Drinking is good for the environment

Making alcoholic drinks using ingredients that would otherwise go to waste is a growing trend.

Innovators Magazine toasted some of the heroes making these beverages in an article earlier this year, including companies like Toast Ale and Jaw Brew, which are are making beer from bread.

Now a team at the National University of Singapore (NUS) has made a drink – called Sachi – which is produced with tofu whey, a byproduct that is usually discarded.

“The traditional way of manufacturing tofu produces a large amount of whey, which contains high levels of calcium and unique soya nutrients such as isoflavones and prebiotics. Hence, disposing tofu whey is wasteful. Very little research has been done to transform tofu whey into edible food and beverage products. I had previously worked on alcohol fermentation during my undergraduate studies in NUS, so I decided to take up the challenge of producing an alcoholic beverage using the whey. The drink turned out to be tasty, which is a pleasant surprise,” said PhD student, Chua Jian Yong.