On the advice of Lance, David (the Chef of Belly Timber) and I decided to smoke vodka in apple wood.

Not happy with other methods, I devised a pump that acts as a belows to the chips and injects the smoke directly into liquid depending which way the siphon is turned. After a little coordination of pumping and making sure the siphon is in the correct position (it'll suck vodka out of the bottle too) this device works pretty well.

It's a little bit of a guessing game how smoky your product is, since the smoke really settles into the liquid after a day of rest.

I'll be trying other combustibles later in the summer. Really looking forward to using jasmine tea next.

We're also making liqueurs. Blackberry sage should be a hit. Best of all, even though these are liqueurs, I am in control of how sweet they actually are. Imagine a bitter espresso liqueur...

That's fair,

Basically, there is a pump made from pvc tubing. One 1 1/2" diameter one 2". I capped the 1 1/2 and installed a tubing conection to the cap and used a toilet flange with a 2" hole in the middle as a base. Fill the 2" tube 2/3rd with water. That's the pump. The local home 'big box' store sells the tubes in 2' lengths. That's what I used.

The smoker is a metal pipe with a 90degree elbow at one end and a cap on the other. I put metal screen (to prevent embers) at the elbow end and cut slits into the end with the cap. The cap is to fill your chips into and hold the chips in place so you don't blow embers everywhere. Attached on the bottom of the smoking pipe is another pipe mounted crosswise for stability.

The slits are for torching the chips and act like a smoking pipe with a screen. Connected to the elbow is a 2" piece of pipe then a 45 degree water or gas spigot (minimum turning will increase your patience level). Next a 'y' conector with a tubing connector attached. For the tube that injects to the liquid. Above the 'y' is another 2" length of pipe and another tubing connector. The top connector connects with the top of the pump connector.

This acts as a belows to help get the chips smoking as you torch them. Once you get smoke going you draw up with your pump and turn the spigot and slowly force the smoke into the bottle through the other tube. Turn the spigot again and draw more smoke. Don't turn the spigot and you'll drown your fire with liquor.

I find that taking the liquid down to about a .7 really helps to prevent bubbling overflow and it makes the work go faster if you cap the bottle with a smoke cloud in it and shake the smoke into the spirit and repeat the process. The smokiness will settle and really distinguish itself the next day so don't sweat getting it too smoky. Personally, I would say less is more. Like drum solo's.

This is probably kind of cryptic with out pictures, but it's really functional and has a Steam Punk aesthetic to it. I painted the pump a really charming 70's appliance green.

Because I never built one before, I spent nearly two hours at the store piecing parts and changing my mind which types of parts I wanted. 10% inspiration 90% perspiration. It only took about an hour to put together because it was already built in my head and having a good power drill and dremel made my life a lot better.

Hmmm, then there's using an aquarium aerator: http://drinkdogma.com/air-infusions-smoked-rye/

I'm getting my "steam punk" liquor smoker from Bradley tomorrow. Am I ever excited!