What makes a Lyre’s? The origin of the award-winning non-alcoholic spirits revealed
Dubai, UAE-: Raise your glass with a clear head and good health. Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Spirts are now readily available in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, along with more than 60 countries across the globe. What might appear to be an overnight success story has involved several years of expert artistry from Global Flavour Architect, David Murphy.
Along with CEO Mark Livings, the company co-founder has meticulously crafted the award-winning range of Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Spirts, taking the spirits we have come to love and enjoy and painstakingly refining them for a global audience in a non-alcoholic format. The result? The largest and most awarded range of true-to-taste non-alcoholic drinks, meaning anyone, anywhere, anytime, can make their drink, their way.
Every flavour has its roots in friendship, Murphy embarked on the Lyre’s journey from day one, even before Livings had officially kickstarted the business. With a shared passion for finery, the pair knew each other through David’s restaurant, where they discussed wine and spirits in detail. When invited to work his magic, Murphy immediately put his palate in action, curating the first Lyre’s tipples, including White Cane, Dry London and American Malt.
“It probably took 30 attempts to perfect our White Cane spirit,” says Murphy, about his rum-flavoured libation. “We tried different blends and flavour profiles to achieve the right burn and after-taste. We just started looking behind the bar and breaking things down. I started with a three-year rum… what does it taste like? Popcorn, bananas, mangoes… How does it feel in the mouth? How does it burn? How sweet is it? That’s what inspired the first bottle of White Cane.”
The flavour-making process began very informally, with Murphy sitting at his bar, looking for the gold standard spirit to be inspired by, and start developing each non-alcoholic version. Since Lyre’s does not distil cane sugar to create alcohol, he had to work out how to emulate the ‘spirit’ of rum. What started as creative art form, was soon scaled up to carefully considered science.
“It was only 2019 but the technology was still very minimal in terms of what we could do,” he recalls. “The process went on for several months, going back and forth, thinking about how we can improve glycerol textures because alcohol has a high sugar content. The glycerol is naturally occurring alcohol that usually lifts aromas and has a specific ‘mouth feel’. We found ways to emulate those types of things.”
With a background in wine tasting and well-honed sommelier skills, Murphy was well-versed in analysing flavour in molecular detail. With copious note-writing – and several thousand sips – he was able to break each spirit down to four or five different aromatic groups, and how they each sit on the palate.
After approximately seven months, the co-founders expanded operations into a workshop space, incorporating a dizzying range of organic and natural ingredients into each beverage. When it comes to establishing a final flavour, it remains Murphy’s role as Global Flavour Architect to decide when each spirit is ready to go to market.
“At the beginning, it was Mark’s decision to sign off on a spirt, because we were a small team. These days, Lyre’s is a team of 100-plus and I’m still a one-man band,” explains Murphy. “I’ve been asked if I would like to add some more people to help me out and I just think It’s hard to do that. It’s a personal thing. I trust my palate after 30 years of drinking wine, beer and spirits – and I can articulate that accordingly.”
Not every spirit, however, is a straightforward process. Despite putting the Lyre’s collection into bars and lounges across the world, the Flavour Architect is always in pursuit of perfection. More than four years into the Lyre’s journey, Murphy is constantly considering new ingredients and processes, trying to optimise every product in the Lyre’s range.
“Just like wine evolves as a vintage, anyone can make a better version of the previous,” he says. “We are always up for trying something new, especially when there’s an opportunity for us to make things even better. Now that we’re in more than 65 countries, not everyone’s going to like our products. That’s OK, because not everyone likes every top shelf option.”
David “Murph” Murphy is a passionate hospitality professional with over 20 years of hospitality experience in Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain. Alongside his duties with Lyre’s, he is also a partner in two cafes, and the principal of a consulting company for restaurants and wine bars. He has management experience across successful world-renowned businesses, with several qualifications pertaining to wine and food knowledge. Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Spirts launched its award-winning alcohol-free beverages in the UAE and Saudi Arabia in March, with plans to expand into the rest of the GCC.