Process sheet
How to shake an aquafaba sour: the step-by-step sheet
A sour is a thirty-second drink, and the foam is decided in the first fifteen. This sheet is how the whole team shakes it the same way: the VERY AQUAFABA whiskey sour as a checklist for the station, filled in on the nights when the head is not what it should be. Updated: .
Process sheet
| # | Step | Reference | Your batch |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Build without ice | 50 ml whiskey, 25 ml lemon juice, 20 ml simple syrup, 25g chilled aquafaba | |
| 2 | Dry shake hard | 10 to 15 s | |
| 3 | Add ice and shake again | 10 to 15 s | |
| 4 | Fine strain into a chilled coupe | Serve at once | |
| 5 | Garnish | A few drops of bitters on the head |
Powder: for one drink, 1.7g of VERY AQUAFABA powder + 25 ml of water. Make it up before service and chill it; cold aquafaba foams faster and holds longer.
Checks
| What you see | Why | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Thin head | Ice went in from the start | Dry shake first, ice second |
| Slow, slack foam | Aquafaba at room temperature | Keep it chilled until the shake |
| No height by mid-service | Aquafaba was added to the pre-batch | Batch the base only, add aquafaba per drink |
| Foam drops before it reaches the guest | The drink waited on the pass | Shake to order and serve at once |
| Uneven from drink to drink | Free pouring | Weigh or jigger 25g every time |
Source: VERY AQUAFABA, Whiskey Sour with Aquafaba (September 2026)
How to use this sheet
Print it and put it in the bar book, with the full whiskey sour recipe at hand for the build. Most nights the column stays empty. On the night the head is thin or drops early, fill it in: was the aquafaba cold, did the dry shake come first, was it weighed, did the drink wait on the pass. One filled-in sheet usually points at the cause.
Keep the sheets with the bar book, so that a new bartender shakes the sour the way the bar shakes it. And if the foam is still not what it should be and you can't see why, send us the sheet: it is the fastest way for us to help.
Before service
Three things settle the sour before the first order:
- The aquafaba is in the fridge, and it goes back there between services. Made-up powder is chilled the same way; cold aquafaba foams faster and holds longer.
- The base is pre-batched if the night is busy: whiskey, lemon and syrup. The aquafaba is never in it.
- A jigger or a scale is at the station. 25g per drink, every drink.
How to tell each step is going right
The sheet gives you the value to hit. This is how you know you have hit it:
- Step 1, the build. No ice in the tin. 50 ml of whiskey, 25 ml of lemon juice, 20 ml of simple syrup and 25g of aquafaba, cold.
- Step 2, the dry shake. 10 to 15 seconds, hard. When you open the tin the liquid has turned pale and thick; that is the foam, and it is made here or not at all.
- Step 3, with ice. 10 to 15 seconds more. The tin frosts on the outside. This shake chills and dilutes; it does not make foam.
- Step 4, the strain. Fine strained into a chilled coupe, the head rises on its own and sits firm. It goes out at once; a drink that waits on the pass loses its head on the way.
- Step 5, the garnish. A few drops of bitters sit on the foam without sinking. If they sink, the head is not firm enough, and the answer is in steps 1 and 2.
Where to buy VERY AQUAFABA
Professional enquiries: Discuss your production needs
General enquiries: Get in touch
