A growing number of bars are embracing a technique that transforms fresh fruit juice into a light, frothy component known as “fluffy juice.”
Unlike traditional cocktail foam made with egg whites, cream or carbonation, fluffy juice relies on aeration.
By whipping or rapidly spinning fresh citrus juice, bartenders introduce air into the liquid, creating a thicker texture without adding additional ingredients.
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The technique is widely credited to Dante, a New York City bar that popularized the approach with its version of the Garibaldi, a classic Italian cocktail made with orange juice and Campari, according to VinePair, a beverage-focused publication.
“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,” Linden Pride, co-owner of the Greenwich Village aperitivo bar Dante, told VinePair.
Since then, other bars have begun incorporating whipped citrus into their menus, applying the same method to grapefruit, pineapple and lime in updated takes on classic cocktails, the publication said.
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Interest in the technique has moved beyond cocktail bars, with home drinkers trying to recreate the airy texture themselves.
On social media, users have shared videos showing how they whip fresh orange juice using milk frothers or high-speed blenders to mimic the bar version.
The drink’s simplicity, requiring only orange juice and Campari, has made it accessible for experimentation at home.
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In a Reddit post, a user described the drink as “the best two-ingredient drink in the world,” while another wrote, “move over mimosa!”
The technique does not alter the ingredients themselves but changes how they are perceived, offering a new texture without adding dairy or egg whites.
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Not all fruits hold the airy texture equally. Citrus and pineapple juices tend to produce the most stable foam, Pride explained.
Over time, the fluffy Garibaldi became one of Dante’s defining offerings.
“It became the symbol of Caffe Dante, what we wanted Caffe Dante to become. But I never expected it to reverberate around the world in the way it has,” Pride said.
