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In this exclusive interview, Joana Montenegro and Martin Enriquez – co-founders of Voodoo Scientific and creators of Viriato, a solution that helps distillers eliminate the harsh bite from their spirits to produce a truly smooth result – speak to FoodBev about their latest patent and what’s next for the company.

Let’s start with the big news – a US patent for eliminating harshness in spirits. Can you explain what this means for distillers and how it works?

Harshness has been a common issue that all distillers grapple with and look for methods to control. They think about it from the mash bill to distillation and filtration strategies, all the way through aging. Unfortunately, harshness is a feature that is not fully in the control of a distiller, despite enormous efforts on their part.

Viriato is our enzyme that distillers can add during production to completely eliminate the compounds responsible for the harsh bite, and it does not affect any other flavours, does not reduce the ethanol, nor elongate production, and does not require new equipment or changes to their process. And since Viriato does not enter the bottle, it is not an additive to the product.

We have so much admiration for distillers. They are an amazing combination of artists and scientists, creating a multifaceted and nuanced product in their process. And they care deeply about it. The complexity of flavours and experiences that exist within a bottle of any spirit is truly amazing. However, a lot of that can get missed by many consumers because spirits also contain some harshness that obscures many nuances. That harshness and bite, which is unavoidable, will dampen or totally mask some of those great flavours.

Whereas many consumers do enjoy sipping spirits, they generally prefer the smoothest they can find, and there are also many consumers who do not enter the category because they simply find the bite and burn too harsh.

How did you identify the specific compounds responsible for ‘harshness’ in spirits, and what was the scientific journey like from discovery to patented solution?

Our approach was to ‘connect the dots’ across different science disciplines that aren't usually thought of as operating together to solve a problem that has plagued distillers forever.

We started our journey by researching the human physiology of the harsh bite sensation – the pain receptor in the oral cavity and the nature of the compounds that would trigger it. We eventually found the world-expert in this receptor, a professor of physiology, who gave the perspective from a pain sensation. We then took to analytical and organic chemistry to categorise the offending compounds, to food science to gain further insights into the process of making spirits, and finally biochemistry to tie together all these insights.

The collective understanding of all these elements led to the innovative solution of using enzymes, and the development of our Viriato enzymatic system that is specifically engineered for the 'harshness' compounds and for spirits production. Since these scientific insights and approach to a solution are novel, we were able to patent the use of enzymes to remove these compounds in the production of any beverage alcohol.

Viriato works across all types of spirits and integrates seamlessly into existing processes – how did you achieve this level of versatility and simplicity for producers?

The compounds that are responsible for the harshness sensation are an unavoidable natural result of the process of making spirits, regardless of what is being fermented. Our goal was to design a product that would fit with all distillers, regardless of their equipment or process, while also not slowing their production, reducing their ethanol, or requiring them to integrate new equipment. That is how we selected an enzymatic approach.

Enzymes are familiar to distillers, with many using them in their process already. Enzymes were the perfect solution because they precisely target only the specific unwanted compounds while leaving everything else alone, meaning each Spirits product retains its unique combination of flavour compounds. We designed our Viriato product to be robust enough that it could be added anytime during or after fermentation. We also formulated Viriato so it can be used to treat a GNS (grain neutral spirit) or even a malt base, that a distiller may use in their product.

For beverage manufacturers watching closely, what kinds of operational or cost advantages does your technology offer compared to traditional smoothness-enhancing methods like ageing or multiple distillations?

Traditional smoothness-enhancing methods can certainly enhance smoothness, but they obviously fall short. They are also cumbersome, costly and lengthy.

Where Viriato is designed to fit into any distiller’s current process, the interesting question often arises: “If I never had to worry about harshness in my liquid, what might my production process look like?” Some thoughts we often hear are: distilling less and thus less energy used, less filtration needed, which means a faster throughput, and of course less ageing time and angels’ share losses – that, along with the intriguing potential of a more ‘bright-yet-smooth’ flavour profile. Those using pot stills mention the possibility of using wider cuts with the potential of collecting more ethanol and more of the interesting character often lost in the tails cuts.

In addition to potential operational efficiencies, the most obvious benefit is the ability to create a product that will command a much higher price because it genuinely delivers a higher level of smoothness, an attribute that consumers associate with higher quality.

Have you seen any early examples where Viriato has transformed the flavour profile or production method of a specific spirit? Could you share one?

Yes, and this has been a very rewarding experience. When using Viriato there’s an uncovering of amazing flavours that were being masked, which leads to a new drinking experience that goes beyond simply “making my current product a bit smoother”. It’s striking.

We were fortunate to have found an innovative craft distiller to be our perfect R&D partner. Kyle Kettering and his Copperwing Distillery have produced a variety of spirit types for us to understand the smoothness difference and innovation possibilities. We tested traditional products, including rum, brandy, vodka and un-aged whiskey/bourbon, but we also tested some well-known commercial products (a tequila and vodka), to see how a brand using a GNS might also be able to benefit.

