Frothing

Frothing is another technique for aerating a drink to produce texture and foam. Unlike the various methods of shaking, frothing requires special equipment. You don't want to use a steamer, such as those used when frothing milk for a latte. Steamers will heat up your drink, which you won't want unless you're serving the drink hot.

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Why froth

Frothing adds air to produce texture and foam in a drink with minimal dilution. This technique can help to integrate ingredients added after diluting or to liven up a pre-batched.

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What you’ll need

An electric milk frother. These wand shaped small appliances have a wire coil at the tip that'll whip your ingredients into a frenzy. Occasionally, you may find a frother with plastic rigid fins instead of wire. If you don't have a frother, you can use an immersion blender, drink mixer, or small electric whisk as an alternative.

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How to froth

Mix your ingredients (i.e., shake, stir, etc.) to achieve the right temperature and dilution, strain to remove the ice, and pour into your serving vessel. Next, add any additional ingredients, such as foaming agents (egg whites, cream, aquafaba, etc.). Finally, insert the frother, turn it on, and angle it until you've got a nice whirlpool movement occurring. Froth for 10-15 seconds or until your desired texture and foam are achieved.

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In comparison to other techniques, frothing isn't common. In fact, it's pretty dang rare. While you can replace this technique with dry shaking, reverse dry shaking, and flash blending, you have to admit that it is very convenient to create your foam in the serving vessel.