Unconventional food and alcohol pairings: Doritos releases nacho cheese-flavored alcohol

14 Dec 2023 --- Doritos has joined forces with flavor innovator Empirical, to introduce the Empirical x Doritos Nacho Cheese Spirit. Through this limited-release alcohol, the PepsiCo-owned brand aims to infuse the essence of its iconic cheese flavor into cocktails.

The beverage reportedly offers consumers a special tasting experience that resembles the flavor of the snack itself, starting with the umami and tangy aromas of nacho cheese, transitioning to corn-forward flavors, and finishing with a soft, salty note. 

It is recommended to be served neat, over ice, or as a twist in classic cocktails like Margaritas or Bloody Marys.

Tina Mahal, senior VP of marketing for Frito-Lay North America, highlights Doritos’ aspiration to “disrupt culture” and offer consumers “unexpected, bold experiences.” 

“We figure it’s time we disrupt the spirits category by offering our iconic nacho cheese flavor in a bottle.”

Doritos has also recently collaborated with Smooth Technology to roll out an app that lets consumers cancel out the crunch and mute the sound of the chip-chomping teeth.

Capturing the essence
Empirical, a company exploring non-traditional approaches to spirits, has employed its innovative production process to capture the complex layers of Doritos Nacho Cheese. 

The original version, created around the brand’s inception in 2017, was an accidental discovery during initial experiments with ingredients like licorice, parsley, and the North African spice mix ras el hanout.

PepsiCo is supplying the chips, one of the most popular savory snacks among Gen Z, for Empirical to produce the alcohol.Lars Williams, the chef/distiller and CEO of Empirical, remarks on the company’s “uncategorized” nature, which allows them to venture beyond traditional spirit categories and explore different flavors.

The process of creating the product seen today involves using real Doritos chips and extracting their essence through vacuum distillation, a method that operates at lower temperatures compared to traditional distillation, thus preserving the full spectrum of flavors.

Taste fusion trends
This collaboration is not the first instance of snack flavors making their way into alcoholic beverages. The trend has seen different alcohol brands experimenting with treat-inspired spirits. 

Arby’s has released its limited-edition Crinkle Fry Vodka and Curly Fry Vodka in the US. Both spirits are crafted from high-quality potato vodka. This introduction of French fry vodka marks the latest addition to a series of unconventional pairings involving food and alcohol.

360 Vodka, an eco-friendly alcohol brand, introduced Buttered Popcorn Vodka, blending quadruple-distilled and quintuple-filtered vodka with buttered popcorn flavors. 

Smirnoff Vodka has also ventured into this space with its Whipped Cream and Fluffed Marshmallow flavored vodkas in the US, offering a sweet and airy twist on the drink.

In the UK, Northern Monk released a trio of beers as part of its Faith in Boozers campaign, inspired by popular pub snacks. These include a Scampi & Lemon Pale Ale, a Pork Scratching Best Bitter, and a Dry Roasted Peanut Stout, each embodying the essence of these local snacks.

By Sichong Wang