Since winning The Dieline 2014 awards, Mr. Black has grown an outstanding reputation for making the best coffee liqueur in the world, or as they put it; ‘caffeinated boozy perfection’.
This year, the Australian brand wanted to raise the bar with a very special, limited edition, Mr. Black. It was a dream job for Co Partnership, a design agency that specialize in premium drinks packaging and a team of coffee nerds who go out of their way for great coffee every morning. A perfect fit.

Known as a miracle of nature, the Panama Geisha has won every coffee competition for years. So many times in fact, that it was put into a class of its own, known as the ‘Best of Panama’ – the Olympic games of coffee. As if it couldn’t get any better, this year’s winning batch from the Auromar Estate belonged to Mr. Black.

The packaging brief was to create an exceptionally limited ‘farm-to-glass’ coffee liqueur, using the rare, Panama Esmerelda Geisha bean – the most prized coffee in the world. To begin the challenge, Co Partnership explored the world’s relationship with Panama and sought inspiration in the distinctive look and feel of their famous cigars.
They noticed a resemblance with the diamond shaped label of Mr. Black and the intricate cigar bands famous of the country. This gave them a way to bring provenance into the design, without changing the dieline and shape of the label, a recognisable brand equity.