How to Make Smoked Cocktails at Home: Complete Guide + Expert Tips

In 2007, New York bartender Eben Freeman mixed Jim Beam Black with smoked Coca-Cola to create the iconic Waylon — and the world of mixology hasn't been the same since.

If you're a fan of smoked cocktails, we have good news for you — they don't just belong to the posh venues featured in the "Places" section of The New Yorker. In fact, you can make smoked drinks and cocktails yourself at home, as long as you have the right tools for the job.

Whether you're looking to recreate a smoked old fashioned, experiment with a bourbon smoker infuser, or master the art of cocktail smoking with precision-engineered equipment, this comprehensive guide will walk you through everything you need to know.

In this article, we'll explain how to make smoked drinks and cocktails at home, cover the step-by-step process of infusing your cocktail with smoke using a Stündenglass Gravity Infuser, explore the best wood chips for smoking drinks, and provide essential safety tips to ensure you can craft these sophisticated beverages with confidence.

Smoke-Infused Cocktails & Drinks — What's the Deal?

First and foremost, allow us to answer the two questions you might be pondering right now: what on earth are smoked drinks and why should I care?

As the terminology suggests, smoked drinks are infused with wood chip smoke during the mixing process. This is done with two purposes:

• To enrich the drink with the smell and flavor of smoke
• To create a stunning visual experience for the customer; to delight the senses

And while the rationale behind the presentation part is rather self-explanatory (smoke pouring out of a fancy Old Fashioned glass looks undeniably cool), the smell and taste part is a little more complex with actual mixology science behind it.

The drinks and cocktails that usually get the smoke treatment are the ones based on dark spirits, such as añejo rum, cognac, and, of course, whiskey. That's because these spirits are typically aged in wooden barrels, commonly made of oak.

In many cases, these barrels are also charred from the inside before the raw spirit is poured into them for aging. In other words, most dark spirits already have a note of smokiness to their flavor and smell.

In some spirits, this smokiness is extremely subtle, while in others — such as Islay whisky — the smoke is an essential part of the spirit's flavor profile.

As such, smoking a drink made with a dark spirit will somewhat extract the natural smoky notes that the spirit features, adding more depth and complexity to the drink's overall flavor.

How to Make a Smoked Cocktail Using a Stündenglass Gravity Infuser

Now that we've covered the why, let's get to the fun part — how to make smoked drinks using a Stündenglass Gravity Infuser!

First, let's start with the necessary equipment. In addition to the usual cocktail equipment or tools paraphernalia, you will need three essential things to make smoked drinks at home:

• A device that will administer the smoke to the drink (such as a Stündenglass Gravity Infuser)
• A vessel that will contain the drink and the smoke as the two blend together (such as a Stündenglass Beverage Cloche)
• A source of the smoke — typically, wood chips

Unlike DIY smoked cocktails methods that rely on blowtorches or handheld smoking guns, the Stündenglass Gravity Infuser offers a precision-engineered approach to beverage smoking. The gravity-powered mechanism ensures consistent, controlled smoke infusion, creating a superior end result while maintaining the safety and sophistication you'd expect from premium mixology equipment.

Understanding Wood Chips: The Foundation of Flavor

The wood chips play a very important role in smoking a cocktail, as they determine the resulting flavor of the smoked drink. That's because different wood chips themselves have different flavors — making the selection of your smoking medium as important as choosing the right spirit.

For example:

• Apple wood chips produce a slightly sweet, fruity smoke that complements lighter whiskeys and rye
• Oak wood chips have a neutral, naturally smoky flavor that works universally with most spirits
• Alder wood chips produce a lighter and more delicate smoke compared to oak, with a subtle hint of sweetness
• Mesquite wood chips have a rich, dense, and earthy flavor perfect for bold bourbon cocktails
• Pecan wood chips are milder than mesquite, with a slightly sweet and nutty aroma
• Hickory wood chips are the heavy artillery — richer and denser than other types of wood chips with a pungent, complex flavor

Because of their diverse flavors, different wood chips work well with different drinks. For instance, apple wood chips perfectly complement rye whiskey, while hickory feels right at home in a glass of cognac. When selecting the best wood chips for smoking drinks, consider the base spirit's existing flavor profile and how the smoke will enhance — not overpower — those notes.

