After lab-grown meat, the race is on to develop artificial wine and spirits. In a sprawling lab in San Francisco, chemists and scientists at Endless West are working on creating faux-whiskey as a more cost-effective, environmentally sustainable alternative to the real thing, reports TheVerge.com.
It's the same principle that birthed faux-meat brands like Impossible Burger and Beyond Meat.
But as The Verge author Alan Goldfarb points out, Endless West is one of several companies tweaking the traditional spirit-making process, which can require 20 years of aging before the product can hit liquor store shelves.
Though the methods may vary -- be it light and heat, pressurized environments or ultrasonic energy -- companies like Lost Spirits, Cleveland and Whiskey and Terressentia are also looking for ways to expedite the aging process of spirits.