Smoked cocktails have become trendy, but they're also special because few people have the equipment needed to smoke a drink at home. You can, of course, but a smoke gun or even the smoking cabinet used on Celebrity Cruises ships, but few people will actually do that.
That makes having a smoked drink an experience that's usually reserved for fine cocktail lounges and upscale bars. Celebrity ships offer smoked drinks in a variety of bars including Eden, which is on its newer Edge-class ships, and the Craft Social sports bar which can be found on Ascent, Apex, Beyond, Equinox, and Silhouette.
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"Smoking a cocktail takes your drink to a whole new level. The smoke engages not only your sense of taste but also your sense of smell and sight. Now your drink goes beyond the top layer flavors and becomes more complex," according to the Crafty Cocktail.
It's also a visual spectacle that brings people to the bar and leads to them ordering more drinks. The Smoking Bull, unlike many smoked drinks, does not use whiskey as its main ingredient. Instead, it's a rum-based drink
Meet the Smoking Bull
While bourbon and whisky seem like the most common spirits used in smoked drinks, rum works well too.
"Bourbon and rum work best as the base for a smoked cocktail. You can also go for aged rum, whiskey, and tequilas that are aged in wood barrels. These spirits work as they are barrel-aged and have a woodiness and charred flavor as well as natural sweetness that complements the effect of smoking the cocktail," according to The Bar.
The Smoking Bull uses Brual 1888 Rum and Markesh from India showed Come Cruise With Me's travel agent partner Dennis Post, of Postcard Travel Planning, how to make the drink that's served at Craft Social.
Smoking Bull recipe:
- 1.5 ounces Brugal 1888 rum
- 3/4 ounce Carpano Antica vermouth
- 3/4ounce Aperol
- 3/4 ounce Orange spice tea.
Using a large cocktail glass Markesh pours all the ingredients and then adds ice before stirring the drink for about 15 seconds. He then strains the drink into a cocktail glass containing one large ice cube to prepare it for placement in the smoking cabinet.
Markesh places the drink in the cabinet and then uses a blowtorch to ignite the sherry wood chips loaded into the device. That then fills the cabinet with smoke where it's infused into the drink for about 1 minute.
He then presents the cabinet for Dennis to open, with smoke wafting out as he opens the door. It's an eery, almost supernatural site as the drink is brought from the cabinet.
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