Sima (mead)
Sima is originally mead, an alcoholic drink made from honey and water. Today, the drink is usually not more made of honey and with little fermentation, so it is a slightly alcoholic soft drink. It is made from water, brown and / or white sugar, yeast, lemon and raisins. Sima is the traditional drink of the Finnish Vappu ( May Day ), a celebration of spring, the students and the workers. Except Vappu Sima is often served as a summer and hard drink.
Word origin
The Finnish word Sima is a synonym for Mesi ( engl Met) and probably has a Germanic origin. The words Sima and Mesi were in old Finnish folk tales as synonyms for honey or nectar used ( Häkkinen 2011). Sima as the name of a drink was put into general use and spread after Elias Lönnrot published the word in a dictionary Sima (1847 ).
History
Today, Sima sweet drink there is probably since the 18th century in Finland, first in mansions. Sugar and honey were expensive at that time and therefore only the wealthy could enjoy Sima. It was not until quite late, after sugar and honey were no more luxury goods, Sima was one for all affordable and popular drink in Finland.
Production and variants
A general production lot of traditional Simas is around 10 liters. Completion usually takes approximately one week. First, you provide the two sugars in a large saucepan or bucket. Then you cook some of the water and pour it on the sugar. Then peel and flesh of the lemon are added. The white layer between yellow skin and flesh is usually omitted because it tastes bitter. The rest of the water is added to the cold mixture. Finally, adding the yeast to lukewarm water and leave the drink at room temperature to ferment a day or two. After that draws from the lemon pieces and fills the drink with one teaspoon of sugar and a few raisins in bottles. Then stored the drink one to two weeks in the refrigerator. The drink is ready when the raisins rise to the surface. Sima should be served cold. [
There are also different variants of Sima, such as rhubarb, berry, ginger and Löwenzahnblütensima. Louhisaaren Juoma Sima is a drink made from the leaves of black currant.
Alcohol content
Compared to the German Met Sima has a very low alcohol content of about one volume percent ( vol 1 - %). The alcohol content of industrially produced drinks Sima is generally between 0.5 and 0.8 vol - %. There are also industrial, non-alcoholic Sima. If Sima traditionally made with a small amount of yeast and a fermentation period of one day, Sima is safe for children. A longer fermentation time and yeast addition greater the alcohol content increases. According to Finnish law is allowed minors do not sell drinks, the alcohol content is more than 1.2 vol - is %. Nevertheless pursue most of the major retail chains in Finland a strict line and sell minors only those drinks that contain no alcohol at all.