A Smoking Gun For Bartenders
Able to catch the eye and produce “showy flavors,” the smoking machine can create an illusionary smoky atmosphere around your favorite drink, combining practical considerations with guaranteed effect.
Let us examine this small, easy-to-use, easy-to-dismantle object more closely, with its grate, hearth-combustion chamber and battery-powered motor. A true mixology rocket!
Liquid nitrogen and dry ice are delicate products to manipulate and always difficult to get hold of. That’s why the electric smoke pipe is the ideal solution to all such logistical problems.
No worries about storage; it takes up very little space and is surprisingly simple to use, though for us “adventurous barmen” its most remarkable feature is how easy it is to take with us on demonstrations anywhere around the world.
Here we reveal a few secrets on how to create a cloud of smoke. Use it to scent the sides of your empty glasses and shakers, or place a cocktail under a dome to obtain a subtle, smoky flavour, varying the taste according to the type of fuel used. Add flavor directly to a liquid. To achieve this, fill a bottle to 1/3 and close it after having injected a good dose of your choice of smoke via the smoking machine tube. Mix and renew the operation until you achieve the required strength of flavor.
Choose from several types of fuel, such as apple wood, beech wood sawdust, powdered oak bark, dried flowers and even… wood chips from barrels of Jack Daniel’s! There are still so many new ideas to be found, so set your brain on fire; it’s not dangerous for your health!
A drop of essential oils added to sawdust will transform the scent of the smoke without changing the type of fuel.
Tips:
• Be careful when using the equipment because the base contains a wire and battery that are always ready to set off the trigger at the slightest spark.
• Running it will cost very little, but beware: change the combustion grate regularly, especially each time you change flavor.
Avoid overheating at all costs…
• Preferably use a non-resinous fuel since the oil content of the wood would quickly find its way into the motor’s fan or block the tube, thereby reducing the equipment’s power and making it more difficult to clean.
And to take the most of your device, what best than a revisited Mojito with a peppermint-flavored smoke?
Images © Loran Dhérines
