Research: A Trip to Jutland
We paid a visit to Gyrup, a family-owned organic farm that operates one of the only malt houses in Denmark.
Launch: Germany, let's catch up
You will now be able to find most of our bottles and cans in some of Germany’s finest bars, restaurants and bottle shops.
Releases: The Dove
The Dove is Ago Perrone and Giorgio Bargiani's take on an all-time Mexican favorite: the Paloma.
Releases: Yalla Habibi Rise Again
Our friends Electric Bing Sutt were among the many people devastated by the horrific explosion in Beirut. Yalla Habibi Rise Again is a reconstruction of their classic "EBS Gimlet". All proceeds will go to their fundraiser.
Releases: One More Before I Go
One More Before I Go is a celebration of Maxim Schulte's time as head bartender of the American Bar, one of London’s oldest and most iconic cocktail bars.
How to drink Empirical: Ayuuk Flip
The main ingredient in this spirit, Pasilla Mixe, is a special, smoke-dried chili grown at 2,700 meters above sea level by the Mixe people — known in their native language as Ayuuk. Once fully ripened, the chilis are partially dried on the plant and finished on wicker racks over gnarled hardwood smoke. The true Pasilla Mixe possesses a twilight, dark red fruitiness and a unique earthiness that reflects the rugged terroir in which it grows.
Empirical Dock House 2020
The team is slinging cocktails, Empirical boozy ice creams, and a banging Empirical Milkshake laced with Ayuuk between your dips in the water. We are looking forward to welcoming you, catching up, and fuelling you with Empirical love.
Toby Evans designed some special cans for us
Our special edition mix packs of CAN 01 and CAN 02 feature artwork from artist and designer Toby Evans. We had a decent chat with him about it.
Releases: The making of ES x Ticuchi with Yana Volfson
In celebration of Cinco de Mayo this year, we asked Yana Volfson of Cosme (NYC), Atla (NYC), and Ticuchi (Mexico City) to create a festive drink that marries our habanero spirit with essential Mexican flavors. Nuestra casa su casa, so here's the recipe.
Serves: The Plum, I Suppose with Chris and Sasha
The Plum, I Suppose cocktails prepared by R+D's very own, Sasha and Chris.
Like bounding through a Nordic pine forest during berry season
A bracing, crimson drink that feels like bounding through a Nordic pine forest during berry season. Available now.
The one-off experiment that became a permanent fixture
Can 01 is a lightly carbonated drink based on a spirit made from beet molasses and Belgian saison yeast. It has been flavored with ingredients such as milk oolong cold brew tea, toasted birch tea, gooseberry spirit, cold-infused gooseberry juice, douglas fir spirit, and pomelo zest spirit.
Why did we end up making cans?
It’s not often you get to hear from people who make cans of ready-to-drink booze, because usually, the story behind them is, “we got some gin and some tonic and we mixed them up and put them in a can”. But these cans are special so we thought we’d ask him a few questions about them.
Research: What is kōji?
Kōji is a fungus. In fact, a few fungi. The word is Japanese. The Japanese character for kōji means ‘rice flower’, which is exactly what it looks like when it’s growing—a landscape of white, fluffy, tiny flowers blooming from the surface of the grains.
The Making of Empirical
We do things our own way. Taking a flavor-first approach means that we don’t pay attention to the conventional categories that traditionalists often want to cast us into. Instead, we focus on finding great ingredients and turning them into experiences.
Friends: A Drink With Tata
Leading up to our Gedulgt x Tata bar swap, we caught up with bar manager Jonas Andersen, and head bartender Harry Bell to get the lowdown on their award-winning approach.
Friends: A Drink with Gedulgt
In Danish, Gedulgt means secret or well-hidden. Tucked away in a historic backyard, the name is appropriate for the award-winning cocktail bar in Aarhus, Denmark. Most recently, they added the People’s Choice nod at the Bartenders’ Choice Awards to their lengthy list of accolades.
