Arak Massaya
Arak Massaya is a Lebanese brand of arak - an aniseed flavored Middle Eastern liquor with ancient roots tracing back to the 8th century during the Islamic golden age. The spirit is made using a triple-distillation process and the most traditional way to prepare it is to pour the liquor over ice and then add water as the mixer. The water then causes a chemical reaction that changes the color of the liquor from clear to a cloudy milky white. This particular brand of arak comes from Massaya Winery and Distillery, a distillery founded by two brothers seeking to revitalize the war-torn Bequaa valley after the end of the Lebanese civil war.
As I was putting this campaign together, I worked with one of the copywriting students at my portfolio school who fully supported my personal mission as a person of Middle Eastern descent that has briefly lived in the Middle East to introduce non-Middle Eastern people to arak. Our goal with this campaign is to introduce Massaya’s brand of arak to people who might be interested in adding it to their go-to rotation by relating the color change to life’s transitions.
