Smoking cocktails
A brief cloud of wood smoke trapped over a dark, spirit-forward drink adds a warm, savoury aroma. Use a pinch of wood, keep it short, and serve at once.
Why it works
Smoke is a mix of tiny droplets, soot and gases released when wood breaks down in heat. The flavour lives in a group of aromatic compounds, mainly phenols such as guaiacol and syringol, which smell smoky, spicy and a little like vanilla or clove. They are volatile, so they reach your nose easily, and they dissolve readily in fat and alcohol and condense on anything cold and wet.
That is why a smoked cocktail works mostly on the nose. A short exposure coats the inside of a chilled glass, the surface of the ice and the top layer of the drink. The first thing your guest notices is the aroma as the glass comes up, and the first sip tastes of smoke because so much of flavour is smell. Very little actually dissolves into the drink, and what does sits near the surface, so the effect fades as you drink and as the glass warms. Ingredients with some fat or sugar, such as a rich syrup, a whisky or a vermouth, hold the aroma better than thin, acidic ones.
Clean smoke comes from wood that smoulders slowly with plenty of air. Wood that bursts into flame, chars black or is left burning in a sealed space produces harsher compounds and fine ash, which taste acrid and bitter. So the whole technique is about a small amount of dry, fine wood, lit just enough to smoulder, captured for a short time. More smoke is rarely better. Past about a minute under a cloche, the aroma turns from campfire to ashtray.
Smoke suits drinks that already have weight and warmth: aged spirits, bitters, vermouth, amaro and mezcal. Barrel-aged whisky shares many of the same aromatic compounds, because the inside of the cask is toasted or charred oak. In a bright, delicate sour or a light spritz, the smoke simply covers the fruit and the freshness that make the drink.
What you need
- Handheld smoking gun: A small battery fan pulls air through a bowl of smouldering wood dust and pushes cool smoke out through a hose.
- Glass cloche or lidded jar: Traps the smoke over the drink; a large preserving jar or an upturned bowl works just as well.
- Fine wood chips or dust: Sold as smoking dust for guns; a pinch of about 0.5 g is enough for one or two drinks.
- Butane torch or long lighter: A kitchen torch lights a plank or chips quickly; a long lighter or match is enough for a smoking gun.
- Wood plank and fire-proof board: For smoking the glass without a gun; set the plank on a slate, ceramic tile or metal tray.
- Mixing glass and bar spoon: Smoked drinks are nearly always stirred, so the drink stays clear and silky.
Step by step
Chill the glass and choose the wood
Put the serving glass in the freezer or fill it with ice and water while you prepare. A cold glass collects far more smoke than a warm one. Pick a wood to match the spirit from the table below; oak or apple is a safe start.
Tip: Keep the wood dry in a sealed jar. Damp wood steams, smoulders badly and tastes sour.
Mix the drink first
Stir the cocktail with ice until it is cold and properly diluted, then strain it into the chilled glass over a large clear cube if the recipe calls for ice. Smoke goes on last, because stirring or shaking after smoking throws most of the aroma away.
Set up away from the bottles
Work on a fire-proof surface with the bottles capped and moved to the side. Place the drink under the cloche, or set the cloche beside it with the hose of the gun ready. Have a small dish of water nearby for spent wood and matches.
Load a pinch and light it
Put a pinch of wood in the gun's bowl, about the size of a fingertip. Switch the fan on, then pass a flame over the surface of the wood while the fan draws air through it. As soon as you see steady smoke, take the flame away. You want a glow, never a flame in the bowl.
Tip: If the wood catches fire, cover the bowl for a second or switch the fan to low. Flame means harsh smoke.
Fill the cloche
Slide the end of the hose under the edge of the cloche and fill it until the drink disappears in white smoke, about 5–10 seconds. Pull the hose out and switch the gun off. Seal the gap with your hand or a coaster if smoke escapes.
Time the exposure
Leave the smoke in place for 15–60 seconds. For a first try, aim for 20 seconds with a mild wood and taste. Strong woods like mesquite or hickory need the short end; mild fruit woods and a rich drink can take longer.
Tip: Count from when the cloche is full, and smoke one drink first before you smoke a round.
Lift it in front of your guest
Carry the drink to the table still covered and lift the cloche there, so the smoke rolls out over the rim right under your guest's nose. That moment carries most of the effect, so serve straight away. After two or three minutes the aroma has largely gone.
Put out the embers
Tip the spent wood into the dish of water, never into the bin while warm. Check the bowl of the gun is cold before you put it away, and brush out the ash so it does not taint the next drink.
