As we engage in conversations about Fumeworks and what we have to offer, we encounter some curiosity about what exactly we have to offer and why someone would want to smoke a drink. We aim to demystify and tantalize your curiosity and palette with this post!
We sell wood chips that are made from barrels that have been previously filled with bourbon. We know exactly where the barrel comes from because we pick them up ourselves. We also process the barrels ourselves and literally have our hands on every single step in the process of the wood chip production process.
We are a very small business. We are a two person team at this point. We make the trips to the distilleries that we want to offer wood chips from. We are working to be able to share the names of the distilleries with you, but at this point, we will be sharing the location, types, of wood, and types of spirit that the barrel held before we process it into chips that are convenient to place in cocktail smoker.
We don't cut down any extra trees.
We don't order from overseas or Amazon and repackage. We are involved in the process every single step of the way.
If you have already made a purchase of chips from Amazon, you may notice that there isn't much of an aroma from the chips. You can purchase various types of wood that may sound like they will have a great flavor profile like Peach, Pear, Apple, etc... but the flavor that you will gain from using our chips will provide a very rich, sweet, and comforting aroma when you light them and smoke a drink or even some poke tuna or salmon, or cubed cheese!
The primary idea that we started our business with was to smoke cocktails. However, since having our own supply and freedom to do what we want, we have become very fond of smoking poke and sashimi tuna and salmon as well as cheeses and meats that we have shared on charcuterie boards. If it seems like a smoky flavor may be a nice addition to what you are about to consume, we'd love to have you try some of our chips!
Great question. During our time creating our products and building our business, we have experimented with a handful of cocktail smokers. Our favorite is a battery operated smoker that pushes the smoke through a hose connected to the device and into a glass or dish. You can use it with or without a topper that is designed to receive the smoke and keep the seal over the food or drink.
The other one that we like is a wooden topper with a mesh basket that holds chips and as you hit it with the torch and then cover it with a lid, it forces the smoke down into the drink creating a very cool smoke show. (Smokeshow is one of the smoker and syrup brands we'd recommend!)
What we have not loved so far have been the cloche domes. They look really cool as they create a cloud of smoke around the drink, but they take up a lot of space, and the concentration of the smoke isn't super optimal from our experiences.
Follow us on Instagram as we experiment with smoke and order smoked drinks from bars and restaurants that we visit. Find us at @getfumeworks!