Cocktail foam

Technique

Cocktail foam is the light, frothy layer on top of a drink, usually made with egg white, aquafaba or a bottled foamer.

Also called: foam · egg white foam · cocktail foamer

Egg white per drink: about 1 oz (30 ml)
Aquafaba per drink: about 1 oz (30 ml)
Egg white water content: about 90%
Fee Foam on sale since: 1966

What Cocktail foam means

Most foam starts with egg white, and about 1 oz (30 ml) per drink is the usual amount. Egg white is about 90% water, so it dilutes the drink a little. Foam is air held in a liquid that has enough body to keep it, and egg white has that body.

You will meet foam on sours and fizzes, and some bars build it from a bottled foamer instead. Aquafaba, the liquid from a can of chickpeas, works as an egg-free option and takes about 1 oz (30 ml) per drink.

You may have heard that foam needs egg. Aquafaba and bottled foamers such as Fee Foam, which has been on sale since 1966, also make foam. Foamers add almost no extra liquid, so they change the drink less than egg white does.

How to make cocktail foam

Pick one foamer, measure it, and add it to the shaker with the rest of the drink.

1.Measure about 1 oz (30 ml) of egg white or aquafaba, or count out a few drops of bottled foamer.
2.Add it to the shaker with the other ingredients.
3.Use pasteurized egg if you can, because raw egg can carry salmonella.
4.Dry shake the drink so the foam can form.
5.Fine strain into a chilled glass for a smooth, even foam.
6.For children, older adults, pregnant guests or anyone with a weakened immune system, use aquafaba or pasteurized egg only.

Cocktail foam compared

Dry shakeBars usually whip foam with a dry shake, which has its own page.
FlipA flip uses a whole egg for a rich, creamy body. Egg white alone makes a lighter foam cap.

Related terms

Ingredients

Put it to use in your next drink

Garçon explains every step as you make the drink.