Woods and aromatics
| Wood or aromatic | Flavour | Best with | Intensity |
|---|
| Oak | Vanilla, toast, dry spice, like a whisky barrel | Bourbon, rye, Scotch, aged rum | Medium |
| Hickory | Bacon-like, savoury, deep | Bourbon, Bloody Mary | Strong |
| Mesquite | Earthy, sharp, almost peppery | Mezcal, tequila, Bloody Mary | Very strong |
| Apple | Soft, sweet, faintly fruity | Calvados, rye, Manhattan, brandy | Mild |
| Cherry | Sweet, round, slightly fruity | Manhattan, bourbon, Negroni | Mild |
| Maple | Light, sweet, gentle | Old Fashioned, aged rum | Mild |
| Black tea | Dry, tannic, faintly malty; lapsang souchong is piney and smoky | Whisky, aged rum, gin | Mild to medium |
| Rosemary | Resinous, herbal, piney | Gin, mezcal, Negroni | Medium |
| Cinnamon | Warm, sweet spice | Rum, bourbon, brandy | Medium |
Methods compared
| Method | Time | Equipment | Result |
|---|
| Smoke the glass | 30–60 s inverted | Plank or chips, torch, fire-proof board | Light aroma on the glass and first sips |
| Smoking gun and cloche | 15–60 s | Smoking gun, cloche or jar | Strongest aroma, most theatre |
| Smoke a bottle or batch | 2–3 rounds of 1–2 min, then rest 1 h | Smoking gun, jar or bottle with headspace | Smoke in the liquid itself; even and repeatable |
| Smoked syrup | 3–4 rounds of 1 min | Smoking gun, shallow dish, cloche | Gentle, lasting smoke through the whole drink |
| Smoked salt | None; bought or made ahead | Salt rim or a few grains in the drink | Savoury smoke on the palate |
| Smoked ice | Smoke the water, then freeze | Smoking gun, jar, ice mould | Smoke grows as the ice melts |
| Lit garnish | 5–10 s with a torch | Rosemary sprig or cinnamon stick, torch | Fragrant wisp at the rim |
Troubleshooting
The drink tastes ashy or bitter
Too much wood, too long under the cloche, or wood that flamed instead of smouldering. Use a smaller pinch, cut the time to 15–20 seconds and take the flame away as soon as smoke appears. Brush old ash out of the gun's bowl, because it ends up in the drink.
The smoke disappears almost at once
Smoke clings to cold, wet surfaces, so a warm glass gives it nothing to hold onto. Chill the glass well, serve over a large cube and smoke the finished drink under a cloche. For something lasting, add a smoked syrup or a rinse of peated whisky or mezcal, then smoke on top.
The smoking gun keeps going out
The wood is too coarse, damp or packed too tightly. Use fine, dry dust, keep it loose and run the fan while you light so the glow catches across the surface. A clogged mesh screen in the bowl also starves it of air; clean it after every session.
There's barely any smoke in the cloche
The hose is leaking or the cloche does not sit flat. Check the hose is pushed fully onto the gun, set the drink on a flat board and hold the cloche down while you fill it. Fill until the drink is hidden.
The room smells of smoke for hours
Smoke settles on fabric and soft furnishings like it settles in the glass. Smoke drinks under a cooker hood, by an open window or outside, and keep the cloche covered until you lift it at the table. Empty spent wood into water straight away so it stops smouldering.
Fire, smoke and a torch near spirits
Spirits give off flammable vapour, and a stray flame or ember near an open bottle or a puddle of high-proof spirit can flash alight. Treat every smoked drink as an open flame on the bar.
- Light the wood well away from bottles. Cap and move them aside first, and never light anything over spilled spirit or a high-proof float.
- Work on a fire-proof surface such as slate, tile or a metal tray, never directly on a wooden bar top or tablecloth.
- Never leave smouldering wood unattended. Put it out in a dish of water and check it is cold before throwing it away.
- Smouldering wood gives off carbon monoxide as well as smoke. Ventilate the room, keep sessions short and never smoke drinks in a small closed space.
- Handle a butane torch with care: point it away from yourself and others, lock it when not in use, let the nozzle cool and refill it outdoors, away from any flame.
- Keep torches, lighters and smoking guns out of reach of children. Smoke can trigger asthma, so ask guests before smoking at the table.
- Drink responsibly; a smoked cocktail is just as strong as the unsmoked one, and is not for anyone pregnant or driving.
