Murray Paterson

Murray Paterson was 45 years old as of January 2025. He spent most of his life in London, where he grew up during the heyday of the city's dance culture, an influence MURI credits with shaping his worldview and the brand's identity. Before entering food and drink, he held corporate jobs, including a role at JP Morgan in Canary Wharf, which he left to pursue a career in the industry.^[1],[2]

After leaving finance, Paterson moved into the UK cider industry, working in roles that ranged from picking apples in orchards to import and export, and to making drinks themselves. It was in cider that he developed a deep interest in blending and, as he tells it, fell in love with fermentation.^[1],[3]

Paterson then moved to Copenhagen to work as a distiller at Empirical Spirits, the company founded by Lars Williams, former head of the test kitchen at Noma. According to a March 2025 podcast, the move took place approximately seven years prior to train at Empirical. He has said he joined the company after meeting Williams at a tasting, despite having no distilling experience.^[1],[4]

At Empirical. While at Empirical, Paterson first discovered koji, learning how powerful it could be in creating complex, layered flavors. He has also described learning from Lars Williams how to compose a drink analogously to a complex dish — built from hundreds of components in varying proportions, many of them fermented.^[5],[6]

Murray Paterson is the founder of MURI. He personally participates in foraging expeditions for ingredients. He considers the Koji Rice Series 1 and Koji Rice Series 2 products to be unique in their profiles, with, by his account, nothing else like them available anywhere.^[2],[5]

Paterson accepted the 2025 Feinschmecker best non-alcoholic drink award on behalf of the MURI team.^[7]