Photo : Claire Lower

A true sour has a layer of frothy, fun foam. This is usually achieved by the addition of egg whites but some people are squicked out by raw egg in their drink (and some people have allergies). Aquafaba (chickpea liquid) is a popular alternative but, according to Camper English of Alcademics, burrata water is an egg-citing new alternative.


English first heard of the swap in a press release he received from Oxalis, an NYC restaurant that uses the whey-packed water to make their version of the breakfast martini. (Read his interview with Oxalis’ Beverage Director Piper Kristensen here.) Kristensen uses very fancy water from very fancy burrata in his cocktails, but I decided to make a simple gin sour with a grocery store brand, to see if this swap would be accessible to the common folk.


In what failed chemists (me) are calling “truly amazing,” I am happy to report that it worked extremely well. I added the suggested ounce of burrata water to this simple gin sour recipe from PUNCH, and shook everything together—first without ice (which is called a “dry shake”), then again with ice. The foam was impressively stable—it held strong for 20 minutes!—and the whey added a pleasant creamy texture and slight saltiness.

Though I haven’t tested every potential recipe, I feel pretty confident that you could sub in an ounce of burrata liquid in any recipe that calls for an egg white. If you want to start with a sour, however, you will need the following:

2 ounces liquor (gin and whiskey are classics here)

1 ounce burrata water

3/4 ounces lemon juice

3/4 ounces simple syrup

Combine everything in a cocktail shaker, and shake without ice for 30 seconds. Add ice—I like to use one gia nt cube—and shake vigorously until the shaker becomes very cold. Strain into a coupe glass, marvel at the foam, and enjoy.

Using Burrata Water in Place of Egg Whites in Cocktails |Alcademics

Updated 7/13/2019 1:49 pm EST: Updated to correct Piper Kristensen’s gender.