Which cocktail smokers are best?

Previously, homemade cocktails were basic and didn’t have much flair beyond an orange slice or two. Forget about tasting a smoked cocktail! You could only get those made from a fancy mixologist at a high-end bar uptown. However, with the sudden surge of homebrewers and increased interest in creating the perfect drink, cocktail smokers have become more accessible to meet the demand.

The best smokers, like the Breville Polyscience Gun Pro Smoke Infuser, are made with high-quality materials that ensure the perfect smoked cocktail but are also easy enough for a beginner to use.

What to know before you buy a cocktail smoker

Aesthetics

Making a cocktail is about the flair as much as it is about the flavor. You tend to appreciate the drink more when you watch the bartender flip bottles behind them in the air and light your drink on fire.

In regards to smoked cocktails, the smoker plays a vital role in maintaining the aesthetics. Consider if the smoker is for your eyes only or if you plan on entertaining guests at a party or outdoor get-together. Some cocktail smoker kits available tend to look like they’re haphazardly put together and may ruin a great ambiance. While that’s perfectly fine when you’re creating your own smoked drinks, a nice smoker serves to make you and the drinks you serve look that much more remarkable.

Wood chips

There is a seemingly limitless list of options regarding what you can use to smoke your cocktail. Some excellent types of wood include mesquite, apple and cherry, but you can also use herbs, like rosemary and thyme, to enhance your drink.

For example, after putting on a show with your best cocktail shaker, you can use your smoker to infuse cinnamon bark and sage into the drink to leave a lasting impression.

Drink types

The most common smoked cocktails tend to be whiskey-based because of how their aging process compliments a smoky flavor. Similar to how you’re not limited to using wood chips in a smoker, you can also enhance cocktails with various base liquors.

For example, a smoked old-fashioned is a favorite among home mixologists, but you’ll find that smoking martinis and even mojitos can take those cocktails to the next level.

What to look for in a quality cocktail smoker

Kit

Whether you’re a seasoned mixologist or a budding home cocktail enthusiast, it’s much easier to purchase a smoker that comes with all the necessary accessories. In fact, it may be beneficial to start with a smoker kit that comes with the wood chips, a dome and a board so that you’re ready to go the second it arrives. It can be incredibly frustrating to start making your favorite drink only to find that you forgot to purchase smoke screens.

Getting a kit allows you to get a feel for your smoker and determine if you require upgraded accessories. That can include a larger or customized glass dome or a tray full of various herbs and types of wood.

Size

Most cocktail smokers you find are compact handheld devices. This makes them more portable, so you can impress your family and friends at their house party or create delicious smoked cocktails in the great outdoors.

However, some cocktail smokers are quite large and require an abundance of additional equipment compared to handheld versions. Consider where you’ll be using your smoker and if a smaller handheld device is enough for your smoking needs or if you need a more powerful device.

Power

Consider how often you plan on using your cocktail smoker to determine which power source would best suit your needs. For example, if you plan on using it for large parties, a battery-powered smoker is advantageous.

However, if you plan on mixing a few drinks at a time, a rechargeable smoker that uses a USB cable port and can be plugged into an outlet is more than sufficient.

How much you can expect to spend on cocktail smokers

Depending on the quality and items included, you can expect to spend between $80-$150 on a quality cocktail smoker.

Cocktail smoker FAQ

How long does a tin of wood chips last?

A. That entirely depends on how often you use your cocktail smoker. Most standard-size tins of wood chips can last several months because you only require a small pinch each time.

Are cocktail smokers safe?

A. Cocktail smokers are safe as long as you follow the manufacturer’s instructions. The only issues arise when you forget to put out the wood chips before throwing them away. Similar to camping, the wood chips must be completely put out. A single spark can cause more problems than you bargained for. Additionally, when lighting the smoker, ensure that it’s lit in a well-ventilated area. You don’t want to inhale accumulated smoke continuously.

What are the best cocktail smokers to buy?

Top cocktail smoker

Breville Polyscience Gun Pro Smoke Infuser

What you need to know: Breville presents a smoke infuser that’s high-quality enough for professional use and intuitive enough for beginners.

What you’ll love: This smoker allows you to get the exact smoke flavor profile you need by allowing you to control the airflow and smoke intensity with a smooth dial. It also comes with a built-in stand that you can use to keep your smoker in place while making other drinks. There’s no need to go out and purchase additional supplies because it comes with an extender hose, batteries and additional smoke screens to help with clogging. You can also remove the chamber and barrel for a quick and easy machine wash.

What you should consider: It includes sample kits, but it would be nice if it had an entire bag of wood chips. While it works great on cocktails, it’s not the best option to smoke meat.

Top cocktail smoker for the money

MITBAK Cocktail Smoker Kit

What you need to know: MITBAK presents a high-quality smoker complete with a kit at an affordable price.

What you’ll love: This cocktail smoker kit comes with everything you need, including the all-important infuser, wood chips, a lid and a charger cable. It’s beginner-friendly, so it’s intuitive to use. While it’s cheaper than its competitors, the quality makes it rank among some of the best.

