Sima Finnish Mead
Sima is a sweat mead that is an essential seasonal brew connected with the finnish vappu festival. It is usually spiced by adding both the flesh and rind of a lemon. During secondary fermentation raisins are added to control the amount of sugars and to act as an indicator of readiness for consumption — they will rise to the top of the bottle when the drink is ready. Sima is usually accompanied by munkkeja or tippaleivät (donuts and other pastries). Mead is ready after 2-3 days.
Steps
Wash the lemons and peel them thinly.
Remove the pith.
Slice the lemons and place them with the peel and sugar in a sufficiently large vessel.
Bring half of the water to the boil and pour it over the lemons , peel , honey or molasses and sugar.
Stir and leave to stand covered for a while.
Add the rest of the water cold.
When the liquid is lukewarm add the yeast.
Keep the mead at room temperature until it starts to ferment , i.
E.
About one day.
Put a couple of raisins and 1 tsp of sugar into clean bottles , and strain the mead into the bottles.
Loosely cork the bottles and store them in a cool place.
The mead is ready when the raisins rise to the surface.
Ingredients
mineral water, sugar, brown sugar, lemons, molasses, yeast