The key to choosing the right wood chips for your next smoked drink is, ultimately, trial and error. After all, taste is subjective, so we recommend trying out different combinations of wood and drink to find out what works best for you.

Once you've settled on your wood chips and drink of choice, all that's left for you to do is to bring your smoked creation to life by following the simple steps below.

Step-by-Step Instructions

• Prepare your drink and place it in the Beverage Cloche. Put the lid down.
• Connect one end of the silicone hose to the mouthpiece of your Stündenglass Gravity Infuser. Connect the other end of the hose to the Cloche.
• Place your wood chips of choice into the Bowl of your Gravity Infuser.
• Activate your Gravity Infuser and allow the smoke to pour into the Cloche with your drink inside.
• Let the smoke infuse the beverage for 1-2 minutes with the Cloche lid on.
• Voila! Your smoked drink is ready. Enjoy it responsibly.

Pro Tips for Whiskey Smoker Excellence

• For subtle smokiness: Instead of smoking the entire drink, try smoking the glass and/or the garnish separately. You can even smoke the ice that will go into your drink for a more delicate, nuanced smoke flavor that develops as the ice melts.
• Temperature matters: Cold ingredients accept smoke differently than room-temperature ones. For maximum smoke absorption, allow your cocktail to come to the ideal serving temperature before infusing.
• Experiment with infusion time: While 1-2 minutes is the standard, some cocktails benefit from shorter or longer exposure. Start with 60 seconds and adjust based on your preference and the intensity of your chosen wood chips.

Our Favorite Smoke-Infused Cocktails

As we've mentioned above, smoking a drink works best if the drink is a dark spirit or a cocktail based on a dark spirit. But that doesn't mean that your options are limited if you want to delight yourself or your dinner guests with a stunning smoked cocktail.

Rather, your options are nearly unlimited, because there are so many smoked cocktail variations. Depending on the type of wood chips and liquor you use and whether you smoke the entire drink or just its ingredients, you can achieve a vast variety of unique, memorable flavors.

Not sure where to start? Here are our favorite smoke-infused cocktails you can easily prepare at home:

Smoked Old Fashioned

Dating back to the early 19th century, the old fashioned is regarded by many as one of the first cocktails ever created — if not the first one. A bold combination of whiskey, bitters, sugar, and water, the old fashioned is a timeless recipe that is suitable for fancy receptions, as well as for casual Saturday night dinners at home. Smoking an old fashioned adds complexity to its otherwise straightforward whiskey-first taste — a charming twist that has helped the old fashioned remain relevant.

For a complete, precision-engineered approach to crafting this classic, explore our detailed smoked old fashioned recipe guide.

Smoked Manhattan

An official International Bartenders Association (IBA) cocktail, the Manhattan became famous in the 1940s as one of Franklin D. Roosevelt's beverages of choice. With its classy appeal and rich history, this combination of rye whiskey, sweet vermouth, and bitters remains a frequent guest of formal black-tie events. Despite its beau monde reputation, you can easily prepare a Manhattan at home — with a touch of smoke, of course.

Smoked Sazerac

Considered by some to be the oldest American cocktail, the Sazerac simply begs to be smoked. Even though its flavor is bold and colorful enough (what else do you expect from a mixture of cognac, absinthe, sugar, and bitters?), infusing a Sazerac with some applewood or cherrywood smoke simply takes this iconic cocktail to a whole new level.

Expand Your Repertoire

Looking for more innovative smoke-infused creations? Try our smoked cherry cocktail recipe for a fruity twist, or explore the unexpected sophistication of our blood orange smoked margarita — proof that smoke infusion isn't limited to whiskey-based drinks.

How to Make Smoked Drinks Safely at Home

Where there's smoke, there's fire. When it comes to smoked drinks, this idiom becomes rather literal.

And where there's literal, physical fire, there's a fire hazard. Because of that, many smoked drink enthusiasts are reluctant to recreate their favorite drinks at home. If that sounds relatable, we don't blame you — trying to make a smoked cocktail using a blowtorch or open fire can be rather dangerous.