What you should consider: The dome may be too low for high balls or other taller glasses.

Worth checking out

Smoke Board Smoked Cocktail Kit

What you need to know: Be the center of attention at your next party or create delicious smoked cocktails with the compact and portable Smoke Board Cocktail Kit.

What you’ll love: This compact kit comes with various wood chips, like pecan, apple and cherry, to help you create drool-worthy cocktails. It also has an oak smoking board to safely burn your wood chips and a glass Mason jar to contain all the smoke. This is an extremely versatile smoking kit because it’s not only effective for cocktails but also deeply infuses the flavor in deli meats, cheeses and more.

What you should consider: You must purchase the butane gas can separately.

Prices listed reflect time and date of publication and are subject to change.

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Metro Transit has debuted plans to increase its public transit services throughout the Twin Cities by 35% through the year 2027, largely by adding 20 new bus routes, expanding service on 65 existing routes and rolling out light rail trains every 10 minutes.

Plans call for on-demand mini-buses to provide shared-ride, “micro-transit” pick-up services in eight suburban communities, with the goal of improving links to traditional public transit. A two-year pilot program in North Minneapolis will be made permanent in October, with the goal of adding at least two new zones each year through 2027.

Those and other service improvements will be made possible by a .75 cent regional sales tax that took effect across the Twin Cities last October.

The tax, authorized by the Minnesota Legislature, is split 17% among the region’s counties and 83% to the Metropolitan Council, the seven-county metro’s regional planning agency. By statute, the majority of the Met Council’s sales tax proceeds are dedicated toward transit operations, maintenance and capital projects, though 5% goes toward walking, biking and other active transportation.

‘Network Now’

The Met Council, the 17-member appointed board overseeing Metro Transit, voted Wednesday to release the draft “Network Now” expansion plan for public comment through Nov. 15. The goal is to grow ridership, expand job access and better meet the region’s changing mobility needs, said transit authority officials in a written statement. That includes increasing the number of jobs accessible within a 45 minute public transit trip by 25%.

The expectation is that following staff revisions, the Met Council will adopt the plan in early 2025.

Metro Transit has been gradually expanding service as more operators and support staff are hired, and officials see a direct link with ridership growth. Through the end of July, ridership has increased about 9% compared to last year. Average weekday ridership is 142,067.

No frequency changes are planned for the Red Line, the bus from Apple Valley to the Mall of America in Bloomington, or the Northstar Commuter Rail. Certain bus routes — such as Route 825 and Route 854 from the Northtown Mall in Blaine to Minneapolis — will be discontinued. Route 261, an express route from the Shoreview Community Center to downtown Minneapolis, will also be discontinued.

Public feedback on the Network Now plan will be sought a variety of ways. The first public meeting will be held on Oct. 1 in Hopkins. For more information, visit metrotransit.org/network-now.

Micro-transit mini-bus shuttles, other proposed changes

Among the proposed changes:

• Four new bus rapid transit services — the Gold Line, B Line, E Line and G Line — and the southwest extension of the Green Line from downtown Minneapolis to Eden Prairie are scheduled to roll out by the end of 2027.

• Green Line and Blue Line light rail trains currently depart about every 12 minutes throughout the day, which would be increased to every 10 minutes under the plan.

• Among the 65 routes that will be expanded, 15 routes would have trips running at least every 15 minutes.

• The new Gold Line bus rapid transit corridor will connect Woodbury and downtown St. Paul by next spring. Micro-transit shuttle mini-buses will offer on-demand, curb-to-curb connections to the Gold Line at four suburban stations. Micro-transit shuttles will also connect to the Orange Line at Interstate 35W and 98th Street Station, and to the future Green Line extension in Minnetonka.

• The Route 54M branch between downtown St. Paul, St. Paul’s East Side and the Maplewood Mall will be replaced by new the Route 58. On weekdays and Saturdays, the route will offer increased frequency, departing every 15 minutes from midday through the evening.

• A new suburban route, Route 204, will replace the existing Route 64N in St. Paul, North St. Paul and Maplewood between the Maplewood Mall Transit Center and the Hillcrest shopping center at Larpenteur Avenue and White Bear Avenue in St. Paul.

• Route 219 will be restructured to operate every 30 minutes, with service extending into the evening, instead of every 60 minutes. It will no longer service Lydia Avenue and McKnight Road in Maplewood, 15th Street and Hadley Avenue in Oakdale, Hudson Boulevard in Landfall and the Sun Ray Transit Center in St. Paul. Instead, the route will be streamlined to operate along White Bear Avenue and County Road E in White Bear Lake, continuing along Minnesota 120/Century Avenue with a new southern terminus at Woodlane Station in Woodbury.

• The new Route 215 will offer alternative service along Lydia Avenue and connect 3M, The Heights (the former Hillcrest golf course), the Maplewood Mall and the Sun Ray Transit Center, where it will meet the Gold Line and other high-frequency bus routes.

