Leftover chickpea water may be the last thing you’ve considered adding to your cocktail, but increasingly, bartenders are swearing by it. Known as aquafaba, this substance—once discarded without a second thought—is now used to make vegan-approved cocktails around the globe. Here’s the down low on this underrated ingredient.
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So, What Is Aquafaba?
“Aquafaba is basically starchy bean water,” reveals Belle Stein, bar manager of Mint Mark in Madison, Wisconsin. Essentially the water in which those beans have been cooked, “it can be [from] any legume, but specifically, chickpea water is the best” for use in cocktails. The term comes from the Latin words for water (aqua) and bean (faba).
Aquafaba is rich in substances that are also found in eggs, including the proteins albumin and globulin. It also contains saponin, a plant-derived chemical that can help form stable foams. Altogether, these substances make aquafaba behave strikingly like an egg white, a key ingredient in the whiskey sour, Ramos gin fizz and other beloved cocktails. In recent years, aquafaba has emerged as an essential cocktail ingredient for vegans and those who eschew raw eggs, delivering frothy foam and a rich mouthfeel.
Getty Images Making History
Stein wasn’t the first to discover aquafaba’s magic—that claim to fame goes to vegan chef and tenor singer Joël Roessel. In late 2014, while experimenting with egg substitutes he found that water sourced from legumes produced a suitable foam. A
This Article was originally published on Wine Enthusiast
