Earlier this month, SOKA was just about to come out and we couldn’t keep it for ourselves any longer!
Ahead of the official launch, we introduced the City that Never Sleeps to our first US-produced spirit.
Over two days, we got the chance to hang out with incredibly talented bartenders who made banging cocktails with SOKA, showing the many nuances of our sorghum spirit.
Check out what we’ve been up to!
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Pink Panther by Jeff Bell (PDT) at Dear Irving. Soka, umeshu, lime, orgeat and passion fruit. |
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Perched on the 64th floor of 70 Pine Street, the 27th Best Bar in North America offers a 360-degree view of the NYC skyline.
It was the perfect location to introduce SOKA to members of the press with our two co-founders Lars and Mark Emil sharing the Empirical story.
We obviously couldn’t go dry! Bar director Harrison Ginsberg designed three delicious drinks showcasing the versatility of SOKA. We still dream about the refreshing Super SOKA. It was that good!
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A buzzing Overstory with Chris Lemperle and Harrison Ginsberg at the controls feat. Super Soka (Soka, fennel, snap pea and lime). |
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Just like Harrison, use your bottle as a substitute for your favorite vodka, rum and gin cocktails. |
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Once you get a taste of the NYC skyline, you can’t go back!
We headed to Dear Irving on Hudson Rooftop Bar for our second take-over, gathering our friends from the industry. As always, we went the Empirical way!
We were honored to have 4 creme de la creme bartenders pouring away a selection of banging Empirical drinks. I mean, with GN Chan (Double Chicken Please), Meaghan Dorman (Dear Irving), Lynnette Marrero (Masterclass with Ryan Chetiyawardana, Speed Rack) and Jeff Bell (PDT), how can you go wrong?
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Jeff Bell slinging drinks at Dear Irving feat. GN Chan’s (Double Chicken Please) Key Lime Pie (The Plum, I Suppose, gin, wintermelon, cream, egg white, lime and club soda) and Day Cap (SOKA, vermouth blanco, roasted barley, cold brew coffee, coconut, honey and walnut). |
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The quartet created two cocktails each. Of course, SOKA was the shining star with the addition of playful drinks around our evergreen The Plum, I Suppose and Ayuuk.
And yes, we had them all and cannot decide which one was the best. It was that good!
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Want to make your own SOKA cocktails at home?
We got recipes for you. |
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Empirical After Party at Wiggle Room
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One last one for the road!
Needless to say we finished on a high note at the afterparty of a lifetime at Wiggle Room. Right after the World’s 50 Best Bars ceremony, we once again invited all our thirsty friends to sling tasty drinks for us to the sound of DJ Nacho Jimenez. Scarr’s pizzas were flying around, smothered in Pasilla Sauce for all to enjoy.
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Iain Griffiths (JellyBone) bringing the big guns at the afterparty at Wiggle Room with his own twist on á Super Soka. Like a Mojito, but make it Empirical. |
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Our guest bartenders list was out of this world; the teams of Mr Lyan, Little Red Door, Floreria Atlantico, JellyBone, Limantour, Attaboy and Broken Shaker all came together behind the bar until the memories of night became well blurry. We will cherish whatever picture we could find as the proof that this mental night happened.
‘Til next time NYC!
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