Ten years ago on Nantucket, Tom Olcott and his partner Henry Crosby launched Motto, the world’s first sparkling matcha drink. Harnessing the power of matcha—finely ground green tea leaves traditionally consumed in Japan—Motto emphasized simple, clean ingredients to achieve unique flavor, refreshment and nutrients for the human body. “From the beginning, it’s been about really simple ingredients,” Olcott said. “We started out with two goals for the product: make it tasty and make it better for you.”

An instant hit, Motto appeared everywhere from Whole Foods to local sandwich shops—but Olcott and Crosby believed they could do it better and went back to the drawing board. After taking Motto off the shelves in 2019 to update its branding and expand its line of flavors, Olcott and Crosby are relaunching their original product in a new can format this fall. The partners now envision the company broadening its reach into other plant-sourced sodas that deliver great taste and unmatched health benefits. “As we look towards the future, we want to continue to be pioneers in this space,” Olcott said, hinting at exciting announcements to come later this fall.

Sparkling matcha is not a sports drink, nor is it an energy drink; it is simply a healthy and enjoyable soda that brings wellness into your mid-afternoon pick-me-up. Olcott first encountered matcha more than a decade ago when he experienced a health scare. Matcha became a positive addition to his daily routine. Among other superfood ingredients and minerals, matcha contains antioxidants, chlorophyll, beta-carotene and a unique amino acid called L-theanine, which provides calm energy and helps with focus and brain clarity. Olcott realized that matcha was relatively inaccessible to the average person. It had to be made at home and was not widely available in the public market. Motto became a way for people to experience all the health benefits of the tea without having to make it themselves.

Though now headquartered in Brooklyn, Motto has remained committed to its Nantucket roots, with 25 percent of all proceeds made on Nantucket donated to Swim Across America for its support of cancer treatment at Nantucket Cottage Hospital. “We really want to be supportive of that organization,” Olcott said. “It has a lot to do with our origins, and we are big believers in it. It’s a great way to give back to this little place where we started.”