Saint-Urbain creates the identity for the first premium matcha liqueur

The liqueur aisle has remained largely unchanged for decades, anchored by aesthetics that lean heavily on nostalgia. Meanwhile, matcha has transformed from a niche wellness ingredient into a billion-dollar cultural phenomenon, embraced by coffee shops, bakeries and restaurants worldwide. Yoshi arrives at the intersection of these two realities as the first premium matcha liqueur, creating an entirely new category that merges centuries-old Japanese tea ceremony with contemporary nightlife culture. Saint-Urbain developed the complete brand world for the New York-based start-up, handling strategy, identity, packaging, copywriting and motion. The challenge was substantial: honour Japanese heritage and matcha’s ceremonial origins while positioning the product firmly in modern bar culture, all without falling into the visual clichés that plague cross-cultural branding. The strategic foundation rests on a specific cultural exchange. Americans have fully embraced matcha as a daily ritual, while Japan has maintained a deep relationship with jazz since the postwar era. This mutual admiration became the conceptual starting point. “We started with the cultural overlap between the US and Japan,” Creative Director Alex Ostroff explains. “That exchange felt like the right starting point: two cultures admiring each other for different reasons.” Beyond geographic bridges, the team identified structural parallels between matcha preparation and jazz performance. Both practices balance discipline with expression, creating experiences that feel simultaneously controlled and spontaneous. Matcha ceremony demands precise, repeated movements – the circular whisking motion, the steady rhythm, the intentional pause. Jazz relies on musical structure and timing while producing improvised, expressive performances. “Matcha is calm, ritualistic and intentional, but it also brings a bright, focused energy,” notes Ostroff. “Jazz has discipline and rhythm. That push and pull: calm and energy, control and looseness became the backbone of the brand.”