Eureka!

No, this has nothing to do with Archimedes. On only the second smoking experiment, I got a successful cocktail.

Chris Brook, the chemist who loaned me the smoker, suggested smoking some vermouth by placing it in a sealed bottle filled with smoke and shaking until the smoke had disappeared. Following his advice, I put 3oz of Martini Bianco Vermouth in a 500ml flask, filled it with applewood smoke, sealed it and shook it until the smoke had disappeared.

For good measure, I repeated the process. It took a little longer for the smoke to be absorbed the second time.







The resulting vermouth took on a faint cloudy aspect, but the color was unchanged. It smelled redolently like the remains of a campfire the morning after.  The taste was spicy, woody, and suggestive of salt, with a smoky finish. As the Martini is sweeter to begin with, the smoking actually balanced well.

I used the vermouth in a cocktail combination that I'm partial to:

2 parts Jameson Irish Whiskey
1 part applewood-smoked white Vermouth
Lemon peel

Stir the liquids over ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass, twist the peel to release the oils and drop it into the glass. The result is a lemony, earthy aroma, a crisp taste, and a smoky finish. A great drink.

Next up: smoked red vermouth.