I had purchased a cocktail smoker earlier in 2024. This contraption uses a stand-alone “chimney” which burns wood chips at the top and uses a fan to suck the smoke down the chimney, through a rubber hose, and into a cap that sits atop a rocks or highball glass. I chose this particular model for two reasons. First, it doesn’t rely on a butane lighter; I can ignite the wood chips at the top of the chimney with a plain old Bic lighter. Second, I can also buy a glass bell which will accept the same hose connector, allowing me to smoke meats. Of course, this method is really only “surface smoking” as the operation happens after the libation or meal has been prepared. It worked OK but I found that I needed to sit the chimney higher than the glass because otherwise the rubber hose kinked and no smoke was produced. Also, I never really tasted the smoke, which I guess means it fails at it’s job.

Smoke ’em if you got em

I don’t know where I heard about it, but some point before Christmas I got wind of a Kickstarter for a product called “Smokpub“. This little device is about as large as two packs of cards, maybe three, is battery powered, and when you put wood chips into it, it emits smoke. That’s the “smoke” part of the name and if you’re wily enough, you might be able to figure out what the “pub” part means.

Let me tell you, getting this thing was quite the ordeal. I don’t know where the company who made this product is located. I only say this because I had a hell of a time getting this from wherever “there” is to here; it just arrived two days ago. I had told a friend about it when I discovered it and he also backed the project and only got his a day or two before mine. This project was fueled by promises to have it in time for Christmas, for those who were giving it as gifts. Some people got theirs; most people didn’t. Excuses were made that the original shipment was held up in customs, and then the foreign shipping partners (i.e. U.S. domestic shipping partners) were dropping the ball and needed to be switched. I saw through my tracking number that my “package” had been ready to go for a few weeks, somewhere in the bowels of Illinois…if only they had the product. This limbo persisted for about a month and a half and the KS forums were livid as only people can be when their product that was promised to arrive in time for Christmas, wasn’t. In all honesty, I was prepared to write it off as another failed KS until I got a new tracking number last week, and was alerted that it had been stuffed into my mailbox this past Monday.

Despite the headaches surrounding the “will it, won’t it”, it’s pretty damn worthwhile.

How’s it work?

It’s fairly simple. You twist the bottom portion off to reveal the wood chip basin. Drop in a small shovel full of chips (it came with a tiny shovel!) and twist the top back on. The device is USB chargeable so there’s no need to wonder if I have batteries when and where I want to use it, although the included charging cable is really, really short; it is USB-C so at least it’s got that going for it.

With the device all closed up, the assembly is placed on top of the glass. A 3 second press on the only button the device has turns it on, and a simple short press after that activates the four heating prongs that singe the wood chips. An internal fan blows smoke out of vents in the bottom and into the glass.

Really, compared to the more complex Rube Goldberg contraption I had been using, this thing rocks. I don’t know if it’s just a case of the wood chips it shipped with or whether it’s the design of the thing, but the smoke laid down in the glass like a Scottish peat fog; the other smoker had a tendency to waft out like it was catching the last horse out of Dodge. The result was that my first sip from the glass was met with a rolling bank of velvety oak, as nature intended. Swirling the whiskey in the glass beforehand kept the smoke flavor intact even when the actual smoke had fled the scene.

So despite the headaches involved with the initial Kickstarter delivery, am exceptionally pleased with the product I have in my hands. It’s portable, so I can take it around to friend’s houses. It’s USB charged so I don’t have to keep buying batteries for it or find it DOA when I really want to use it. I think I might actually give it a shot and add some cherry wood flavor to my coffee tomorrow morning…for science.

[ I am not affiliated with, nor paid by, Smokpub. ]