While I am not vegan, I have shared some information about aquafaba before. Some of these vegan cocktails were made using canned chickpea juice. Since I don’t really cook, opening a can of chickpeas just for the juice seems wasteful. When Vör Foods reached out about a sample of their powdered aquafaba, I was excited. Finding an easier way to make cocktails with this egg free & vegan product seemed almost too good to be true. I got straight to work making foam using egg whites, canned chickpea juice, and the powered aquafaba. Here’s what I found!
What is aquafaba?
Aquafaba is the leftover juice from cooked beans, usually chickpeas. The texture is thicker than water and the flavor is neutral. Some people find the smell of egg whites unpleasant on top of a cocktail, so this is a great alternative. It foams almost the same as egg whites do and they’re vegan. Powdered aquafaba is a dehydrated version and makes it easy to use the amount you need. It is also shelf stable for up to two years, which is not the case for an open can of chickpeas.
For this product, the manufacturer recommends using 1/4 of a teaspoon with two tablespoons of water for the equivalent of one egg white. This also keeps your recipes consistent as egg white volumes vary by egg.
Comparing Aquafaba Powder
For comparison, I whipped an egg white, 2 Tbs canned chickpea juice, and one egg equivalent of the powdered aquafaba. I whipped each of them for one minute.
The results are displayed left to right. I used a handheld milk frother to do the hard work. You can spoon the foam onto your cocktail or you can use a dry shake method. Dry shaking involves adding the powdered aquafaba to your shaker tin with the liquid ingredients. You then shake “dry” meaning without ice, or just using one ice cube to chill your drink without beating down the foam. Another method is called the reverse dry shake, where you add all liquid ingredients to the tin with ice, strain out the ice, and then shake the cocktail with the egg white or powdered aquafaba. This provides the best foam.
The Verdict
While the canned chickpea juice foamed the quickest of the three, it still smelled like beans. The powdered aquafaba had a pleasant, slightly sweet smell and was definitely the best suited flavor for cocktails. The eggs, while the most common, didn’t foam as much as the aquafaba. For the price, the powdered aquafaba is equivalent to eggs and canned chickpea juice. It takes up less space and doesn’t require refrigeration. As someone who is always looking for easier ways to create great cocktails, aquafaba powder is something I will definitely keep in my toolkit. Plus, it gives you the option for foam on the go! I would highly recommed trying using what you’ve learned in an aperol sour.
