A method of treating a solution (e.g. comprising water and optional other components) to make smoked water for flavouring food, comprises: (i) providing a source of smoke and filtering the smoke to reduce its PAH content, (ii) providing a smoking vessel (e.g. pan) containing the solution, and (iii) introducing bubbles of filtered smoke into the solution while agitating the solution so as to break up the introduced smoke into a plurality of smaller bubbles of average diameter 2 mm or less.