Cans are here
Lightly carbonated drinks based on a spirit made from beet molasses and Belgian Saison yeast.
Serves: Charlene McGee Lot Six Edition & Vermouth
For Charlene McGee Lot Six Edition, we recommend a riff on a classic Manhattan. The spirit’s round, smoky flavor profile at cask strength makes it an apt challenger for the recipe’s standard bourbon. Chances are that after a few of these, you might develop your own pyrokinetic powers à la Firestarter.
Releases: Charlene McGee Lot Six Edition
This limited release is a cask strength send-off to Charlene McGee, one of our first spirits based on smoked juniper. At 50% ABV, you may gain pyrokinetic powers from this Firestarter-inspired edition.
Events: GANNI FW20 x Empirical
During Copenhagen Fashion Week, we partnered with our friends at GANNI on a string of activations. A strong match for Empirical, GANNI is challenging creatives to work with more responsible materials aiming to reuse and recycle existing materials to create unique and one-of-a-kind products.
Events: Empirical's Lars Williams at Peoples Wine
Lars Williams is home for the holidays. To kick-off the festivities, we’re holding a special tasting at Peoples, the new wine shop and bar from Contra/Wildair duo Fabian von Hauske and Jeremiah Stone.
Serves: Flora Danica & Tonic
Based on the wild plants of Danish summer, Flora Danica is a herbaceous spirit with a slightly bitter finish. Complement it with tonic and a hint of lemon to make this bright serve.
Releases: What’s old is new again, Flora Danica
In 1752, botanist Georg C. Oeder set out to collect all of the plants in the Danish Kingdom into an encyclopedia called "Flora Danica". We took a stab at our own interpretation of Flora Danica. At the end of this past summer, our R&D team went searching for interesting plants around the distillery and greater Copenhagen.
A festive guide to Empirical
That’s right, ‘tis the season, folks, and here at Empirical Spirits, we’re looking to spread some holiday cheer this year, any way we can.
Events: Empirical End of Year Glögg Blowout
Come and join us for some festive fun at Empirical Saturday 14th December. Lars is making his famous glögg, from a family recipe, and our favourite baker, Louise Bannon of Tir Bakery, is on the æbleskiver pans.
Serves: The Plum, I Suppose & Citrus Soda
The Plum, I Suppose captures plum kernel’s marzipan high notes and the fruit’s nuanced sweetness. Bring out the brightness of this spirit with citrus soda in this refreshing serve.
Releases: The Plum, I Suppose
We set out to make a spirit based on plum kernel. Plum kernels lie within the pits of all plums. They have a rich fragrance, fruity top notes, and marzipan undertones. In both appearance and taste, they most closely resemble almonds. We get ours from the Stanley variety of plums, known for its plump, dark blue-skinned fruit with yellow flesh.
Events: Empirical x Fruktstereo x Josephine Sondlo
We’re teaming up with Fruktstereo and Josephine Sondlo for a special takeover of Bio Rio. Join us at the cinema bar for unique cocktails featuring our spirits and Fruktstereo’s category defying fruit pét-nats.
Serves: Ayuuk & Ginger Ale
Our new core spirit Ayuuk is based on Pasilla Mixe, a special smoke-dried chili that grows in a cloud forest. For this serve, the chili’s pleasantly spicy, vegetal notes are balanced out with the zesty, bite of ginger.
Releases: The Story of Ayuuk
The story behind Ayuuk, our smoke-dried Pasilla Mixe spirit, as told by Lars Williams. The images were taken by Arthur Couvat during a trip to the Sierra Norte mountains in September 2019.
Serves: Freyja & Champagne
Named after the goddess of love, based on an ingredient that only blooms once a year, and only 200 bottles made in total, Freyja is fittingly best enjoyed with Champagne. For this refreshing serve, opt for a crisp, dry Champagne to complement the elderflower spirit’s natural, subtle sweetness.
