MURI

MURI is a Copenhagen beverage house founded by Murray Paterson, a UK expat living in the city. Sources place the founding in 2020, in Denmark; one account dates it to the pandemic period, and a February 2024 post puts the start roughly four years earlier. According to MURI, operations began in a small walk-in fridge at a mushroom farm just outside Copenhagen, where the team built two small fermentation rooms and an artisanal counter-pressure bottle filler assembled from random plumbing parts.^{[1],[2],[3],[4],[5],[6],[7],[8],[9],[10]}

The project was initially conceived as an alcoholic drink before pivoting to the non-alcoholic space. MURI credits the non-alcoholic drinks it encountered at Copenhagen restaurants when it started out as an early inspiration, and the company describes itself as born out of the city's gastronomic community. The founding approach was chef-led: building flavour from exceptional ingredients, many of them foraged, and applying fermentation techniques learned at Empirical.^[11],[12]

MURI shares its building with Nordhavn Eddikebryggeri, a fermentation producer known for artisanal vinegars and gastriques, and gives its spent fruit to them to be turned into those products. The company attaches labels to bottles only at the restaurant so that bottles can be reused and glass waste reduced, and it reuses the boxes when collecting them.^[13],[14]

MURI has staged a three-evening dinner experience in its tasting room, an off-menu food-and-drink pairing format the company describes as designed to blur the line between glass and plate. The cooking was done on a yakitori grill set up outside the tasting room rather than in a conventional kitchen. Pours included a brand-new vermouth alongside a house-made fermented tonic, a sparkling bottle fat-washed with wild rose butter, a carbonic raspberry cocktail, and a blend made from onions, carrots and peas served with a dish of the same ingredients.^[15]

Paterson grew up in London during the heyday of its dance culture, which MURI says shaped his worldview and the company's identity. He takes part in foraging expeditions for ingredients himself, including foraging woodruff for Passing Clouds. He accepted the 2025 Feinschmecker award on behalf of the MURI team. Within a team composed primarily of chefs, Paterson is the only non-chef, as a former distiller.^[11]

The team. MURI is a small team of eight people who run everything from the Copenhagen blendery. The company hires chefs rather than traditional brewers, on the reasoning that the workflow for processing ingredients resembles a kitchen more than a brewery. Collectively the team's former careers span kitchens, distilleries, cocktail bars and cider houses, and MURI says its production and R&D staff came from Noma and Alchemist.^[16],[17]

Diego Paniagua — Operations. Diego Paniagua is a team member at MURI, not a founder. He is a former chef from Costa Rica who trained at the Basque Culinary Centre in San Sebastián, and he manages the company's operations. He has also been described as MURI's head of R&D. His taste for vermouth inspired the creation of New Forms.^[18]

Other team members. MURI names several further people in its production and flavour work. Ioakeim Goulidis, who came from Noma's fermentation lab, designed MURI's flavours and, per the company, made every bottle largely single-handedly; MURI's account also credits him as a co-developer of the drinks with encyclopedic knowledge of fermentation types, and Beyond Wine's editorial verification records that he was a team member rather than a co-founder and no longer works at MURI as of July 2026. Alejandro Acosta joined as Production Manager and was later appointed head of R&D. Maebh manages production and blending. Yuki is a former head brewer at Empirical Spirits. Paulina, also rendered Paulinna, is the forager who collects botanicals and herbs from the woods around Copenhagen and selects obscure plants for future releases.^[4],[19]

Beyond Wine's editorial verification records that Samantha Hunt has no relation to MURI, and that a 2021 BeverageDaily report naming her as a co-founder is incorrect.

