends tradition and craftsmanship with cutting-edge innovation. From Gucci to Ferrari to Alessi, Italian design is always an equal win for aesthetics and function.
As spirits design specialists, we chose materials and a colour palette inspired by the experience, history and ritual of espresso. Stainless steel moka pots. Chrome espresso machines. The deep, rich hues of a freshly-brewed espresso.
Silver foils and nano embossing were punched into matte black paper. This evokes the precision and tactility of engineered metal and amplifies the reflective qualities of the bespoke Estal Corretto Nero bottle. Completing the package is a faceted bespoke metal TAPI closure, which adds a sense of tactility and comforting permanence.
The result is a bold, uncompromising digestivo that can sit on the shelf and add tradition, warmth and sophistication to any home.
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