Adding a subtle hint of smoke to classic cocktails raises the bar on what a home bartender can add to the party. There are several ways to safely produce smoky libations at home.
Using your oven to infuse smoke into the water you’ll tap for ice cubes elevates even a simple gin and tonic. This timeless combination will still look like very much like itself and the first sip won’t differ from your taste memory, but as the ice melts, the smoke will slowly transform the cocktail into a winterized experience. If you freeze lime segments into the smoky cubes, their flavor will also be more prevalent as time passes.
Image by Derek Bissonnette
To make smoky ice cubes, you need smoky water. Preheat your broiler and turn your exhaust fan on high. Scatter a half cup of applewood smoking chips in a large sauté pan and place it on the top shelf under the broiler. Keep a very watchful eye on the chips (don’t take your eyes off them, actually) and when they just start to catch fire, immediately (and with a protective potholder) pull the pan out from under the broiler. Toss the chips in the pan until they smolder and any flame is snuffed out. Repeat this process a couple of times until you achieve an even, billowing smoke. Transfer the chips to the bottom of a cast-iron pot, place a ceramic ramekin of water on top of the chips, and cover the pot. Slide the pot into a 280-degree oven and smoke the water for an hour. Wood chips burn between 300 and 400 degrees, so keeping the oven below 300 degrees lets them smoke without burning, which would give the water a bitter tinge. Remove the pot from the oven and cool the water for five minutes before pouring it into ice cube forms—with or without limes—and freezing it.
Dry-toasting spices to flavor a simple syrup and adding a bit of char to your planned garnish are two more ways to push smoke into a cocktail. I toasted cinnamon sticks, black peppercorns, star anise, and cardamom pods in a saucepan before making a spiced simple syrup with them, then grilling poached pear slices for a pear-themed drink (see Smoky Poire Harvest recipe). But other wintery combinations include toasted whole cloves and grilled orange slices; toasted coriander seeds and charred lemons would work well too.
Image by Derek Bissonnette
The final method requires a smoking gun. This is a great addition to a kitchen arsenal as the wow factor it provides for both cocktail makers and home cooks (have you ever tasted smoked lobster?) is worth the $100 purchase price. To use a smoking gun for a drink, make the cocktail and pour it into a very chilled glass. Place the filled glass under a cloche. The time spent trapped under the domed glass creates a well-rounded, smoky drink. But since you don’t remove the cloche until the drink is set before its intended drinker, the presentation facilitated by the smoking gun is nothing less than killer.
When Derek Bissonnette was 16 he landed his first kitchen gig, at a bakery in Searsport, Maine. He went on to study baking and pastry at the Culinary Institute of America, graduating in 2000. He got hired as the pastry chef at Kennebunk’s estimable White Barn Inn, jumped to the renowned Inn at Little Washington in rural Virginia, and then joined the kitchen at an elegant English countryside hotel, The Summer Lodge Country House Hotel and Spa. In 2009, he returned to Maine and the White Barn. In 2015, he was promoted to executive chef.
After Bissonnette took over the White Barn kitchen, he started toting a camera to work to create a visual record of dishes he and his staff came up with. Photography clicked with him. “Making food look great is something I’ve always strived for,” he says. “To do that through a fresh medium was exciting.” In 2017, he gave up his apron to pursue photography full time.
Shortly after leaving the White Barn, Derek partnered with Cider Mill Press and Countryman Press to create five cook books:
The Ultimate Books of Soups and Stews: Signed by the author
Dumplings: Over 100 Recipes from the Heart of China to the Coasts of Italy
The Maine Farm Table Cookbook: Signed by the author
Soups: Over 100 Soups, Stews and Chowders
On Board: Inspiration Ideas and Recipes for Exceptional Entertaining
