Husk Bar Manager Roderick Hale Weaver Shares His Whey With Charleston

Libation mastermind Roderick Hale Weaver is a paragon of hospitality at the Bar at Husk. He regularly shares his recipes and techniques with the cocktail curious, but now he wants to share one of his essential bar ingredients with the world — his whey. Why whey? Weaver says he was experimenting with the milk by-product from the Husk kitchen, but the vinegar taste wasn't what he wanted, so he made his own with citrus.

Wall Street Journal writer Matthew Kronsberg took notice of Weaver's use of whey and wrote about him last August:

Whey has also been trending for the past few years as an ingredient in cocktails, where it adds body and gentle acidity. R.H. Weaver, bar manager of Husk in Charleston, S.C., said that the first batches of whey he used came to him as kitchen byproducts. Eventually, the success of the citrusy, whey-laced Shaded Whip cocktail had him making his own orange-vanilla whey. An added bonus: Ricotta cheese, a byproduct that in any other case would be, well, the product.

With an increased interest in whey, Weaver took the opportunity to up production and introduce Weaver Family Whey (and curds) to the Charleston market.

The beverages come in orange, grapefruit, and coconut varieties and don't necessarily need to be used in cocktails. The super fresh ricotta comes in the same flavors. Weaver has been handing his products out to friends, who have experimented with using the curds as pasta toppings.

Cheese is an easily sell, but Weaver wants to spread the good word about whey too. He says to think of it as the nose-to-tail movement where nothing is wasted — here the entirety of the fresh milk is utilized.

Weaver Family Whey can be found at the Veggie Bin in Park Circle, Bull Street Gourmet, Minero, Husk, and The Granary.