_format-1500w.png)
Empirical Spirits: First and Foremost, Flavour
Copenhagen’s indie district of Reshaleøen seems to be the magnet for all things weird and wonderful, and the liquor company and distillery Empirical Spirits fits that description fairly well. Founded by two guys carrying the creative Noma baggage, this alcoholic venture is all about innovation and flavor. Do not be fooled by the ultra-minimal branding – their potions are like nothing you’ve tried before.
Eager to find out more, we took a step into the tasting room with co-founder Lars Williams and learn about the concept, production process and what New Nordic means in the booze context.
What were there reasons for stepping away from food and getting into spirits?
I was looking for a way to take what I did in terms of fermentation, flavour development and research, and find a way to democratise. What I mean by that is, if I create a rolodex of flavors that I think represent Denmark, I want to be able to share it with my family back home in Brooklyn, or send it to my friends in Brazil. Alcohol is a fantastic vessel for flavour, it not only gives it shelf life but also binds it in a completely different way than oil.
I think that there’s a lot of parallels between what’s traditionally thought of science, thought of food, thought of perfume that haven’t been cross-linked yet and I think there’s a lot of ground to cover between those. So, it’s a really exciting time for us.
Is there a lot of similarities in what working for a New Nordic kitchen is like and distilling?
In many ways, what we are producing could be considered as spirits seen through the lens of a chef. Coming from a kitchen background, and being blissfully ignorant to any kind of standard in this space, we were able to approach this from a different perspective. To play around with balancing spirits out with acidity, using distilled kombucha instead of water, or partnering with a yeast lab. Every iteration of a spirit we make will likely taste slightly different because we are constantly finding better grains, improving our fermentation techniques, tweaking our yeast strains. We’re constantly evolving and improving as we continue our search for flavour.
To all the blatant ignorants, who ask what gins you guys make, please explain what the spirits are made of and why they’re not categorised in the ‘usual way’?
The categorisation thing only seems to be confusing prior to people actually tasting the stuff – once they taste it, the questions stop. We’ve developed our own method of production that could be considered a mash-up of Eastern and Western techniques.
There are nine key elements that set our process apart: grains, barley kōji, brewing, fermentation, ingredients, distilling, cuts and blending. We’re always tweaking our methods too.
That often means scouring the globe to find the best ingredients to make our spirits. That hunt has led us to Oaxaca for chilis or Lebanon for cherry stems, but it has also taken us much closer, like to a neighboring roastery for coffee chaff or within our own distillery, where we use spent koji as a botanical.
“We’re focusing on sharing the experience of flavour, but not having that be confined through any particular paradigm. In doing so, we’ve become more of a flavour company than a spirits company.”
What sparks the ideas for new flavours and how long does it take to develop them?
We have a bank of 250 or 300 flavor samples, which makes our creative iteration a lot easier. Even if it’s not that exact flavor profile that you’re looking for, like black lime, it could be something similar like lemon verbena. By having that on hand, we’re able to try things out and then prototype faster – I get so frustrated with slowness.
An idea can come from anywhere. There’s typically three different ways that we try and attack the innovation process in flavor. One can come from encountering a single ingredient and getting really excited about where that flavor leads us. It can also be inspiration from a concept, like rum or mezcal and seeing if we make that with root vegetables. Sometimes, it’s a long-term investigation.
Can you share a bit about your latest creation or any new projects you’ve been working on at Empirical Spirits?
A pre-batched cocktail series that was inspired by the recent need to create the bar experience at home. The first releases were our own cocktail blends, the Pony Negroni and Bonita Applebum, and we will continue with more in-house blends alongside special collaborations with leading bars and bartenders from around the world.
It’s also our way of providing support for the hospitality industry and provide consumers with a taste of their favourite bars that are currently closed due to the global lockdowns of cities from COVID-19. A percentage of the sales from each of the collaboration bottles will be donated to the bartender’s chosen charity, or to support their own staff.
Inspired by a recent docu-series which will remain nameless, we also decided to re-launch our first spirit we ever made Easy Tiger, «exotic edition«. An excuse to bring back our first ever made spirit really, because it’s delicious and we miss it.
For Easy Tiger, we macerate Douglas Fir needles and mature juniper in our low wine before redistilling and blending. Petrichor by essence, piny, fresh and resinous, drinking Easy Tiger feels like running in the forest in slow-motion after rain. We are collecting pre-orders on our webshop here as it is in process of being produced.
A percentage of the proceeds will go to a non-profit organization Akashinga “The Brave Ones”, a community empowering disadvantaged women in Zimbabwe to restore and manage large networks of wilderness areas.
Images courtesy of Empirical Spirits, Tim Spreadbury and Maureen Evans – Featured image by Claus Troelsgaard
What are some your biggest goals when it comes to Empirical?
One of the goals we have at the company is to make people think differently about flavor and about how they consume it, particularly alcohol in general. The point of Empirical Spirits is to share flavor as widely as possible.
Last but not least: Which one of your spirits would you recommend most during lockdown?
In the last few weeks, we’ve started releasing a series of pre-bottled cocktails including ES x Lyaness Martini, which was made in collaboration with our good friend Ryan Chetiyawardana, Pony Negroni and Bonita Applebum. All you need to do is twist the bottle open, pour it over ice and enjoy it in the comfort of your home.
Empirical Spirits can be purchased online (click here for US-based buyers) or via selected stockists. Some batches are limited, so be sure to grab ones that catch your eye before they’re gone!
Now that we’ve got booze covered, do you need nice lockdown food to go with that? Get to know Homeat and their restaurant-like mealbox experience >>>