Doritos x Empirical

About Doritos® x Empirical

An official collaboration between Doritos® and Empirical

Together, Doritos and Empirical took one of the most iconic flavors in the world and imbued it into a completely new sensory experience. The result is as crazy as it sounds – this rare and limited alliance between Empirical and Doritos Nacho Cheese offers an unexpected delicious experience that brings a moment of WTF!? to anyone who tries it.

Tasting Notes for Doritos® x Empirical

Flavor: Nacho cheese, corn tostada, umami, hint of acidity

Serves: Neat or over ice, in a Margarita or Bloody Mary

Ingredients: Malted Barley, Belgian Saison Yeast 2, Doritos Nacho Cheese

Tastes like: The real thing! Experience the indulgent flavors of your favorite snack in a liquid form. The spirit opens with umami and tangy aromas of nacho cheese, moving to the deeper, corn-forward flavors of the chip to finish on a soft salty note.

Accolades

“It’s unlike any alcohol you’ve ever smelled or tasted before. And we don’t mean that in a bad way.” – Food & Wine

“One of your favorite snacks after a night out is now in liquid form. …It’s a clear, savory nacho-cheese alcohol that actually tastes like Doritos, even down to the feeling like you’ve been munching on some chips.” – Forbes

Suggested Serves

Double Triangle Margarita

Be ready to get your mind blown with this little twist on the emblematic cocktail.  The deeply satisfying flavors of Nacho Cheese Doritos are at home with the zesty lime and sweet agave in this refreshing and feel-good Double Triangle Margarita that will call for more. Get shaking!

• 1 oz Doritos® x Empirical
• 1 oz Tequila
• 0.75 oz fresh lime juice
• 0.75 oz agave syrup
• Tajin salt for rim
• Method: Rim your lowball glass with Tajin salt mix. Add all your ingredients in a shaker with ice. Hard shake and double strain in your lowball glass over ice. 

Red Bag Old Fashioned

Getting late night munchies and building up a thirst? Then the Red Bag Old Fashioned is for you! The comforting warmth of the classic tipple and the unique flavors of Nacho Cheese Doritos® perfectly blend with each other. A highly indulgent sipper that won’t leave your mind.

• 1.5 oz Doritos® x Empirical
• 0.5 oz (or Mezcal)
• 1 bar spoon (2:1) simple syrup
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• 1 tiny pinch of salt or 2 dashes saline solution (10%)
• Method: Pour all the ingredients in your lowball glass. Add ice and stir for 5 to 8 seconds. Garnish with an orange twist. 

Doritos® x Empirical Batanga Bangarang

Bangarang coming through! Salty, zesty, easy and refreshing. The epitome of an afternoon snack in a glass. The salinity of Doritos x Empirical pairs perfectly with the herbaceous notes of cola, and a zesty touch of grapefruit to brighten it all up. Deliciously thirst-quenching. 

• 2 oz Doritos® x Empirical 
• Pinch of smoked sea salt
• Sqeeze of fresh grapefruit
• Top up with Pepsi cola
• Method: Add all the ingredients in your highball over ice and gently stir. 

Mary Mary

Here comes the Mary Mary, the spin on the iconic cocktail you didn’t know you needed.  Why eat your snacks when you can drink them? Turn your Bloody Mary into a one-of-a-kind drinking experience with the savory kick and delicious corny layers of your favorite Nacho Cheese Doritos.

• 1.5 oz Doritos® x Empirical
• 0.5 oz Tequila
• 3 oz tomato juice
• Bar spoon lemon juice
• Bar spoon Worcestershire sauce
• Big pinch of celery salt
• Big pinch of cracked black pepper
• Tiny pinch of Cayenne pepper     
• Method: Build all ingredients in a Collins glass. Add ice & pass a bar spoon through the drink 3-4 times. Garnish with pepperoncini, seasoned celery & a pickled onion.

Production Notes

From Lars William, Empirical CEO: “The origin of the Doritos spirit is serendipitous like the best things are. In Empirical’s very early days, we were still optimizing the still designs, running hundreds of tests on different botanicals; trying to understand how the volatile compounds interacted with different condenser configurations. One day a team member returned from lunch with a sandwich and a bag of Doritos; I apologized and threw the Doritos in the still. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much- perhaps some top notes, or only the tortilla flavor. But as the R&D team sipped it for the first time, we burst into laughter. We were drinking Doritos! Doritos touch on all the flavor points we crave as people. There’s that umami component, saltiness, a sort of sweet and sour tang, and a teeny bit of bitterness all in one bite; and most chefs will at some point admit that it’s a guilty pleasure they indulge in. This was certainly proven as we sampled the beta version of the spirit to our many restaurant colleagues and witnessed that same laughter and joy we had when we first tasted it.”

750ml & 42 Proof