Flavored Foams Belong In More Than Just Your Coffee

Flavored foams are all the rage for sweetening an iced cold brew or coffee drink. The frothy foam not only looks aesthetically appealing when it's piled high atop a refreshing drink, but it also adds a creamy texture the drink doesn't naturally have. But fancy foam is no longer relegated to your morning cup of joe. The practice of adding foam to cocktails is making a comeback, with fancy cocktail bars and mixologists crafting uniquely flavored foams to elevate their drinks. And unlike coffee foams, which tend to be white, cocktail foams can be all different colors and flavors.

Foams can be added to classic cocktails like an old fashioned or a gin fizz and can be created with several different ingredients, though egg whites are a popular choice in many cases. For example, a lavender lemon foam can be created from just egg whites, lavender syrup, and lemon juice. To achieve the proper frothy, foamy texture, just shake the egg white mixture in a whipped cream container before adding it to the drink. For those who don't want egg whites, there are other ways of achieving a rich, thick foam for their drinks.

Cocktail foams don't often mimic the exact flavors of the cocktail. Instead, they provide a contrast that helps make the drink more interesting while also providing a unique mouthfeel. Even though the flavors aren't exactly the same, they should pair well together, with the foam helping highlight some of the notes in the drink itself. For those who don't want to add raw egg whites to their drink, other proteins can be substituted to achieve the same results. Gelatine, agar-agar, or aquafaba can all be substituted for egg whites, as can xanthan gum and methyl cellulose.

If you don't have a whipped cream canister (or you don't want to deal with N2O canisters), you can make foam using a method called dry shaking. This entails shaking the cocktail ingredients first without any ice. The cocktail is warmer, therefore enabling all the ingredients to emulsify and create foam. When the drink is strained through a fine mesh sieve, the foam settles at the top. You can even reverse this process by first shaking the drink with ice, then straining, then shaking again. The final result is a chilled cocktail that has a nice flavored foam sitting perfectly on top.