Make The Foamiest Cocktails With One Ingredient (No Egg White Needed)

The combination of eggs and alcohol have a long history, going back at least to the Middle Ages in Europe. By the Golden Age of cocktails, which ran from the 1860s to the 1920s (ending with Prohibition in the United States), bartenders were incorporating raw egg whites into a variety of fizzes and sours that are still imbibed today. But it wasn't until the mid-2000s that a French chef, Joël Roessel, and a group of other foodies developed an amazing vegan replacement for egg whites. It's called aquafaba, and it's the liquid that canned chickpeas (AKA garbanzo beans) are packed in.

Roessel originally used aquafaba to make meringue, but it happens to double as a way to make delicious, super foamy cocktails. So whether you're vegan or just weirded out by raw eggs in your cocktail, use aquafaba in place of egg whites when making your next gin fizz or whiskey sour. It's a very easy ingredient to try (so long as you follow the right ratios), with a fascinating science behind it.

Egg whites are added to certain cocktails (especially shaken drinks) to give them both body and a beautiful foamy head that sticks around as you sip the beverage. Aquafaba works so well as an egg white replacement because its proteins and carbohydrates are similar, allowing it to trap air and gain a lofty structure, producing a comparable foam that can maintain its integrity. That's why aquafaba also makes a great vegan meringue and can replace egg whites in other baking recipes — from macarons to doughnuts — making it an easy egg substitution every baker should know.

Concerned that your drink will taste like chickpeas? Aquafaba actually has very little flavor that could alter the taste profile of your cocktail, and any sort of bean-y notes tend to disappear completely when shaken. This makes it the perfect ingredient swap in for drinks with subtle flavors. The beauty of using aquafaba is that you don't really have to do anything special. It can be swapped in directly with drinks like the New York Sour, that striking, layered cousin of the whiskey sour, as well as pisco sours, vodka fizzes, and even eggnog.

Typically, one fluid ounce of aquafaba (2 tablespoons) can replace a single egg white in a cocktail recipe. From there, simply follow the rest of the recipe's instructions. For example, if you're making a whiskey sour with aquafaba, toss the ingredients into a shaker without ice (this is called dry shaking) and give it a vigorous shake to properly aerate and mix the ingredients (try toasted sugar to make it even tastier), before adding ice and giving it a second shake. Pour into the glass, garnish, and serve.

There's about 12 tablespoons of aquafaba in a can of chickpeas, so you may have some liquid left over, as well as the beans themselves. You could use the chickpeas for something to snack on while you imbibe your frothy cocktail, like spicy roasted garbanzo beans or even hummus. Both the liquid and the beans will last for about five days in the refrigerator or six months in the freezer. With all that aquafaba at your disposal, feel free to experiment with it in both your cocktails and in the kitchen.