In our contemporary culture of appropriation, every well-known brand is ripe for transformation. If the Barbie doll can become a movie, why not turn one of America’s most popular snacks into a liquor? Empirical—the iconoclastic booze maker that calls itself a flavor company—did just that when it morphed a favorite snack food, Doritos, into an original new spirit.
Only the mad scientists at Empirical could conjure up this outlandish creation. To understand how they did it, you’ll need a glimpse behind the scenes at the world’s most distinctive craft-distiller, founded in Copenhagen in 2017 by Lars Williams and Mark Emil Hermansen—formerly concept creators and chefs at one of the world’s most experimental restaurants, Noma. Empirical doesn’t make conventional spirits like gin, whiskey or tequila, instead forging entirely original spirits made from Pasilla chili peppers, plum pits and marigold flowers, among other offbeat ingredients.
But from processed food? It was a fluke.
Over the years, the team of Danish alchemists have run hundreds of lab tests on bizarre botanicals to understand how volatile compounds interact in the condenser. They developed their own low-temperature vacuum distillation process that preserves esters, thus preserving vivid flavors. One day, a team member appeared in the lab with a bag of Doritos. Williams couldn’t resist tossing the chips into the vacuum distiller—as a joke. The whole team laughed hysterically when they discovered how great distilled Doritos taste.
“It touches all the flavors we crave as people,” Williams explained in a presentation for the spirit launch late last year. “There’s an umami component, a salty component, a sort of sour component and a tiny bit of bitterness in there.”
I first met Williams in the summer of 2022 when he was introducing another spirit—Soka— in New York. It was Empirical’s first American spirit, made from sustainable sorghum grown in the Midwest. It had an overriding hint of funk, with flavors of hay, green apple, melon and cucumber. It was definitely out there. Williams said the spirit’s poignant aromas and flavors were designed to unlock sense memories. “Soka evokes walking through fresh cut grass with farm aromas in the background,” he explained. Those weren’t sense memories I knew after so many years in Manhattan.
And what does the new Doritos x Empirical (750 ML, 42 percent ABV, $65) spirit evoke? “Doritos snack in liquid form,” Williams quipped, giddily. Made from malted barley, Doritos Nacho Cheese chips and Belgian Saison yeast II, the spirit has the familiar scent and taste of nacho cheese and corn tostadas, a deepening umami, tangy notes and a slightly salty finish. It can be consumed neat, on the rocks or in cocktails. Williams suggests a Double Triangle Margarita with equal parts Empirical Doritos and tequila.
This is Empirical’s second made-in-America liquor (produced in a California distillery). Soon these bespoke spirits will be distilled in Brooklyn. Empirical has moved its headquarters to North Bushwick and its new distillery is scheduled to open this spring. What will be the next coming attraction? Williams won’t reveal. I’d vote for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup in liquor form.
