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Elevate Your Drinks with a Cocktail Foam!
These frothy final touches are sure to turn heads!
While we’re best known for our simply stunning sips, like the show stopping Empress & Tonic, on occasion we love to get a little *extra* behind the bar. Cue the elaborate and delicious cocktail foam! You might be familiar with adding egg whites or aquafaba, but let us be the first to introduce you to the dimension that a customized foam can bring. Being able to play around with the flavours in your foam means the possibilities are only limited by your imagination. Plus, they make for a remarkable presentation!
Have we piqued your curiosity yet? Without further ado, let’s get into some recipes!
JUMP to the foams ahead!
1. Cream Cheese Foam
Looking for a sweet treat? Let’s start off relatively simple with this mouthwatering option that will turn any sip into the most luxurious dessert. You may have tasted cheese foams in bubble tea, but we’re just as obsessed with adding it to a cocktail for savoury decadence and approachable complexity!
Whip up some cream cheese foam for @milkofthykindness’s Empress Carrot Cake!
Ingredients
- 1 oz Empress 1908 Indigo Gin
- 3 oz Carrot Juice
- 1 oz Pineapple Juice
- Cream Cheese Foam, to top*
- Vanilla Icing, Graham Crackers, Walnuts, Cinnamon, and Ginger Powder, to rim
- Carrot Ribbon, for garnish
Method
In a bowl, combine 1 tbsp graham cracker dust with a pinch of cinnamon, and ginger powder for the icing topper. Brush some vanilla icing on the rim of a glass, and sprinkle it with the graham cracker dust and some chopped walnuts. Set aside. In a mixing glass, combine carrot juice, pineapple juice, and Empress 1908 Indigo Gin with ice. Stir to chill. Strain over ice into your prepared glass. Add a desirable amount of cheese foam* on top and garnish with a carrot ribbon. Enjoy!
*Cream Cheese Foam
To make cream cheese foam, whip together 2 oz of cream cheese with 1 tbsp of maple syrup, a pinch of salt, and 1 tsp each of cinnamon and ginger powder until smooth and fluffy. Add ½ cup of heavy cream and whip until airy. Add 3-4 tbsp of milk to make foam into desired pouring consistency, and let chill in the fridge.
The Cream Whipper
For the remaining foam recipes, we’re going to kick it up a notch with the use of a cream whipper to help create that froth. Cream whippers use nitrous oxide (N₂O), a non-toxic and flavourless gas to forms tiny bubbles in the liquid that expand in the pressurized environment, making for a light and foamy texture.
Image credit to iSi Culinary
If you need a recommendation for where to get a whipper and N₂O cartridges, those made by iSi Culinary are a tried and true for bartenders and chefs. Their safety features help prevent overpressurization, though we suggest avoiding using more than two charges per foam as a precaution. You can find everything on their website here – the pint-sized option is especially great for home use!
2. Strawberry Cucumber Foam
As spring is nearly in full swing, how about you give this fruity, vegetal tipple a whirl? The fresh flavours make for an incredibly versatile topping, whether you add it to a crisp and bright cocktail or even something more spirit-forward!
Use this in @thirstywhale_‘s Garden Party!
Ingredients
- 2 oz Empress 1908 Cucumber Lemon Gin
- ¾ oz Dry Vermouth
- ¾ oz Cocchi Rosa
- ¼ oz Bitter Bianco
- 1 dash Black Lemon Bitters
- Strawberry Cucumber Foam, to top*
- Pinch of Cracked Black Pepper, for garnish
Method
In a mixing glass, add ingredients and stir with ice to chill. Strain into a rocks glass over large cube and top with foam along with a pinch of cracked black pepper.
*Strawberry Cucumber Foam
To make the strawberry cucumber foam, combine 2 oz aquafaba or egg white, 1 oz strawberry syrup, ¾ oz lemon juice, 1 oz cucumber juice, 5 drops saline solution, and ¼ tsp xanthan gum (optional, to stabilize) into a cream whipper. Seal and charge with one N₂O cartridge. Shake for 10-15 seconds, charge with another cartridge, and shake again. Place in freezer for ½-1 hour before using.
3. Honey Goji Berry Foam
Have you ever used goji berries in a cocktail? Tart like cranberries, we just love how they contrast with the rich honey sweetness in this foam. With dreamy lusciousness, it’s bound to be a crowdpleaser!
Get the party started with a round of Royal Goji Berry Shots by @carneliancooks! Recipe serves 4.
Ingredients
- 2½ oz Empress 1908 Elderflower Rose Gin
- 1½ oz Fresh Lemon Juice
- ½ oz Coconut Syrup
- ¾ oz Goji Berry Liqueur
- Honey Goji Berry Foam, to top*
Method
In a cocktail shaker, add all ingredients with ice. Shake until chilled. Strain into 4 shot glasses. Top with the goji berry foam & enjoy!
*Honey Goji Berry Foam
To make the foam, combine 1½ oz pasteurized egg whites, 4 oz 2:1 honey simple syrup, 2 oz goji berry liqueur, and 2 tbsp of goji berries in an ISI Whipper. Insert cream charge and charge completely. Shake vigorously for 10 seconds. Add a second charge to increase the thickness of the foam. Shake vigorously again for 10 seconds. Turn upside down and dispense over 4 shot glasses.
4. Juniper, Rose, & Blackberry Foam
If you’re up for a cocktail project, keep this one on your radar! Featuring a homemade juniper & rose blackberry liqueur, the dynamic profile is simply to die for. The process may look daunting with the specialized ingredients, but trust us when we say it’s well worth the effort!
Let’s put an elevated twist on a classic with @jfdesfosses‘ Bramble 2.0!
Ingredients
- 2 oz Empress 1908 Indigo Gin
- ¾ oz Fresh Lemon Juice
- ½ oz Elderflower Liqueur
- ¼ oz Simple Syrup
- Juniper, Rose & Blackberry Foam, to top*
Method
In a cocktail shaker, add Empress 1908 Indigo Gin, lemon juice, elderflower liqueur, and simple syrup. Fill with ice, and shake for about 10 seconds until chilled. Fine strain into a double rocks glass with a large ice cube. Top with juniper, rose & blackberry foam. Enjoy!
*Juniper, Rose and Blackberry Foam
To make the foam, start by making the Juniper & Rose Blackberry Liqueur by adding 400g blackberries, 375ml red wine, 375ml vodka, 350g sugar, 7g crushed dried juniper berries, and 2 pinches of dried rose petals to a sous-vide bag. Seal and sous-vide for 2 hours at 65˚C. Fine strain and bottle the liqueur.
Blend 150g blackberry liqueur, 115g water, 15g honey, 2g citric acid, ½g xanthan gum, and 1½g methyl cellulose at high speed for 30 seconds. Pour into a cream whipper, close, and charge with N₂O. Shake the whipper and charge again, then shake for an additional 10 seconds. Store in the fridge for at least one hour prior to using it. Foam lasts for up to 3 days.
For a full in-depth guide, check out the tutorial by Truffles on the Rocks on YouTube!
We hope this provided the inspiration to take your cocktails to the next level! There are plenty of ways to add texture for a multi-sensory sipping experience, and foams are one of our favourites for introducing both fluffiness and flavour. A fun bonus? You can keep the base cocktail relatively simple since the foam will make it distinct. We encourage you to play around and discover the magic for yourselves!
Keen to get more experimental? Check out our article on expert-level ingredients that will make for show stopping sips!
For more cocktail inspiration, you know where to look – head on over to our Instagram, Cocktail Page, or Blog!
Sip responsibly!