The good news is that the Stündenglass Gravity Infuser makes the entire process much safer and easier. Instead of actual fire, you can use self-lighting hookah charcoal to generate the smoke, which means no open flame anywhere near your hair, clothes, or curtains.

Still, we recommend that you prepare your smoked drink with caution, following your Gravity Infuser instruction manual, and away from flammable objects or surfaces. Also, never leave your Gravity Infuser unattended while the charcoal is burning. Be sure to deactivate the charcoal and dispose of it safely once you're done with your smoked drinks.

Finally, don't forget to keep your Gravity Infuser out of reach of children and pets — after all, they won't be able to appreciate a smoked drink nearly as much as you do.

Essential Safety Guidelines

• Always use your Gravity Infuser on a heat-resistant, stable surface
• Ensure proper ventilation in your smoking area
• Keep a fire extinguisher or fire blanket nearby as a precaution
• Allow all components to cool completely before storage
• Use only recommended smoking materials — never burn treated wood, plastic, or unknown substances

Beyond the Basics: Advanced Cocktail Smoking Techniques

Once you've mastered the fundamentals of how to make smoked cocktails at home, you can explore more sophisticated applications of smoke infusion:

Smoking Individual Ingredients

Rather than smoking the finished cocktail, consider smoking individual components:

• Smoked simple syrup: Infuse your simple syrup with smoke before mixing to add subtle complexity
• Smoked citrus: Smoke orange or lemon peels separately, then use them as aromatic garnishes
• Smoked bitters: Create custom smoked bitters by exposing your bitters to smoke in a sealed container

Pairing Smoke with Spirit

Different spirits respond uniquely to various wood chips. Consider these premium pairings:

• Bourbon + cherry wood: The sweetness of cherry wood enhances bourbon's caramel notes
• Cognac + oak: Oak smoke reinforces the barrel-aged character of quality cognac
• Añejo rum + maple: Maple wood adds subtle sweetness that complements aged rum's complexity
• Rye whiskey + apple: Apple wood's fruity notes balance rye's spicy characteristics

The Waylon Cocktail: A Historical Recipe

As a tribute to the cocktail that started it all, here's how to recreate Eben Freeman's original Waylon using your Stündenglass equipment:

Ingredients:

• 2 oz Jim Beam Black bourbon
• 4 oz Coca-Cola (smoked separately in the Beverage Cloche)
• Hickory or oak wood chips

Method:

Using your Gravity Infuser, smoke the Coca-Cola in the Beverage Cloche for approximately 90 seconds using hickory wood chips. Pour the smoked Coca-Cola over ice in a highball glass, add the bourbon, and stir gently. The result is a sophisticated twist on a classic combination — smoky, complex, and utterly memorable.

Exploring Non-Alcoholic Smoked Beverages

Smoke infusion isn't limited to alcoholic cocktails. The Stündenglass system works beautifully with:

• Smoked mocktails: Elevate non-alcoholic drinks with the same sophisticated smoke treatment
• Smoked coffee: Add depth to cold brew or espresso drinks
• Smoked tea: Create artisanal smoked iced teas with complementary wood flavors
• Smoked sparkling water: Transform simple soda into a gourmet beverage experience

Wrapping Up on How to Make Smoked Drinks & Cocktails at Home

The smoked cocktail trend took the world of mixology by storm in the late 2000s, and smoked cocktails have remained popular ever since — evolving from a novelty into a sophisticated technique that elevates the entire drinking experience.

The good news is that you don't have to go to the fanciest bar in your area to get a smoked old fashioned or Manhattan — you can easily prepare one at home all by yourself using precision-engineered equipment designed specifically for this purpose.

Now that we've covered how to make smoked drinks at home, explored the best wood chips for smoking drinks, and provided essential safety guidelines, all you need is the right equipment — such as the Stündenglass Gravity Infuser with a Beverage Infusion Cloche and wood chips of your choice.

Whether you're seeking the best cocktail smoker kit for your home bar, learning how to use a whiskey smoker for the first time, or perfecting your bourbon smoker infuser technique, the Stündenglass system provides the precision, safety, and sophistication that discerning mixologists demand.

So start making plans for your next dinner party and stock up on all the necessary ingredients to wow your guests with gravity-powered smoke infusion.

Cheers!