A Liquor Brand’s Challenge: When Marketing a New Spirit Requires Building an Entirely New Category

Is it gin? Is it mezcal? Is it rum? Those are among the questions an initial imbiber of Empirical might ask on their first encounter with the alcohol brand released this summer. The term “empirical” is defined as “both based on observation and experiment,” as well as “derived solely from experience.” That ethos is at the heart of what the label hopes to convey. Empirical is the brainchild of Lars Williams, a former chef from Copenhagen’s Noma, a restaurant often ranked among the world’s best. His co-creator is Mark Emil Hermansen, a social anthropologist and fellow Noma alum. A Toast to the Feminine ‘Spirit’ As for what the spirit actually is: Empirical is alcohol made from distilled kombucha, along with a number of “secret” ingredients sourced directly from stateside farmers. In keeping with the understated, abstract sensibility of Noma, Empirical identifies itself vaguely and simply as “a flavor company.” Its stated mission is to evoke memories through the senses while connecting people through nuances of taste. Each of the brand’s three flavor expressions—Soka, The Plum, I Suppose and Ayuuk, as well as three canned cocktails—maintain minimal aesthetics. In terms of appearance, the flavors are sold as CAN 01, CAN 02 and CAN 03. As Empirical continues its U.S. rollout, Adweek spoke with Williams about the creative challenges involving the making of spirits no one has ever experienced before and how he and his partner are bringing them to market. Adweek: How did you decide on the brand name Empirical?Lars Williams: We do everything following the empirical method; knowledge is gained from experiences, our senses and a desire to explore the world around us. We like to joke that 90% of what we do is failure. Anyone who is interested in trying something delicious and novel, something that will transport them, is our target audience. It’s ok to want special and delicious things. After all, Empirical is a flavor company. How are you marketing the brand? How are you driving awareness?By getting in front of as many people as possible; once someone tries Empirical, they’re usually convinced. Do you have any plans to use advertising formats such as video or billboards? Or are you relying on social media and word of mouth?Social media and word of mouth. Additionally, we created integrated marketing campaigns with our creative studio and organized bartender master classes nationwide, an international launch and PR events in Los Angeles, New York and Singapore in partnership with renowned bartenders. We also launched YouTube series such as Make It Empirical with Iain Townsend Griffiths, Flavor Up! in Copenhagen and Los Angeles and our Japanese Masters series. Each of the brand’s three flavor expressions maintain minimal aesthetics. Why did you decide to move from the restaurant industry into the spirits business?After dedicating years of our career in kitchens creating innovative dishes to 40 guests a night, we were looking at sharing that hard work, creative expression and flavor in a more democratic way with a much larger, global audience. So in 2017 we set ourselves in a small garage kitchen in the meatpacking district of Copenhagen, and Empirical was born. With the idea of connecting people through flavor and sense memories, spirits were a logical starting point to capture and preserve all of these delicate compounds that make up taste, aroma and ultimately experiences. Instead of concentrating in established categories like whiskey, rum or mezcal, why did you decide to create an entirely new line of liquor expressions?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. We have great respect and love for the traditional way of doing things, but the way our brains are wired, it always led us to figure out ways to make it our own. Rules are meant to be broken because they’re often inane. When we realized our spirits literally could not fit into any existing category, it was very liberating. Virtually anything can be used as a "botanical" or ingredient, and the only way to find out is to try it. Stepping outside of categories means that we get to combine techniques and traditions from different cultures and different times. It gives us the freedom to bring together new or forgotten ingredients and start every step from scratch. We build our own machines, shatter flavors into 200 shards to rebuild them, creating a narrative arc of taste and aroma that overlays the novel and the familiar. The outcome is something that’s democratic and shareable and driven by the journey of creating unique and unexpected flavors. The ethos of 'empirical' is at the heart of what the label hopes to convey. What is the process of bringing spirits to proof with distilled kombucha?Distillers traditionally adjust the ABV of their spirits by adding water only; at some point, we realized we could increase flavor potential rather than diluting it. We first make a kombucha of the same flavor profile as the spirits. Vacuum distilling our kombuchas the same way we distill our spirits also allows us to have far more control over the spectrum of flavors blended into the final recipe. How did you come to sorghum for the Soka spirit blend?We have always sought out unique sources of saccharides for the fermentation process—from beet molasses to different starchy experiments—and found ourselves looking at sorghum. First domesticated in Africa thousands of years ago, sorghum is now globally the fifth most produced cereal crop. It’s regenerative and drought-resistant properties make it a very versatile and sustainable crop to grow, able to adapt to many climates. Whereas its grains have mostly been used for food, feed, replanting and biofuel production, the "sugarful" stalks are often overlooked. Empirical is the brainchild of Lars Williams and Mark Emil Hermansen, both Noma alumni. How did you come to produce this spirit stateside?We wanted to showcase the terroirs of the American heartland and all the flavor nuances they bring. We now procure sorghum syrup from Danny Ray Townsend in Kentucky, while further research led us to meet Richard and Brenda Wittgreve in Wisconsin. The couple has built an incredible Mad Max-like machine that juices the stalks while they are being harvested, making for the freshest sorrel-like aromas you can imagine. Once the pressing is done, we take an hour drive to Milwaukee where we bring it to Central Standard Craft Distillery to ferment and distill. Working closely with our collaborators was paramount for us. Where is Empirical being marketed? Are you focusing on any specific cities or regions?Although we’re available globally, we’re trying to concentrate our focus at the moment: London, New York, California and Singapore are places we’ve been traveling to so far this year. A Dive Bar You Can Eat: Miller High Life Creates a Beer-Infused Ice Cream on a Stick