MURI's central position is that its drinks are naturally non-alcoholic by design rather than dealcoholized: they are never produced with alcohol that is later removed, and the company uses neither reverse osmosis nor other dealcoholization methods. Blends are built from the ground up as non-alcoholic drinks rather than as substitutes for alcoholic ones, and MURI states it does not attempt to replicate wine — its blends share acidity, complexity and food-pairing capability with wine while remaining distinct from it. All blends sit under 0.5% ABV, which MURI describes as a trace element of alcohol comparable to a ripe piece of fruit.^{[2],[17],[20],[21],[22],[23],[24],[25],[26]}

Category language shifts across sources. MURI refers to its drinks as blends, and in an August 2023 interview described them as 'fermented blends', deliberately avoiding the labels wine alternative, substitute, proxy or mimic; a March 2025 podcast records MURI positioning the drinks as category-less while also using 'wine alternative' as a working category label for a complex, non-alcoholic fermented drink designed to fit the wine occasion. Elsewhere the company describes its beverages as occupying a category between wine and beer, blending ideas, techniques and flavours from multiple disciplines with fermentation central to the process. A July 2024 feature described the portfolio of six non-alcoholic drinks as Proxies positioned as premium wine alternatives, and a January 2024 merchant listing framed MURI as creating something wine-adjacent to reimagine the wine occasion. MURI also presents itself as a pioneer of modern zero-alcohol beverage alternatives.^{[7],[11],[16],[23],[24],[26],[27],[28],[29],[30]}

The drinks are designed for the dinner table. MURI describes its approach as balancing acidity with sweetness and tannin with texture so the blends pair with food, and it bottles in standard 0.75-litre wine bottles to signal the wine occasion intuitively and to encourage drinking them as an aperitif and especially with food. Acidity is built through ingredients and fermentation rather than added acid powders; MURI holds that how acidity is developed matters as much as how much of it there is.^{[1],[23],[30],[31],[32],[33]}

Copenhagen's gastronomic community and its fermentation expertise are repeatedly cited as MURI's frame of reference, alongside Nordic gastronomy. Production runs like a kitchen rather than a brewery, and the company applies gastronomic and culinary techniques learned from leading restaurants and distilleries. Everything is made in-house, which MURI says is unusual for its category and which allows unusual techniques, consistent flavour quality, and the freedom to pick and dry herbs in the oven, smoke ingredients and test many recipe ideas.^[3],[34]

MURI's stated internal benchmark in R&D is a 'what the fuck moment' — a sense of surprise, moreishness and dynamic layered flavour. Music is a further reference point: the company names many of its drinks after records from the club scene.^[16],[35]

Two techniques are notable by their absence. MURI does not make kombucha, because acetic acid can taste rough and the team dislikes volatile acidity in natural wines. It pickles with vinegar for staff lunch but has historically avoided using vinegar in its beverages.^[36]

MURI organises its products into a signature range and a Test Kitchen range. The singles lineup has been listed as seven products — Passing Clouds, Fade To Black, MURI x The Four Horsemen, Yamilé, Sherbet Daydream, Uzume and Koji Rice Series 1 — and elsewhere as Passing Clouds, Koji Rice Series 1, Koji Rice Series 2, Fade to Black, Sherbet Daydream, Yamilé, Four Horsemen and Uzume. A March 2025 podcast put the current range at six drinks, and a July 2024 feature described a portfolio of six. An Experimental Set gathers Koji Rice Series 1, Uzume and Koji Rice Series 2.^{[11],[24],[28],[37],[38],[39]}

The range grew from a small base. As of March 2022 MURI had launched three non-alcoholic cuvées with a fourth planned for April 2022, and by mid-2022 three blends were in market: Passing Clouds, Nuala and Yamilé. In the three years following the launch of Passing Clouds, MURI created a total of eight blends. Its focus has been described as tea- and berry-based sparkling non-alcoholic beverages.^[2],[8]

Test Kitchen. Test Kitchen is a limited-edition line developed in MURI's Test Kitchen facility, allowing the team to make things that are not possible at larger production volumes. Releases are strictly limited and each label is hand-written by the team. The first Test Kitchen blend sold out in an afternoon before it could be made public. New Forms, a bitter red aperitivo made from fermented Danish cherries, was released as part of the series.^[40],[41]

