Murray Paterson - Muri

#75 Beyond wine: creating category-less drinks with Muri

Play Time:

47 Minutes

The MURI range of 6 bottles on a black background

Podcast cover for Low No Drinker #75 Beyond wine: creating category-less drinks with Muri

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QUICK QUOTES:

"We still might do alcohol in the future, actually, to be honest, but the non-alcohol space is just perfect to try new, almost category-less drinks at the moment."

"We're getting the best possible ingredients. We're working them super hard. We're doing far more than a winemaker probably would to create this kind of craft product."

“I love drinking wine, and it's a big source of inspiration, but I almost have too much respect for it to try and copy it. We’re increasingly creating drinks that are getting further and further away from that wine flavour profile, and it feels, as we're doing that in terms of the flavours, we also need to do that in terms of the terminology. But trying to figure out how we can come up with a category definition that doesn't mention the “w” word is tricky.”

This week I'm joined by Murray Paterson, founder of Muri - a unique range of fermented non-alcoholic drinks designed for wine occasions. Murray shares his fascinating journey from a soul-crushing corporate job at JP Morgan to discovering his passion for fermentation in the cider industry before relocating to Copenhagen - a global hub for fermentation expertise.

At Muri, they're breaking free from simply mirroring alcoholic drinks, instead using chef-led techniques and complex fermentation processes to create genuinely original flavour profiles. Murray explains their painstaking methods, from carbonically macerating strawberries to lacto-fermenting beetroot and creating tomato wine. We discuss the challenges of naming this new category, the thriving low-no scene in Copenhagen, and Murray's mission to bring craft and premiumisation to non-alcoholic drinks.

WE CHAT ABOUT
Doing things differently at Muri
Murray's story
Breaking away from banking
The low/no inspiration behind Muri
Who is Muri for?
Not a wine alternative
Naming a category
12 Michelin stars
How it's made
Blending funky flavours
Fermentation & other techniques
Muri & food
The low/no scene in Copenhagen
Challenges of London/international distribution
Was premiumisation the goal?
Finding Muri
The BBQ-Q