SAWAI Branding

SAWAI is a new chai-spiced rum brand, crafted using all-natural ingredients, and distilled in small batches to ensure a unique taste and superior quality. Chai Tea is a family favourite within Indian/South Asian communities and is traditionally made up of black tea and a mixture of spices. It has a bold tea flavour with sweet and spicy hints. Many of the botanicals are already traditionally associated with spiced rum—so adding the tea and additional spices make for a familiar yet unique experience.

A title of honour used in the Indian subcontinent—Sawai (सवाई in Hindi) literally translates to 1¼ of an average person’s worth—setting a high standard for the quality of the product itself. Boasting a balanced flavour with the subtle intricacies of cinnamon, clove, star anise for warmth, and green cardamom for spice. It further infuses with earthy undertones of ethically sourced Assam tea. The result is a uniquely complex spiced rum that pays homage to the tea-farming communities in the Assam region of India.

Borrowing visual cues from India and the Caribbean, Studio DRAMA created an authentic, and luxurious packaging experience. A rich colour palette balances evocative ingredient stories and mouth-watering drink imagery.

The playful visual language of stamps takes inspiration from the graphics found on 19th Century tea chests and rum barrels. These types of stamps were often used as a sign of quality assurance or product origin. This similarly inspired the typographic story, a slab serif that had equal amounts of authority and authenticity. For Hindi translations – a modular-style, Devanagari script with broad-edged pen like characteristics was applied to complement the primary slab-serif typeface.