The Beverage Test Institute performed for us a double-blind tasting and evaluation of two moonshines that were from the same mash and distilled the same – one that was made using Viriato and one not. The expert panel rated the ‘control’ moonshine as unremarkable, whereas they awarded the Viriato moonshine as one of the top five ever evaluated in the past 31 years of their company’s existence. They also noted that it performed like a super-premium rum, and were excited about this first time a spirit was able to ‘leap categories’. Quite an accomplishment to achieve, simply by removing the harshness compounds.

Do you envision Viriato driving a new category of ‘ultra-smooth’ spirits or will it primarily enhance traditional labels and recipes? 

The beauty of Viriato is that each spirit brand can decide how to best leverage it the achieve their goals. Some may decide to create a new category and extend their brands into it, and others may decide the best approach is to create a new brand where they can deliver new unique flavours in the form of a straight spirit, a flavoured spirit or even an RTD or formulated product that use spirits or any form of alcohol as a base. We are enjoying these conversations with distillers as they develop their strategies.

You’re already working on global patent expansion. Which markets are you targeting first, and what kind of response are you seeing internationally? 

With the patent now awarded in the US, we have also filed in over 20 countries around the globe, and we selected places with a large number of spirits consumers or manufacturers. We are not targeting markets for commercialisation, but rather selecting a set of distillers as our partners for the initial product launches, which should cover the range of spirit types and geographies.

We are currently scaling the production of Viriato with a global food ingredient company. After the scale-up is complete, in about a year, our early customers will begin to produce and sell products using this technology. We are currently engaging with those brands interested in being first to market, ranging from large conglomerates to smaller innovative brands.

Voodoo Scientific has already earned accolades like the award from DISCUS as an Innovation of the Year. What has the response been like from major distillers and craft producers alike? 

Many distinguished distillers/R&D leaders/company owners from small to medium to large brands have tasted samples. We’ve watched them taste and been blown away! They recognise some important aspects, like despite the elimination of the harsh bite, a treated spirit will have all its characteristic complex flavours and drinking experience.

In other words, there isn’t a watering down of the experience. In fact, it’s improved, simply without pain. It’s as if sipping the highest possible quality product. They will describe it as ‘luxurious’ and ‘velvety’ in addition to being smoother than anything they could accomplish today.

Distillers often tell us they would never be able to achieve the level of smoothness and quality through multiple distillations and filtration (in the case of a clear spirit) or through decades of aging in a barrel (in the case of brown spirits). One large producer of whiskies expressed enormous excitement when thinking about how to age a liquid that enters the barrel already smooth.

A certain whiskey distiller quickly came to the conclusion that more of the ethanol can be collected when first distilling the spirit. Often, a portion is not collected in an attempt to keep the harshness under control. A tequila distiller mentioned Viriato would reduce the need to filter in their attempt to mellow, which tends to also filter out desirable flavours.

The best comment that summarises what we have been hearing was: “This is a whole parallel universe for how I’d think about making my products. There’s so much I can do with this technology. We want to be in the first group to launch with Viriato.”

As a start-up operating in such a tightly regulated and tradition-rooted industry, what have been some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in getting buy-in from legacy brands?  

Honestly, we have been welcomed by all and have enjoyed very good experiences. Where this is a tightly regulated and tradition-rooted industry, it’s also an industry where there is a deep understanding of what goes into the production of their product. There is tons of knowledge and intellectual curiosity around the science and how it connects to making excellent offerings.

We have found there is a pride and strong desire to keep improving and to innovate, so once a brand steward dives into the Viriato science with us and they understand this is a tool for them to unlock innovation, there is strong buy-in. And of course, as soon as they taste the difference, you can see their imaginations light up.

What advice would you give to other innovators or scientists trying to bring disruptive technology to the beverage space? 

Disruptive technology is always interesting and fun, but it primarily needs to address a key consumer issue. If it doesn’t solve a very relevant problem for consumers, and therefore manufacturers, it’s probably going to be an uphill battle.

What’s one thing you wish you had known before launching Voodoo Scientific that might have saved you time or headaches? 

We are very fortunate that our journey has been quite enjoyable and problem-free, with a gratifying amount of serendipity. One thing that might have saved time and money was finding the right patent lawyers faster, as they are quite expensive. It was important to find someone who understood both the space of food and beverages, as well as the biotech space, since our patent application used a novel approach that drew upon both.

You mentioned that ‘this is how spirits will be made in the future’. What do you think the spirits landscape looks like in 5-10 years, with technology like yours at the forefront? 

Every industry evolves and improves in a quest to provide better products to consumers. For example, in the 1970s, for coffee, precision roasting was invented to better control bitterness. Today, it’s a ubiquitous technology used by coffee producers, allowing for lots of amazing brands to deliver nuanced, high-quality coffees. We see Viriato in a similar way.

We envision that in the coming years, spirits producers will simply no longer need to concern themselves with overcoming harshness, and without that sensory distraction in their products, we will all be enjoying beverages with wonderfully nuanced flavours.

Could this approach eventually extend to other areas of beverage manufacturing – beyond spirits – such as non-alcoholic drinks, beer or wine? 

Yes. This approach – using targeted enzymes to safely eliminate unwanted compounds – can be extended to solve different persistent problems in alcoholic beverages. For low and no-alcoholic beverages whose production process entails removing the alcohol, our product already applies. There are other exciting applications for beer and wine, which we are currently exploring together with leading industry producers.