There are lots of cocktail smokers on the market in America, but which one is the right one for you...
Smoked cocktails are popular on menus in American cocktail bars, and as a result, people are trying them at home.
If you have a home bar and want to try out various smoking techniques, here are a few things you should consider before purchasing.
How Easy Is It To Use?
If you may well be a competent home bar enthusiast and therefore, you might want to set up a cocktail smoker that is as complicated as it is effective, but there are smoking kits out there for novices too.
In general, the more complicated kits have better flexibility, in that you can use them to smoke all sorts of different drinks and ingredients. The easier cocktail smokers tend to do one job very well.
How Much Does It Cost?
Like most things, value is contextual. Cocktails smokers range from about $25 to $250. What do you get for spending more? Generally, longer-lasting equipment that is efficient, resilient, and adaptable. You may want to read the small print about what's included in your order. Some cocktail smokers come with the whole kit, including accessories, and others simply have the basic equipment, and you may need to purchase ancillary products like power, refills, ingredients or cleaning supplies.
What Do I Want To Smoke?
When you set about making a cocktail from scratch, you can smoke the following;
•Ingredients. You can smoke hard ingredients like salt or wet ones like tomato juice or vodka.
•Glassware. You can pre-smoke a glass before pouring in your cocktail. This glassware for cocktail gives the drink a subtle smoky flavour and a stunning visual effect.
•Ice. Yes, just like you can smoke vodka, you can also smoke water before freezing it. As the ice melts in the drink, the subtle smoky flavour will slowly be released into your cocktail.
•Garnish. Fruit peels and woody herbs and spices lend well to a little charring. As well as a smokey flavour, the gentle heat releases the aromatic oils from the garnish, tantalising the taste buds, which is precisely what you want from a cocktail garnish.
•The entire cocktail. Make your drink and pour it into the glass. Add a garnish, then add your smoke either using a cloche, a glass with the lid, or let the smoke billow freely.
How Does Cocktail Smokers Work?
Most smoking gun cocktail have three things in common.
- There is a chamber, usually the size of a tobacco pipe barrel, to which you can add combustibles like wood chips, sawdust, dried leaves, peels or spices.
- Then there is an electric fan that pulls air through the chamber, drawing the smoke out in a single direction.
- Finally, there is either a tube or duct for the smoke to exit.
NB: This is not how the Flavour Blaster gun works. Our technology is based on aroma rather than smoke. Instead of combustibles, we use aromatic plant extracts, which are then heated with water to create a smoke effect. We feel this gives the Flavour Blaster gun greater adaptability, more aromatic profiles and makes it safer and more consistent to use on a regular basis.
Further Considerations:
- How safe is the cocktail smoker?
- How do you clean and care for it?
- How long will it last?
- How often do you need to refill ingredients or replace any extra parts?
- How big is it?
- What is included in the kit, and do I need to buy any extras?
- What are the power options?
Types of Cocktail Smokers Available in the USA
A puck shaped cocktail smoker that mounts on the rim of the glass and pushes the smoke down towards the cocktail.
The pros are that it's easy to use and that the smoker both smokes and seals the glass trapping the smoke inside. But the cons are that it's not suited to every type of glass and is only helpful if you intend to smoke your finished cocktail, rather than any ingredients included in it.
The cocktail smoking gun, which is a bit like a kitchen gadget. It is both handheld and has a longish pipe, which is excellent in terms of its adaptability, but it may be challenging to set up, and if you're not planning on using it often is an expensive outlay.
Cocktails smoking kits which often include an easy to use smoker, some kind of board to use in preparing your cocktail, and perhaps even a cloche or lidded glass to serve your drink in.
If you are looking for a hassle free but super adaptable smoking gun then the Flavour Blaster Mini might be just right for your home bar. Using vapour heating technology, the combustion happens inside a heating coil within the gun, meaning there is very little room for error when creating the smokey scent that you’re after. It is versatile, safe, compact and comes with several choices of aromas to play with.
Plus, you just don’t get bubbles like these anywhere else. You can watch this YouTube video by an independent reviewer called Vladflix, comparing the Flavour Blaster with a traditional cocktail smoker.
