Some might know about my specific but deep aversion against egg white cocktails.
Maybe it originates to the fact that I am (apparently) a super taster (nothing to be proud of- it is not a superpower... you are just a super taster or you are not).
But when somebody serves me a cocktail made with egg whites, I can drink it in minute 1 - latest after minute 3 - it is literally disgusting for me: think about wet dog, molded carpet, or someone who didn’t dried properly his laundry - and everything together. Long story short: I cannot drink it anymore.
Now there has been some replacements: I came across aquafaba years ago - I guess I was one of the first bar-people who discovered it for cocktails (it has been already an established thing for vegans). Very soon I discovered that the advice to use the aquafaba in chickpea cans are a dead end. Sure- if. you are using “canned lemon juice” and/or sweet-sour mix, you might find it also ok. But for a high quality bar - drinks taste salty and just off. Probably slightly better than my egg experience - but nope - it is not an option.
So cooking my chickpeas was the next path of action. This works well. But you still taste the chickpeas. Using it for strong flavored drinks (e.g. Whiskey Sours) it is a good option. But for some more delicate drinks, it is not the ideal solution.
Next stop Kevon Kos’ Super Syrup. For a bar which has ambitions, this is absolutely a good way to go. With two limitations: a) It goes a step away of doing culinary things - with little processed ingredients and b) there are ingredients, which are not easy to obtain everywhere.
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So this problem has plagued me for quite some time. So I was intrigued when Neil from VörFoods contacted me to send me a sample of his aquafaba powder.
So what can I say? Let me just give you a quick run down - more testing will come soon.
I whipped up some egg white replacer: ⅓ teaspoon of aquafaba powder with 3 table spoons of water (I probably used a bit too much?!). The liquid was first of all lumpy - but it became very quickly after a short stir consistent and smooth.
The powder smells like aquafaba... and the resulting liquid smells also unambiguously like aquafaba.
But in a quickly whipped up Pisco Sour the aroma was completely gone - and it resulted just in a glorious Pisco Sour! Very impressive. My whole team tried, and nobody could even make out aquafaba or chickpeas or anything. Everybody liked the cocktail.
As said- more testing is coming. There will be Ramos Gin Fizzes, Clover Clubs and Whiskey Sours.
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I might have just one “gripe”. The bag would make more than 200 egg white drinks - and the bag is all good and fine (with a ziplock). But as I know my bar people, I would rather like to have a smaller bag - maybe one which you can whip into 250ml or 500ml of water and you are ready to go for 2 or 3 days. And every bag comes with these sub-portions. That would be (at least for our industry) far more appropriate.
Other than that? I cannot find really a fault. Stay tuned for more...
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