The First Step To Bar-Worthy Smoked Cocktails At Home

Mysterious, elaborate-looking cocktails served with tendrils of smoke don't need to be confined to the hottest bars in your neighborhood. You, too, can make smoky cocktails at home and impress guests with presentations of wispy, aromatic mist.

Though this style of drink may appear intimidating to put together, you can add smoke to your home cocktails with a basic smoker or any fire-safe surface and kitchen torch. After you've practiced creating smoky drinks and find that you enjoy the process, you can invest in a smoking cloche to really up your at-home bartending game.

However, before any wood chips or flames enter your drink-making scene, you'll want to make sure that the cocktail glasses you'll be serving smoky drinks in are wet. This extra step helps ensure smoke sticks to the inside of each glass, effectively trapping more of the smoky essence into the drink itself.

Then, with the wet glasses and cocktails waiting to be poured, get ready to light wood and set the wet, empty glasses over the burning materials.

As you assemble the ingredients needed to make your first smoked drink, consider which spirits you'd like to serve with the extra smoky essence. Bourbon, whiskey, and rum generally present earthy flavors that can be both complemented and deepened by the smoking method. Serving sweet Amaretto and Grand Marnier smoked can highlight and amplify the contrast between the sweet and grounded tasting notes in drinks.

To prepare smoky cocktails that are ready to be served to guests, pour the mixed drink directly into the glasses you've smoked. As impressive-sounding as smoked beverages might be, you'll be cranking out these drinks with confidence in no time.

Don't want to deal with smoke or fire while mixing cocktails in your kitchen? You can still serve smoke-flavored drinks by adding mezcal or whiskey to your boozy beverages of choice. These libations already present smoky-tasting notes, and you'll get similar woodsy, earthy nuances mixed into your drinks without needing to light a match.