Where’s there’s smoke, there’s Flamme: Paul Mathew gets out his gun

November 15th, 2011 | Category: Flamme

Smoke on the water, er, rum...

Beijing was The Wild East recently as both Paul Mathew and Laurent Greco drew their smoke guns. (As opposed to Home Plate’s Seth Grossman and Adam Murray, who always have their smoker ready.) Anyway, Mathew had his out of the holster at Flamme and immolated upwards of a dozen items, including mint tea and powdered coffee, with the resulting smoke used to infuse everything from rum to wine. My smell scorecard went something like this: smoke, smoke, smoke, mint-flavored smoke, smoke, smoke, rose-flavored smoke, smoke and smoke. Even the raspberry tea I brought from home smelled, after it went through the gun, like… smoke. No raspberry. Not exactly shocking, I guess, but I did expect more of an “incense” experience.

The two drinks I found most intriguing:

Hendrick’s gin martini with rose tea smoke, given the spirit has some rose flavor to begin with that the smoke actually smelled had some floral aromas.
Fighting Cock Bourbon with Earl Grey tea smoke, which initially had a harsh smell but mellowed to more of a slightly burnt caramel aroma.

In any case, when it comes to the senses, the smoke gun seems to appeal less to smell and taste, and more – given the reaction of people at the bar – to sight. People found it entertaining and thus made this gun – ahem – a real draw.