Koji Rice Series. The Koji Rice Series is a limited-edition series showcasing the complexity of koji fermentation, conceived as three expressions that are completely different in style from one another and from anything else MURI has made. Amazake — 'sweet sake' — was the main inspiration for its development, and the series takes inspiration from sake in its production process. Koji fermentation has been used in Koji Rice Series 1 and Koji Rice Series 2, with Koji Rice Series 3 planned for the following year.^[42],[43]

Beyond the bottled singles, MURI has made one-off and format-specific drinks: a vermouth and a house-made fermented tonic poured at its dinner experience, SIXTY° — a dark blend of aged plums, caramelized kumquats and cardamom designed to be served hot — and Bæleys, an after-dinner blend the company describes as inspired by the classic Irish cream liqueur. MURI has also said it is looking to South America, Africa and Asia for inspiration for new drinks, moving beyond its focus on Danish berries.^[11]

Low- and non-alcoholic fermentation. MURI ferments without producing more than trace amounts of alcohol by using yeast cultures that do not create alcohol, combined with carefully limited sugar levels, fermentation time and temperature. A June 2021 account describes a trio of layered techniques — the low-alcohol yeast Pichia kluyveri for tropical notes, water kefir grains for sweetness and balance, kvass for mouthfeel and depth, and a kombucha SCOBY for acidity — with ABV held below 0.5% by managing sugar and fermentation times and by using a wine yeast that does not survive above 3% ABV. Teas and fruit juices also act as dilution agents to bring the final ABV under 0.5%. MURI uses a wine yeast that produces sauvignon blanc-style flavours without producing alcohol, and deploys its ferments for specific purposes: a wine yeast fermentation for high acidity, kvass for mid-level acidity, and kefir or kombucha for body and sweetness. An October 2023 account describes the two main components as a highly acidic element made by inoculating a sour fruit such as gooseberry with a wine yeast, and a water kefir component providing body and sweetness. Cultivated yeasts, kefir grains and sourdough starter form the working repertoire.^[20],[44]

Kvass. MURI's kvass is a bread beer-style ferment made by steeping grain in hot water without boiling and inoculating it with a sourdough starter, which produces minimal alcohol; accounts specify roasted malt or caramel malt, brewed almost like a beer but not boiled, to achieve bready notes. Sea salt is added to the kvass to enhance flavour. Passing Clouds carries a geranium kvass developed in pursuit of the brioche flavour common in champagne, and Fade to Black uses a malt kvass — described elsewhere as a pine kvass — that gives the blend a warm earthiness.^[4],[45]

Koji and amazake. MURI grows koji mould (Aspergillus oryzae) on cooked rice to produce sake-like components that are then blended, using a humidity tent for the koji nursery. Its amazake is made by steam-cooking rice, mixing it with koji spores, blending with plain cooked rice and water, then fermenting with wine yeast for four days; the koji stage runs three days, converting starches to sugars and releasing umami compounds. MURI values koji for its sweet, umami complexity and aromatics. The same amazake base underpins the Koji Rice Series: Koji Rice Series 1 grows koji on steamed rice before fermenting the liquid with a cultivated yeast, and Koji Rice Series 2 inoculates steamed jasmine rice with koji spores and ferments it for three days. Koji amazake also appears in MURI × ESSE: The Middle.^[11],[43]

Smoking. MURI operates its own smokery within the blendery, cold smoking fruits and botanicals over beechwood to add depth and texture — a technique the company describes as making ingredients into more interesting and mysterious versions of themselves. Applications include beechwood-smoked vanilla in Uzume, smoked lavender for the kefir in Koji Rice Series 1, salted and lacto-fermented rhubarb cold smoked over beechwood in Yamilé, and smoked malts among the blond, spelt and chocolate malts in Bæleys.^[46],[47]

Fat-washing and enfleurage. MURI's fat-washing involves adding fat to the blend in liquid form, then chilling it so it solidifies and can be strained off, leaving an aromatic liquid; it is a technique the company says it can only use on a tiny scale. MURI has stated it previously used fat-washing for a blend created approximately two years before 2025 in collaboration with Restaurant Kadeau, and that a special edition containing wild rose butter took roughly three days to clean the brewery afterwards. Paradis extends the method with enfleurage: wild rose and blackened bergamot are pressed into softened butter over several days before the butter is used to fat-wash the blend. MURI × ESSE: The Beginning is fat-washed with wild rose petal butter, and MURI × ESSE: The Middle with a browned butter and kombu fat wash.^[48]

