Copenhagen’s Empirical Spirits offers a new textured tasting lab
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

Copenhagen distillery Empirical Spirits was founded in 2017 on the ethos that knowledge is gained through experience. This mentality has guided the brand through its two years in drink design, but its latest project eschews the flavour-specific approach for something more multi-sensory.
Tapping local design firms Studio Pneuma and Design Studies, Empirical Spirits has opened a brand new tasting room at the heart of its Copenhagen HQ. Its entire catalogue has been brought together under the same roof, now offering the complete Empirical experience to a local audience.
Framed by a glass curtain wall and airy, translucent textiles by Kvadrat, the room emerges like smoke from the heart of the distillery. Beyond this veil, the space is revealed to be quiet, considered and centred on the tasting experience. Bespoke furniture made in Dinesen Douglas by the two design firms peppers the space, including a kitchen realised by local cabinet maker Asta Mogensen. These organic pieces allude to the koji fermentation room at the heart of the production facility. Elsewhere, a ceramic mural by Wolf City Design and the flowing micro topping floor by OL Gulve add artful layers to the space.
‘We wanted to create a casual display for their archive of ingredients, artefacts and stories from their many travels,’ says Studio Pneuma. ‘Like an ever changing Cabinet of Curiosities, from where visitors can observe the buzzing life from the distillery.’
An eight metre wide shelving system proudly displays the brand’s many flavour inspirations, whilst the sprawling tasting table – flanked by geometric, black oil-finished chairs – elegently knits the space together.
‘We wanted to work with an overall organic concept, inspired by Empirical Spirits’ use of fermentation – letting materials interact and transform,’ explains Studio Pneuma. ‘Our ambition has been to translate their approach to flavours into a spacial atmosphere, where the senses are stimulated.’
ADDRESS
Refshalevej 175B
1432 København
Denmark
VIEW GOOGLE MAPS (opens in new tab)
-
Colour Clash is a bold compendium of dazzling supergraphics and logos that pop
Polychromatic perversity in graphic design is celebrated in Colour Clash, a monograph that looks at the new wave of visual expression
By Jonathan Bell • Published
-
Beacon House is the contemporary rebirth of a midcentury San Francisco home
Beacon House by Edmonds + Lee Architecture is a renovation project that sensitively brings a modernist San Francisco home into the 21st century
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Supergraphics pioneer Barbara Stauffacher Solomon: ‘Sure, make things big – anything is possible'
94-year-old graphic designer Barbara Stauffacher Solomon talks radical typography, motherhood, and her cool welcome for St Moritz
By Jessica Klingelfuss • Published
-
Château Galoupet is teaching the world how to drink more responsibly
From reviving an endangered Provençal ecosystem to revisiting wine packaging, Château Galoupet aims to transform winemaking from terroir to bottle
By Mary Cleary • Last updated
-
London’s most refreshing summer cocktail destinations
Cool down in the sweltering city with a visit to London’s summer cocktail destinations
By Mary Cleary • Last updated
-
Noma Projects brings the world’s greatest restaurant into your kitchen
Noma Projects launches with a smoked mushroom garum for at-home cooking, the first in a series of products and media and environmental programmes set to make the famous restaurant more accessible
By Mary Cleary • Last updated
-
Learn how to curate a simple cheese board with perfect port pairings
The experts at artisan cheesemonger Paxton & Whitfield share tips for curating a simple but sophisticated cheese board, with port and cheese pairings for every taste
By Melina Keays • Last updated
-
IWA sake brewery by Kengo Kuma is Best Roofscape: Wallpaper* Design Awards 2022
IWA sake brewery in Japan, by Kengo Kuma & Associates, scoops Best Roofscape at the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2022
By Tony Chambers • Last updated
-
The Chuan Malt Whisky Distillery by Neri & Hu offers a twist on Chinese tradition
Neri & Hu designs headquarters for The Chuan Malt Whisky Distillery in China's Sichuan province
By Yoko Choy • Last updated
-
St Pancras Renaissance Hotel opens Booking Office 1869 restaurant
Booking Office 1869 restaurant, at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, is set to become a new London hotspot. Developer Harry Handelsman and designer Hugo Toro tell us about its creation
By Mary Cleary • Last updated
-
Sweet Sauternes: France’s forgotten wine gets a reputational makeover
Saskia de Rothschild is on a mission to revive the popularity of Sauternes white wine, with Rieussec, produced and packaged with a fresh, more sustainable approach
By Mary Cleary • Last updated