• The new Route 221 will service Hadley Avenue in Oakdale and Landfall, connecting Tartan High School, the Bergen Plaza shopping center, Oakdale City Hall and the Greenway Avenue Station in Oakdale, where it will meet the the Gold Line.

• The former Route 223 will be restored by December 2027 along its previous alignment between the Rosedale Transit Center in Roseville and the Maplewood Mall Transit Center in Maplewood.

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MINNESOTA vs. NEVADA

When: 2:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Huntington Bank Stadium
TV: Big Ten Network
Radio: KFXN-FM 100.3
Weather: Cloudy, 75 degrees, 8 mph north wind
Betting spread: Minnesota minus-17.5

Records: Gophers improved to 1-1 with a 48-0 win over FCS-level Rhode Island last Saturday. The Wolf Pack fell to 1-2 with a 20-17 loss to Georgia Southern on Saturday. Nevada’s three games have been decided by a combined 10 points.

History: This is the first matchup between the two programs. Minnesota is 14-3 against current teams in the Mountain West Conference, with 11 straight wins since a 17-3 loss to Hawaii in 1997.

Big question: Will the Gophers establish a stronger running game in the season’s final nonconference game? Minnesota got top tailback Darius Taylor back vs. Rhode Island but are 118th in the nation at 2.75 yards per carry through two games. Nevada is 72nd at 3.7 yards allowed per rush.

Key matchup: Nevada, which is picked to finish last in the Mountain West, runs the ball better than they do anything else. QB Brendon Lewis, who played against the U with Colorado, has rushed for over 200 yards this season. Facing an option attack, the Gophers defense must stay disciplined.

Who has the edge?

Gophers offense vs. Nevada defense: The Gophers’ 27 total completions vs. Rhode Island (Max Brosmer’s 24 and Drake Lindsey’s three) combined for a single-game high across head coach P.J. Fleck’s 86 total games. … RB Darius Taylor made his season debut last week and had 112 all-purpose yards (64 rushing and 48 receiving). … Ashton Beers replaced Martes Lewis at right guard midway through Rhode Island game as the U searches for its best five O-linemen, especially on the right side. …. Nevada head coach Jeff Choate helped Texas return to prominence in three years as Longhorns defensive coordinator before taking over in Reno. He has work to do with only four defensive starters returning from a program that went 4-20 over the last two years. … Nevada is the third-worst tackling team in the country, but is considered the 19th-best in coverage, according to Pro Football Focus grades. … SAF Aidan Sieuli appears to be an exploitable target in the passing game; he has allowed 166 yards and two touchdowns so far this season, per PFF. The U might desire matchup with WR Daniel Jackson, who is only 83 receiving yards away from reaching 2,000 in his career. … Wolf Pack DE Kaden Johnson, a St. Paul native and Minnehaha Academy alum, dislocated his elbow against Georgia Southern. The Wisconsin transfer is expected to be out. … Gophers OC Greg Harbaugh said added attention will be paid to two D-ends: Cal transfer Henry Ikahihifo and Texas transfer Kris Ross. But neither has more than 10 total pressures across three games, per PFF. EDGE: Gophers

Gophers defense vs. Nevada offense: After missing a stunning 22 tackles against North Carolina, Minnesota only missed six versus Rhode Island, per defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman. Missed tackles against option teams can readily lead to explosive plays. … The U limited the Rams to only 18 yards rushing, the third-lowest total of the Fleck tenure. But Nevada will be a more multi-faceted challenging on the ground. RB Savion Red, a Texas transfer, has averaged 7.5 yards per carry this season, underscoring the Gophers need to stop the run first and foremost. … Minnesota forced four turnovers against Rhode Island, while Red had a gut-wrenching fumble late against Georgia Southern. … Nevada’s receivers are considered a thin position group, but Cortez Braham and Jaden Smith are both over 200 yards so far this season. … SAF Darius Green was not on the injury report last week, but he still didn’t make his season debut. NB Jai’Onte’ McMillan (ankle) was out last week after exiting early vs. North Carolina. … The Gophers will need to be ready for the spectrum of five-receiver and three-running back formations. “We haven’t seen (that variety) yet this year,” Hetherman said. … Both QBs — Lewis and Brosmer — are among 25 throwers without an interception yet this season. They have a combined seven TDs passes. EDGE: Gophers

Special teams: Kitan Crawford, a Texas transfer, could have turned pro as a returner, but has not yet been a threat for the Wolf Pack. … PR Quintin Redding was injured on his first punt return vs. Rhode Island and didn’t return. Daniel Jackson and true freshman Koi Perich replaced him. Perich’s 28-yard return was the U’s longest since 2018. … Dragan Kesich bounced back from missing the game-winning kick against North Carolina to make two of three against Rams, including a 53-yarder. EDGE: Gophers 

Prediction: With the rivalry game with Iowa looming next week, Minnesota’s offensive line and running game take a step forward. But how the close the score is Saturday brings some nervousness going into Floyd of Rosedale game. Gophers, 28-20

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