MURI × ESSE: The Middle

Palate. MURI describes the blend as profoundly savory, smoky, saline, and unapologetically complex, with a long umami-driven finish that gives it the structure to stand alongside dishes normally reserved for tannic wines.^[1]

Structure. Points the producer's description supports:^[1]

• Complexity: described as unapologetically complex
• Length: long, umami-driven finish

At Restaurant ESSE in Copenhagen, the blend is served as Pairing #2, alongside the main course. MURI developed the pairing guidance with ESSE's Beverage Director Eva Baumgartner.^[2],[3]

The declared ingredient list is: water, tomato, koji, lovage, rice, vinegar, mussels, kombu, butter, kefir culture, and salt. Declared allergens are celery, seafood, and dairy.^[1]

Ice-Clarified Tomato Water — Savoury Base. The blend is built around tomato water clarified by ice filtration.^[1]

Dried Smoked Mussels — Umami and Smoke. Dried smoked mussels are drawn from ESSE's dashi stock, where they are a spent by-product. MURI describes them as macerated into the blend.^[1],[2]

Koji Amazake — Fermented Rice Component. A koji amazake made from rice forms one of the blend's components.^[1]

Browned Butter and Kombu Fat Wash — Texture and Aroma. The blend carries a fat wash made with browned butter and kombu.^[1]

Lovage Kefir — Herbal Lift. A lovage kefir, described by MURI as vibrant, completes the composition.^[1]

A defining element of the collaboration is the use of spent restaurant ingredients: the mussels in the blend are leftovers from the dashi stock used at Restaurant ESSE, dried and smoked before use. MURI states that the ESSE × MURI collaboration fermented spent ingredients for its beverages.^[1]