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How to make a smoked cocktail at home
Learn how you can use regular items found in your kitchen to create smoked bar-quality cocktails.
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Smoked cocktails definitely have that show-stopping visual appeal people love — but that doesn’t mean they’re just for upscale cocktail bars. Beyond the cloche spins and dissipating fog, infusing a cocktail with smoke can bring a heightened level of nuance to a drink. Our expert sources believe that smoke should be used to complement the flavors in your cocktail.
At home, the technique is often overlooked because hosts assume it requires fancy equipment or too much time and effort goes into this type of presentation. When in reality, smoking cocktails are actually easier to concoct than you might think. Here’s everything you need to know about smoking, from which spirits and ingredients work best to DIYing your own cocktail smoker.
Setting up your own smoking station
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need an expensive, professional-grade station to get started. Instead, you can use equipment readily found in your kitchen:
A ceramic plate, sheet pan or another fire-proof dish to act as your base
A large glass mixing bowl, or even a glass lid from a cake stand to use as a lid
A smoking medium like a wood chip or cinnamon stick
A lighter or match
Choose a Spirit
Stay away from spirits that already have smoke flavor, like Islay scotch or mezcal because the smoke will hide the flavor.
Instead, look to fine-aged spirits, like aged whiskeys like Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve Blended Scotch Whisky or Roe & Coe Blended Irish Whiskey and rums like Ron Zacapa No. 23 that lend toward more successful smoked cocktails. The inherent woody characteristics of these liquors imparted from the aging process get enhanced by smoking.
Play around with different ingredients
You can look beyond base spirits when smoking cocktails: specific ingredients, seasonings, and even the cocktail glass can be “seasoned” through smoke, too. For example, try smoking slices of pineapple for the juice in a smoked pineapple margarita, or make a syrup to prolong the shelf life for future cocktails experiments.
You can also smoke fortified wines in cocktail recipes, like vermouth, Madeira, port and sherry. The sweetness will keep them from getting overpowered by the smoke flavor.
Don’t forget safety precautions
Of course, any time you light something on fire, it’s crucial to follow safety precautions. In the case of smoking, this means having a fire extinguisher within arms’ reach in the off-chance that something goes awry.
Have fun with it
Be mindful about the flavor profile you’re trying to achieve with this technique, but otherwise experiment and have fun with it. To make a smoked cocktail:
If you are smoking an entire cocktail, mix it and place it on top of the base.
Then, light a wood chip or a flavorful wood spice.
Cover with the glass top.
Let the vessel fill up with smoke and flavor.
Enjoy!
Recipe
Try a smoked cocktail
Try mixing up a smoked bourbon manhattan! A warm twist on the classic Manhattan, made with smoked Blade & Bow Bourbon, and flavored with honey, vanilla, cinnamon and raisin.