Top, Cloche or Gun? The Best Cocktail Smoker Set

A cocktail smoker does one simple thing: it burns a pinch of wood and traps the smoke over a drink for a few seconds, so the glass, the ice and the first sip carry the aroma of oak, cherry or hickory. It is a small piece of theater on a home bar, and with the right kit it takes less than a minute per drink.

The kits sold as a “cocktail smoker set” are not all the same tool. Some are a wooden top that sits on the glass and needs a butane torch, some are a battery-powered smoking gun with a hose, and some trap the smoke under a glass cloche or inside a wooden box. This guide sorts out which type suits the way you serve drinks, names the kits worth buying, and covers the fire safety that comes with lighting wood chips indoors.

Julia’s earns a commission on purchases made through links on this page, at no cost to you. Recommendations are based on what a working bar looks for in a cocktail smoker, the makers’ own specifications and instruction manuals, and the Amazon listings, which we cite.

Quick verdict: which cocktail smoker set to buy

The rest of this page explains the differences, and which kit suits the drinks you make.

Five cocktail smoker kits at a glance

Our five standout kits side by side, one for each way of smoking a drink, with the details each maker or listing states. All seven kits are reviewed in full below.

Product images from Amazon. Contents are as stated by each maker or listing and can change; check the listing for what is in the box, especially whether butane is included.

Our picks for the best cocktail smoker set

These seven kits cover the three ways to smoke a drink at home: a wooden top that sits on the glass and is lit with a torch, a handheld smoking gun that pipes cooler smoke through a hose, and an enclosure (a cloche or a box) that holds the drink in a cloud of smoke. Each pick below says what comes in the box, which glasses it suits and one honest reason to skip it. Read the box contents carefully: several kits include a torch but not the butane to fill it.

How to choose a cocktail smoker kit

Five questions decide which kit suits you. Price matters less than how you serve drinks and whether you are comfortable with an open flame.

1. Top, gun, cloche or box

• Smoker tops (Aged & Charred, Middleton Mixology, G&J’s Finest) sit on the glass and are lit with a torch. They are the quickest way to smoke one drink and the easiest to store.
• Smoking guns (Breville, homia) burn chips in a small bowl and push the smoke through a hose with a battery fan. No torch, and they reach a pitcher or a plate as easily as a glass, but you need something to cover the drink.
• Cloches and boxes (Crafthouse by Fortessa, Smoky Crafts) hold the drink in a cloud of smoke. They make the best show at the table, and a box can take two glasses, but they take up the most space.

2. Torch and fuel

Every top-style smoker needs a torch, and the torch needs butane. Read the box contents: Aged & Charred and Middleton Mixology include butane in the kits reviewed here, while G&J’s Finest includes a torch but no butane. Butane is often left out because it is a pressurized flammable gas. If you do not want to store it at all, choose a smoking gun.

3. Your glasses

A top has to sit flat on the rim to hold the smoke. Most are sized for rocks glasses; Aged & Charred also lists Glencairn, coupe and pint glasses. If you serve margaritas in wide glasses, a gun with a lid or a cloche is more forgiving. Our guide to margarita glasses shows how wide some of those rims are.

4. Wood and smoke strength

Fruit woods such as apple, cherry and pear give a lighter, sweeter smoke; oak sits in the middle; hickory and mesquite are strong. A kit with several flavors lets you match the wood to the drink. Use a small amount: as Middleton Mixology’s creator puts it, less wood gives more smoke, and too much wood just drops ash.

5. How many drinks, and cleanup

Tops, cloches and most guns do one drink at a time; the Smoky Crafts box does two. Expect to tap out ash after each use, replace mesh screens as they clog, and clear residue from a gun’s fan now and then. Spare screens in the box are a sign the maker expects you to use it often.

Using a torch and smoker safely at home

Smoking a drink means lighting a small fire on your counter, so treat it with the same care as a candle or a gas burner. These points come from the makers’ own instructions and from the U.S. Fire Administration.

• Ventilate. Breville’s instruction book says to use its smoking gun only in a well-ventilated area, and warns that burning wood chips, herbs or spices gives off combustion by-products. Open a window or use the range hood, and do not smoke drinks in a closed room.
• Mind the smoke alarm. Breville also advises against using the gun where smoke could set off alarms or fire suppression systems. Do your smoking away from the alarm, not under it.
• Clear the area. Keep the smoker on a level, heat-safe surface, away from curtains, paper towels and the edge of the counter. Breville specifies at least 8 inches from walls and curtains.
• Never leave it lit. Stay with the smoker until the chips are out, and empty ash into a non-flammable container once it has cooled.
• Light it the way the maker says. Use a torch only with a top designed for one. Breville says to light its gun with a match or lighter and never a kitchen torch. Middleton Mixology’s creator suggests lighting the torch away from the top first so unburnt butane does not reach the drink.
• Store torches and butane safely. The U.S. Fire Administration advises keeping lighters and matches where children cannot reach them, ideally up high and locked away; treat a refillable torch and its butane the same way, and refill only when the torch has cooled and there is no flame nearby.
• Burn only what belongs in it. Wood chips made for smoking, and for Breville’s gun only small chips, sawdust, dried herbs, spices or tea leaves.

