Froth is everywhere. Why it’s got us all abuzz is unclear, but the texture’s ubiquity is seen across all kinds of drinks, from Covid-era whipped coffees and cold foam-topped lattes to soufflé-like cocktails. But foam can also be created without cream, egg whites, or carbonation and, instead, from a fresh extraction. Enter: fluffy juice.
Fluffy juice is the term for whipped fruit juice, liquid that’s been aerated into that palate-coating texture. Bar managers have begun to substitute fluffy juice for the regular stuff — Bar Pisellino and Dante in Manhattan and Charleston’s Last Saint are just three that offer the airy juice. But Linden Pride, co-owner of the Greenwich Village aperitivo bar Dante, likes to think his bar kick-started its popularity with its trademark quaff, the Garibaldi.
The Garibaldi is an Italian classic made of just fresh orange juice and Campari, but Dante’s version uses fluffy orange juice. Pride says he happened upon the texture after a few mishaps with different types of juicers. He discovered the fluffy version after refusing to juice the oranges in batches before service because citrus juice oxidizes quickly, losing much of its flavor over time.
Pride insisted on squeezed-to-order juice, even though it would slow service. He and his team ordered and tested multiple juicers and found that, in addition to solving the speed problem, a vegetable juicer gave his cocktails another edge.
“The vegetable juicer aerates it and spins it around like a centrifuge,” he says. “The juice came out fluffy and spitting everywhere.”
Bartenders at Dante make the Garibaldi by pouring fluffy orange juice over Campari and an ice cube. They quickly whisk that together to retain the air in the juice. The drink is finished with another pour of fluffy orange juice and more ice cubes.
Dante’s Garibaldi garnered attention among drinks enthusiasts, largely because of its novel texture. Pride isn’t the only one to attribute the rise of fluffy juice to Dante — most coverage credits the invention to Pride and his bar.
“We saw it as an opportunity to be a daytime cocktail, or the reason that people would come during the day for a low-in-alcohol, bright, and fresh drink,” he says. “It became the symbol of Cafe Dante, what we wanted Cafe Dante to become. But I never expected it to reverberate around the world in the way it has.”
Aside from its appealing mouthfeel, frothy juice also helps encourage a cocktail’s emulsification, according to Pride. Its thicker consistency stimulates a smooth mixture among different ingredients, blending both the texture and flavor of each component.
Following the success of the Garibaldi, much of Dante’s cocktail menu has become fluffy this, fluffy that. But, as Pride explains, only certain juices can achieve the airy texture.
“We have grapefruit, which we do as a Salty Dog with vodka, and we add a salted rosemary syrup and black sea salt,” he says. “In the summer, we do fluffy pineapple Margaritas, and to really set the fluffy pineapple juice off, we top it with Champagne. That kind of makes it go extra fluffy. In the fall, we do fluffy clementine Margaritas, and we also do fresh, fluffy lime juice Margaritas as well.”
Just a few blocks west of Dante is its aperitivo-style cousin Bar Pisellino, where the menu features a Spumoni — a Japanese offshoot of the Garibaldi that adds tonic water and substitutes grapefruit juice for orange. Bar Pisellino whips its grapefruit juice before adding gin and pink peppercorn syrup to the concoction. The grapefruit juice forms a thick head atop the beverage, creating a look reminiscent of a foamy pint. It’s a similar deal at Last Saint in Charleston, where the bar’s Old Salt cocktail — described on its menu as a “Paloma but make it fluffy” — also uses whipped grapefruit juice.
Drinkers can test the fluff potential of different fruits with vegetable juicers — or handheld frothers — at home. Cocktails with fruit juice can benefit from aeration, as the more substantial texture allows a liquid’s flavors to linger on the palate.