Ice clarification and cryo techniques. Ice clarification and cryo-filtration are among MURI's borrowed culinary techniques. MURI x The Four Horsemen uses ice-clarified tomato water — described in a January 2025 podcast as cryo-filtered tomato water — and Uzume contains an ice-clarified tomato wine that adds savoury complexity. MURI also lists cryo concentration among the techniques it uses to develop flavour.^{[16],[31],[46],[49],[50]}

Blanching and blackening. MURI blanches spice to strip harshness, in the manner used for garlic purée: the pink peppercorns in one of its sparkling rosés are blanched from cold seven times, as are the green peppercorns infused through MURI x The Four Horsemen. Separately, MURI applies a blackening process to fruit to increase umami complexity — Paradis blackens bergamot through enzymatic browning, a process similar to how black garlic is made, MURI × ESSE: The Finale blackens some plums and stones at low temperature over weeks, and Bæleys is sweetened with a lacto-fermented blackened honey.^[16],[51]

Tea, infusion and extraction. MURI works with several teas, valued both for flavour and for complex molecules such as polyphenols and theaflavins that add structure and length. Cold brewing is a standing technique — cold-brewed jasmine tea is a recurring blending component, and MURI builds non-alcoholic aperitifs by combining fermented fruits, juices and kefir with cold-brewed tea. Green shiso infusion is another named component. The team also extracts from pear skins, beetroot skins and fennel stems to create tannin-like texture, earthiness and brightness, and makes simple syrups from pine tree buds. An August 2021 report noted oak barrels in production.^[52],[53]

Berry & fruit bases. MURI works with Nordic white, red and black currants alongside gooseberries as its local berry ingredients, valuing their balance of citric and malic acids for mouthwatering brightness. Ingredients are either foraged by the team or sourced from local farmers, and they change through the year, requiring the blend to be tweaked each time.^[17],[33]

• Berries — from a family farm in Jutland run by a farmer named Niels
• Quince — from a farm on the island of Møn, roughly an hour south of Copenhagen, run by a small-scale farmer named Eva; MURI has also named Kysø Øko farm south of Copenhagen, run by Susanna and her husband, as a quince source. MURI crushes its own quince
• Muscat and heritage pumpkins — heritage pumpkins from Brinkholm farm south of Copenhagen, grown by Niko the Gardener
• Apricots — caramelised in-house
• Danish cherries — fermented for New Forms

Rhubarb. MURI sources rhubarb from an organic Danish farm run by grower Michael Balle, who has worked with rhubarb for nearly three decades and harvests only once a year, allowing the crop to mature so the flavour concentrates; a second harvest was found to weaken the plants the following year. The variety is Svendborg Vinrabarber, an old Danish variety originating from Funen, which thrives in cooler northern European conditions and develops bright acidity without becoming overly sharp. Rhubarb contributes malic acid, giving a green, juicy tartness similar to apples or wine grapes, and oxalic acid, contributing brightness and a zesty edge. The farm is organic, returning chicken manure to the fields and composting rhubarb leaves back into the soil; new plants are set in the field by hand one by one, a process repeated 27,000 times in one field alone, and after planting the rhubarb is left untouched for almost three years before first harvest, with mature plants producing for around nine good years. After harvest the rhubarb is cold-pressed without heating, freezing or enzymes to preserve the ingredient as directly as possible. MURI both ferments and smokes this rhubarb.^[54]

Experimental and forward-looking ingredients. MURI has trialled ingredients beyond its established palette. In an August 2023 interview the company described experimenting with insects, including ants for acidity. A blend made with pickled magnolia flowers and Mirabelle flowers was prepared for release in summer 2023, inspired by Asian cuisine, where young magnolia flowers are pickled to season teas and dishes. An August 2021 report noted a rosé in development based on raspberry mead flavoured with sugar kelp, elderflower and roses.^{[7],[55],[56]}

