Vegan and Environmentally Conscious Cocktails pt 2

Sorry, got somewhat distracted by other things. This drink didn’t quite fit right for the most recent competition, but how well this drink works, it deserves a shoutout. Full disclosure, this drink was a collaboration with Amanda- being a vegan, not to mention a spectacular cook, and me repeatedly blabbing about egg white alternatives, she introduced me to a wonderful little thing called aquafaba.

Aquafaba, for the layman, is the water in which you get chickpeas in. There’s a fairly impressive amount in even one tin, more than enough for a fair few sours. All you need to do is strain it, use the chickpeas for dinner or give them to your chef for whatever it is chefs do with chickpeas, and blitz the absolute life out of it with a hand blender. It’s a bloody awesome emulsifier, it holds its bonds waay better than egg white over town, and providing you clear the chickpeas out of the way, it’s completely odourless and tasteless and silky smooth. Between this and the no-lemon mix mentioned before, you can make a ridiculously good whiskey sour that’s totally vegan-friendly. Job done!

Draft the First, the homemade edition

A fair few of these were created in the name of science, and compared with a classic sour using white and lemon juice. Definitely better this way.

Leading to-

The Final Drink,

FORGIVE NOTHING

Ingredients

50ml decent whiskey - we went for Jim Beam as it’s what I had in, but an Irish or a really peaty scotch would really rock this drink.

25ml no lemon juice - recipes as before, obviously.

5 tablespoons of frothed aquafaba- that’s your egg white alternative. Sorted.

5ml of agave or sugar syrup, personal preference here really but EVERYTHING IS BETTER WITH AGAVE

2-3 dashes angostura bitters

What you’re going to want to do here is the trusty old double shake- for those not in the know, you’re basically going to want to dry shake your drink once, with no ice, to build up a nice foam. Then you hard shake, add the ice and beat the living hell out of the shaker till you’re happy it’s nice and foamy. Strain (fine strain if it tickles your fancy) your drink into a coupe glass, and garnish with a fancy little bitters art. I’ll stick up a quick video on playing with bitters art when I get five minutes. Just be aware, bitters is a heavy staining ingredient and will ruin shirts, worktops and lives if not careful.

Finally, the no-lemon- I went with 10g citric acid, 15g Malic acid (for a little more sweetness) and 200ml water, thoroughly mixed in a container of your choice. Once again, you’ll get these ingredients easily from any whole foods place for dirt cheap.

Happy drinking!

Neil