Monday 20 June 2011

Oh yeah... sugar cubes

Fondle your loins not...
now hear this:
as per bottle conditioning - no one actually gives... a sh*t? er, no, the weight of sugar to add per pint for a bit of fizz... Pooley and Lomax in 'Cider Making... for those daft enough to try'* advise 1 level teaspoon per pint (this is written in STONE no less - no, you don't want to go meddling here... trust me on this one - they go with a real good 'BANG' when they go...), though scientist Andrew Lea (ye absolute God of cider makers) in 'Craft Cider Making' advises 1 'flat' teaspoon per pint - amazingly we hopefuls interpret that as 'level'...
The good news or the bad news..? Well, I've taken the bold step of using sugar cubes - (raise not your glass in admiration just yet clever as this may appear...) - ah , no, nothing is ever so simple...
It should be noted here that t'internet advises that sugar cubes are equal to 1 level teaspoon...
1st procured: Whitworths sugar cubes - 3 grams per cube (how do I know this gem? - it says so on the box...)
Hmm, so just how much does a 'level teaspoon' of sugar weigh?
Well I can tell you that on my 'gigital' Salter scales 5 level teaspoons = 19 gms (assuming my teaspoon is a 'standard measure' and my scales are reasonably accurate...)
With me so far..?
10 Silver Spoon sugar cubes (we are talking the unhealthy stuff here no minerals or brown stuff) comes in at 39 gms - with a slight draught I make that 4 gms per cube...
So the winner is Silver Spoon equalling 1 level teaspoon of plain white sugar...
all's well then I here you say. Well no...
You see the Silver Spoon jobbies don't fit into the neck of your bottle and require chopping in half (not an easy feat), whereas the Whitworths do, though are 1 gm short - less fizz, less bizz... doh

*'Real Cidermaking on a Small Scale' by Michael Pooley & John Lomax

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