Smoke changes the aroma of a drink, not its strength. A smoked old fashioned or margarita has the same alcohol as an unsmoked one, so pour with the same care, and never smoke drinks after you have had a few, when handling a flame is a worse idea.

Smoked margaritas and mezcal: what smoke adds

Smoke is most often paired with whiskey, but it suits agave drinks too. The simplest version is a smoked rocks glass: smoke the empty glass with ice in it, then pour a margarita over the ice. For a stronger effect, smoke the shaker tin before you shake, as long as your smoker top or lid sits flat on the tin. A light fruit wood such as apple or cherry works best with lime; mesquite is heavy and can bury the citrus.

Mezcal already brings its own smoke. As our guide to tequila vs. mezcal explains, the agave for mezcal is traditionally roasted in an earth pit lined with hot rocks and wood, which is where its smoky flavor comes from, while tequila agave is steamed. That means a mezcal margarita is already smoky without a smoker, and adding wood smoke on top can be too much. Many people find a smoked glass works better with a tequila margarita, where the smoke adds something the spirit does not have.

How we picked these seven smokers

We started from what a bar asks of a smoker: enough smoke to change the aroma of a drink in seconds, a fit on the glasses people actually use, and parts that can be cleaned or replaced. We then looked at cocktail smoker kits sold on Amazon in the United States that were in stock when we checked, and confirmed what comes in each box from the maker’s own website or instruction book where one exists, and otherwise from the brand’s own Amazon listing (each review says which). We chose seven to cover every common type (tops, guns, a cloche and a box) and every fuel situation, rather than listing a dozen near-identical oak lids. We left out kits from sellers with no identifiable brand, electric smokers whose makers do not explain how they work, and kits that were down to their last few units. For safety, we relied on Breville’s instruction book and the U.S. Fire Administration. We have not used these products ourselves; where we describe how one works, we say whose instructions or listing that comes from.

Cocktail smoker questions, answered

Do cocktail smoker kits come with butane?

Some do and many do not. Of the torch kits here, Aged & Charred and Middleton Mixology include butane, G&J’s Finest includes a torch but no butane. Check the box contents on the listing before you buy, and if you want to avoid butane altogether, choose a battery smoking gun such as the Breville.

Can you use a cocktail smoker indoors?

Only with good ventilation. Breville’s instruction book says to use its smoking gun only in a well-ventilated area and away from smoke alarms. Open a window or run the range hood, keep the smoker on a heat-safe surface, and do not leave it lit.

What wood chips are best for smoked cocktails?

Fruit woods such as apple and cherry give a light, sweet smoke that suits citrus and agave drinks; oak is the classic for whiskey; hickory and mesquite are strong and best used sparingly. Use chips sold for smoking food and drink, and a small amount each time.

Is a smoking gun better than a smoker top?

Neither is better; they suit different jobs. A top is faster for one drink and simpler to store but needs a torch. A gun needs no torch, reaches pitchers and plates, and gives you more control over smoke strength, but you need a lid or cloche to hold the smoke.

Can you smoke a margarita?

Yes. Smoke the glass with ice in it before you pour, or smoke the shaker tin before you shake. A light fruit wood keeps the lime bright. If you use mezcal, try it without extra smoke first, since mezcal is already smoky from the way its agave is roasted.

The cocktail smoker set we would start with

For most home bars, the Aged & Charred oak lid kit is the one to start with: torch, butane and eight chip flavors in one box, and a lid that fits several glass shapes. Choose Middleton Mixology’s SmokeTop if you want a top made in the USA, the Breville Smoking Gun if you would rather not keep a torch, the Crafthouse by Fortessa cloche for one drink served under glass, and the Smoky Crafts box for two drinks at once. Whichever you buy, open a window, light it away from the smoke alarm, and stay with it until the chips are out.

A smoker is an extra on a home bar, not the foundation. Start with a good shaker; our guide to the best cocktail shaker covers the options, and our margarita accessories guide covers the rest of the setup.

Need a better torch for it? See our guide to the best kitchen and cocktail torches.

And if you would rather have someone else make the drinks tonight, see the drinks menu and the food menu, or call to order.