h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Would you mind awfully if I added you to my friends?

If you decline I'll understand.

Add away there my Loony friend, i shall scuttle away and add you to mine too

Anything else you'd like to do, just ask i'm very accommodating

Very kind of you.
Have added you now.

Ok, I'll be nosy. What do you do for a living?

Nothing so glamourous i'm afraid Loony, i am but a lowly 'Chauffeuer de Camion'....or a 'Transport Logistics Fascillitator' as i like to call myself

My career choice was the result of a mis-spent youth, and a particularly bad dream after a night of eating cheese sandwiches before bedtime. A warning there for the youth of Britain.

You have started this thread well oh Loony one, you've obviously noticed that the one thng i like talking about is........ME

Carry on

My youth wasn't so much misspent but curtailed. I kind of fell into a job at 18, returned after having daughter No. 1 and so on.

Will return for longer tomorrow, hopefully.

I look forward to a longer Loony, it sounds an interesting prospect

Hello, you seem to be lurking lately.

Everything ok?

Ho yes, i'm sooper dooper thanks Loony, and your good self? It's been sooooooo hot just lately i've taken to cider and a touch of the great outdoors in preference to Hootooing

I expect you're saying..."Hot weather? But it's so cool and balmy down here"

How is the world of QA treating you, and what are these mysterious small objects you QA. If it's smarties i'll be down there like a shot to give you a hand

Air!
Glad to see you about again, don't blame you for spending time outdoors

I'll be fine when I get into holiday mode in a couple of days - I've got a week off!!
So the QA world can do what it likes, I'll pick up the pieces when I go back. The small objects are contact lenses - not edible!

It is usually a few degrees cooler on the coast but we're roasting like the rest of the country at the mo. Definitely commando weather

I tried cider again last summer but didn't enjoy it as much as I used to. I'll have to do some more sampling

Can you recommend anything?

Hi Ho Loony

Shame about the contact lens thing, me and those little critters don't see eye to eye.

Now recommendation is a tricky question...where to begin. The two that are really good (and expensive ) at the moment are Magners and Sirrus. I prefer the Sirrus cos it's really got an apply taste, but is a bit too sweet for my liking.(It's also pretty strong, which is of course a good thing)
But of course the best cider is the old, lumpy, yellow stuff you can buy from farms. You then sit in the back garden drinking it until you fall unconsious or your teeth drop out (If it's really good stuff, this can be a simultanious reaction)

Good luck with the week off, i've got one of those hovering on the horizon too. We'll have a tasting time, and compare notes if we make it back here

I have done more work on this subject, sometimes i can be so selfless it hurts.

I had a bit of a tasting bash at a mates house last night, and here are some results i hope you'll find useful.

'Aspall Premier cru cyder' Comes in 500ml bottles, costs around £1-50 to £2-00, and is about 7% alchohol. It's really dry, crisp and fruity....and actually tastes more like a sparkling wine. I really liked this......8/10

'Frome Valley Cider' 500ml bottles, 5.7% , and has an aftertaste somewhere between vinegar, nail varnish remover and toasted piles. Absolutely foul. 2/10

White lightening........ We got this as a joke cos my mate read that one 3ltr bottle is the equivillent of the safe alcohol dose for a man.....for a WEEK!!!!! It's nasty,fizzy, and tasteless, but by gum it's got a kick. 4/10

And this brings me to my new favourite cider. 'Henry westons vintage cider' 500ml bottle, around the £2 mark again, but a jaw dropping 8.2%.This stuff is fantastic. Not too gassy, nice colour, a great appley taste....and a kick like a mule. Chill this down to drinking temperature, kick off your wellies, and pull up chair in the sun.

9/10....nearly forgot.

Ok, I bought 4 different bottles for £5 today at morrisons including the Westons Vintage, so I'll let you have my verdict on that.

I tried Sainsbury's West Country cider last week which wasn't very strong but tasty enough for me to down 3 glasses. "Where did the rest of that go?" my husband said the next day.

I used to drink Woodpecker mostly when I was younger and Merrydown which was quite locally made. Tried Woodpecker again last year but wasn't impressed, very insipid.

I was introduced to at the tender age of 10 by my parents when we holidayed in the West country and you could take a 5 litre container & get it filled up at the local off licence.

'Twas a good holiday as I recall - drinking , endless sunshine (summer of 76), running around on the sand dunes with my sister & a girl we met from Bristol.

Oh the long hot summer of '76 My Grandmother told me loads of stories about that year.......before my time obviously

4 bottles for £5!!!!!! Crikey, you got a deal and a half there mate. Specially if you got the Westons in with it!! I think you'll be impressed with that one.

Merrydown..ah, memories, memories. (Although, lack of memory would be more accurate) That was the stuff the older kids used to bring down the park on summer evenings, drink two sips and fall over.It's only redeaming feature was that it made you sick in a spectacular shade of flourescent green

I've been on the Gaymers tonight (that doesn't sound good!)
Not a bad one, I'll give it a 6/10.

White Lightning is usually reserved for those who inhabit park benches these days.

Back to work today but wasn't too stressful as boss is away.

In your line of work i'd imagine the boss keeps a close eye on you so it'd be nice when he's not around.

I'm still off, so i shall continue my quest for the perfect 10 cider.....perhaps i could ferment my own.

*Goes off to buy an apple mountain*

So while you're busy fermenting or drinking , what do you call the place where they make the stuff?

I mean you have a winery for wine, brewery for beer, distillery for spirits.

Just pondering and seeing how clever you are.

Not that clever obviously, cos i don't know either.

I know it's pressed first then fermented, but i don't really know what they call the process. I also know you can produce up to 1,500 gallons of cider yourself and you don't need to pay tax!!!!! Fancy going into partnership with me? If you do the growing, pressing, fermentation, marketing and selling..........i'll be in charge of quality control.

Howdy Pardner!

I think we should share the quality control duties as I am an expert in that field

Have had to lay off the sampling for now, feeling a bit light headed already.

Lightheaded? Lightweight

Breaking cider news. I've just tried two new ones. Thatchers make two versions of their cider named after the apple variety; "Katy" is 7.5% and not very nice really (smells of nail varnish again) but also they do "Coxs" which is 5% and tastes great.

For the first time in my life i'm going to have to admit i prefer the Cox.