How to use it: a deep dive into Aquafab
A brief history, three recipes, and Q&A with co-founder Rebecca Grey.
Some cocktails you drink with your eyes first. Take the Ramos Gin Fizz — the pale, light, airy foam invites you in. Or the way the frothy top of a Sour settles in a chilled cocktail coupe — these are beautiful things to see (and taste).
The crucial ingredient in both these drinks historically has been egg white. But the idea of eating and drinking raw egg white — and raw eggs in general — can turn a lot people off. Despite the fact that drinks with yolks and whites have long been used in cocktails for taste and texture — they’ve been employed in Fizzes, Flips and Sours, and even used for the fining of red wines, gently removing harsh tannins — many people are wary of them, and others are straight up allergic.
There have been few suitable alternatives to using egg whites — few do the job of the real thing well enough. The use of aquafaba is a vegan-friendly alternative that poses no risk to the drinker, and it foams well enough; its drawback is the scent of chickpea that lingers above the glass.
One alternative that does away with that, and holds up just as well as egg white, is the Australian-made, vegan-friendly and Tetra-packed Aquafab. Here, we talk to Rebecca Grey who, along with co-founder Danny Kane, created Aquafab, about how this new product came to be and how it’s made. Then, we’ve taken Aquafab to the bar for a roadtest of our own, mixing up three drinks from Charles H. Baker’s 1939 travelogue and recipe book, The Gentleman’s Companion — otherwise known as Around the World with Jigger, Beaker & Flask.
BOOTHBY: Can you give us a brief history of Aquafab – why and how did this come about?
REBECCA: We own a little bar in Hawthorn, which we have had for four and a half years. In the early days we were using egg whites for Sours, when we had customer concerns on allergens combined with the changes to Foods and Safety Regulations surrounding the use of raw animal products. We quickly moved to aquafaba from chickpea cans. This worked but the juice varies from can to can and you end up with a lot of waste or a lot of hummus.
Our lightbulb moment came when we researching how to find aquafaba on its own, we were unable to find any commercially available in Australia. Next step we made the mad scientist decision to make it. It was a synergy of minds between Danny who has been in hospitality and the wine industry for his career and myself, who comes from architecture.
With fresh eyes in an industry that likes to stick to its old ways I could see the inefficiencies in this process among others. We set about the process of creating Aquafab. Starting off experimenting with chickpeas cooked and stored in different ways and ending up at the Tetra Pak Product Development Center in Singapore with a formula.
In September 2024 Aquafab was first produced.
How do you get rid of the chickpea smell that’s often associated with aquafaba?
One of our focuses in the development was neutral flavour smell and taste. We found that egg whites, chickpeas and the other synthetic alternatives all have a taste and smell that masks the true flavour of the spirit and other ingredients. As the drinks get warmer after being made these smells and flavour become more intense.
In our R&D we discovered faba beans, a product that is not only neutral but is more widely grown in Australia and environmentally more appealing than chickpeas. In our R&D we found the right balance to produce a very neutral product.
What do you think is the perfect amount of Aquafab for a Whisky Sour?
30mls, Aquafab truly is an egg white alternative — it matches the same volume as egg white in a Whisky Sour to produce perfect texture and balance.
How To Use It
We’re taking the locally made Aquafab on a trip inspired by the globetrotting drinks in Charles H. Baker’s Gentleman’s Companion — otherwise known as Around the World with Jigger, Beaker & Flask.
Boothby Staff
Boothby Staff
Boothby Staff
For more information on Aquafab, and to get your hands on some, get in touch with your Altus Brands representative, visit altusbrands.com.au, and give Aquafab a follow on Instagram.