Events: Empirical x Mrs Robinson's
To kick-off this year’s Bar Convent Berlin, we’re having a party with our friends at Mrs Robinson’s. It’s one of the city’s most creative new restaurants located in a cozy space that was once a
In the Tasting Room: Schofield's x Gedulgt
Joe Schofield of Schofield’s and Sensorium in Manchester along with Jens Kim and Mads Schack of Gedulgt in Aarhus are joining our team for an intimate cocktail experience at the Tasting Room in Cope
Serves: ES X ēe #1 & Soda Water
ES X ēe #1 is a collaboration with Alex Kratena & Monica Berg of Tayēr & Elementary in London. It's made using Lebanese cherry stems, coffee chaff, carob, corn husk kombucha, and Citra hops. The project’s aim is to gather and re-interpret inspiration from various regions, ingredients, and techniques they've encountered throughout research and development trips around the world.
Serves: Helena & Green Tea
Helena is our base product: a double fermented clear koji spirit. The spirit combines a base flavor of sweet, floral notes from koji nuttiness and toasted bread notes from barley that give way to a bright, crisp umami finish. It is the foundation upon which all of our other spirits are built.
Serves: Charlene McGee & Cream Soda
Charlene McGee is a juniper spirit inspired by the Scandinavian culinary tradition of smoking. The spirit has base notes of fresh juniper, fruity blackberries, and resinous, fragrant juniper sap that leaves a smooth, smoky finish. Unlike a traditional heavily peated spirit, this is a smoother and lighter flavor experience with smoke.
Serves: Fallen Pony & Tonic
Fallen Pony is an aromatic double-fermented quince tea spirit made from a base of quince, barley koji, Belgian Saison yeast, and pilsner malt wash. The blend preserves the sweet botanical notes, highlights hints of marzipan, and provides balanced acidity. A deceptively light drinking experience at 35% ABV.
Serves: Fuck Trump & Watermelon
Fuck Trump and His Stupid Fucking Wall is a refreshingly smooth, warm, vegetal tasting habanero spirit made from a base of pearled barley, Belgian saison yeast, and koji. Through low-temperature vacuum-distillation, we removed capsaicin, the painfully spicy active component in the chilies, to preserve the pleasantly floral and fruit-forward notes typically hidden in habaneros.
Serves: Fuck Trump Paloma
Fuck Trump and His Stupid Fucking Wall is a refreshingly smooth, warm, vegetal tasting habanero spirit made from a base of Pilsner Malt, Belgian saison yeast, and Barley koji. Through low-temperature vacuum-distillation, we removed capsaicin, the painfully spicy active component in the chilies, to preserve the pleasantly floral and fruit-forward notes typically hidden in habaneros.
Events: The Cambridge Public House x Empirical
We've just landed in France. To mark our arrival, we’re throwing a party with our friends at The Cambridge Public House.
Events: Empirical Spirits Píib Party
In Yucatan Mayan culture, a Píib is an earth oven and an important means of symbolic connection with the earth. As a nod to that, we’re digging a hole and roasting a bunch of pigs 1st September 2018.
Events: Little Red Door x Ruby x Empirical
Rory Shepherd and Ben C. Wilson of Little Red Door (Paris), as well as Jeppe Nothlev Schefte of Ruby (Copenhagen), are joining the Empirical Team for an exclusive and intimate cocktail experience at Empirical Spirits HQ, Copenhagen. This feast of creativity and innovation will include five drinks based on Empirical Spirits, each paired with a snack. There will also be the chance to view the inner workings of Empirical with a private tour of the distillery.
“Behind the Spirits”: a short film by Arthur Couvat about Empirical
'The Power of Collaboration' by Chido Govera and Lars Williams
Enriching the world with the tastes of Zimbabwe, with Chido Govera (farmer, activist, educator, and creator of The Future of Hope Foundation, Zimbabwe) and Lars Williams (Empirical Spirits, Denmark). This video was shot at Fru.to, Alexa Atala's symposium in Brazil.