image: Vaportini
One more cocktail.
One more shot.
One more…puff?
The Vaportini is pioneering a new way of boozing.
Here’s the deal on how to use the Vaportini: First, you pour about 1½ ounces of a strong liquor into a globe-like sphere using a funnel provided in the kit, then put a tea candle in the bottom of a pint glass, light it and set the globe on top of the glass. After five minutes, you insert the small straw (don’t worry, it’s not flammable) into the small opening of the globe. Inhale deeply and allow all the boozy vapors to enter your system.
Within seconds, you’ll have a buzz without all the calories that come from consuming liquor.
Now that you know how it to do it, the question remains: Why even try it?
A few members of our staff (myself included) filmed trying it for the first time (full disclosure: this product was sent to us, presumably for promotional purposes).
We agreed one of the most noticeable features of the Vaportini is how much you can taste the alcohol you’re inhaling. Vaportini’s Jack Fuller explained this by comparing the device to a brandy snifter, able to draw out the subtleties in every spirit.
Not only is it flavorful, it’s also cost-effective. Our group of five all seemed to get a nice buzz off the initial 1.5 ounce pour we “vaped.” A few, vapes, or puffs, or—what should we call it?—and we’re all perfectly tipsy. A 750ml bottle equals almost 17 one-and-a-half ounce shots, which could lead to a lot of buzz on a budget.
Still, the main concern over the Vaportini is safety. Lighting a flame above a sphere of thin glass containing alcohol shouldn’t be taken lightly. Fuller did have some notes about the Vaportini’s design: “Safety was definitely a concern in the design, especially when alcohol, glass and flame are combined in one product. One of the early designs used a lead filled stainless steel bowl heated in an oven as the base. It worked great, but was impractical and dangerous. The current design took approximately 18 months to develop. We wanted to make sure that the flame was enclosed, the base was heavy and wouldn’t easily tip over, the globe sat securely on the base, the globe never got too hot to hold, and that the spirit inside the globe could never ignite. We have accomplished all of those things with this design. We also have the results of analytic testing on our website proving that consuming alcohol with Vaportini is safe.”
While nothing beats sipping on your favorite spirit, the Vaportini comes close. The nuanced flavors of your chosen liquor come through, you get a buzz, and if you keep the momentum going (while being safe), you could have a fun night of drinking without ever raising a glass.
Originally Published via Liquor.com