Production standards. All MURI blends are small batch and produced entirely in-house, from fermenting and smoking fruit through to bottling and shipping, with nothing outsourced. All ingredients are organic except herbs and fruits foraged from nature. MURI describes its products as 'clean label' — no sulphites, preservatives, additives, concentrates or sorbates. All bottles are pasteurized, which MURI states makes them safe for pregnant individuals, and all bottles from Summer 2025 onward carry a three-year shelf life when stored in a cool, dry place. All MURI singles are alcohol-free and vegan, with the exception of Uzume and Yamilé, which are not suitable for vegans.^{[17],[37],[56],[57],[58],[59],[60]}

MURI builds acidity and structure through multiple controlled fermentations and carefully selected ingredients, aiming for drinks with the same complexity, acidity and structure as wine but with surprising flavour combinations rather than imitation. Blends are bottled in wine bottles to encourage service as an aperitif and, especially, with food.^[23],[25]

MURI blends are also used as cocktail components. A drink called 'Banana Split' was built from homemade banana spirit, cold brew coffee, MURI Koji Rice Series 1 and MURI Passing Clouds; a 'Strawberry Daydream' combined fresh strawberry juice, simple syrup and Sherbet Daydream. MURI features in two cocktails at POPL, Noma's burger restaurant — one alcoholic and one non-alcoholic.^[61],[62]

The Four Horsemen. MURI x The Four Horsemen was made with The Four Horsemen, a Brooklyn wine bar and restaurant that has won a James Beard Award. It was developed with the restaurant's beverage director Justin Chearno, and Murray Paterson visited the New York restaurant with Chearno during development. The still red features cryo-filtered tomato water and lacto-fermented beetroot, and the result is a limited-edition glou-glou-inspired red wine alternative.^[6],[63]

Anne-Sophie Pic. Uzume was created with chef Anne-Sophie Pic, described by MURI as the world's most decorated female chef, holding 12 Michelin stars across her restaurants, and developed together with her Chief Executive Sommelier, Paz Levinson.^[64],[65]

Restaurant Koan. MURI has developed a Koji Rice Series 2 as a special edition for Koan, a two-Michelin-star Korean-Danish restaurant in Copenhagen; a January 2025 podcast noted release was planned for around Easter.^[16]

Restaurant Odette. Paradis was created as a collaboration with 3-Michelin-star Restaurant Odette in Singapore, developed for the restaurant's month-long pop-up at Tivoli in Copenhagen in September 2025.^[48]

Empirical. MURI collaborated with Empirical on two exclusive cocktails combining MURI's ferments with Empirical's distillates and foraged ingredients.^[66]

Weingut Jaunegg. As of a January 2025 podcast, MURI was planning a collaboration with the Austrian winery Weingut Jaunegg, which has a vineyard called Murray, to create a terroir-driven exploration of a one-kilometre by one-kilometre area featuring peach trees, apricots, flowers and vines.^[16]

Bruno and Arete Cooking. MURI curated the drinks for a one-night collaboration dinner with Arete Cooking at Bruno.^[67]

Studio Soriano. MURI collaborated with Studio Soriano, a Copenhagen design studio specialising in upcycled materials such as old tarpaulin, to create an exclusive apron and matching bag as a limited merchandise drop.^[68]

MURI won the prize for best non-alcoholic drink at the 2025 Feinschmecker wine awards gala in Hamburg. The company states it was the first prize the Feinschmecker awards had ever given for 'alkoholfreier Wein' (non-alcoholic wine), and that the gala marked the awards' 50th anniversary. Murray Paterson accepted the award on behalf of the MURI team.^[69],[70]

Muri Nuala 2021 was selected as Viinilehti's best non-alcoholic beverage of 2023, praised for its berry-fresh and aromatic flavour profile. Fade to Black was awarded 'The Best Red Wine Alternative 2024'.