# Scumble - "It's mostly apples." **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 10, 2013, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumble-its-mostly-apples/668469 "2013-09-10T03:19:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumble-its-mostly-apples/668469/1 "2013-09-10T03:19:27Z")
Friend of mine was telling me about how he has access to some apple trees. “Apples falling like rain” he said. He’s a pretty handy kind of guy and has a wine press and was thinking of some ways to come up with some apple squeezings for cider. We’re both Discworld fans and we joked about making scumble, because, well, like they say in the books, 'it’s mostly apples." I consulted Nanny Ogg’s cookbook but found no sumble recipes. Pratchett is not otherwise helpful. So … any ideas about what really would be in scumble? And how you make it? We got the apples. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumble-its-mostly-apples/668469/2 "2013-09-10T03:59:55Z")
From the [wiki:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flora_and_fauna_of_the_Discworld#Scumble) > [@](#): > > An alcoholic beverage made mainly with apples and drunk in very small cups some months apart (or served to strangers in pint mugs, as a sort of initiation test). > It was first introduced in Mort which tells us: > “A lot of stories are told about scumble, and how it is made out on the damp marshes, according to ancient recipes passed down rather unsteadily from father to son. It’s not true about the rats, or the snakes’ heads, or the lead shot. The one about the dead sheep is a complete fabrication. We can lay to rest all the variants of the one about the trouser button. But the one about not letting it come into contact with metal is absolutely true…” > In Mort it was drunk on the Sto Plains, but in later books it is associated with Lancre, where it is distilled by Nanny Ogg (whose particular variant is known as “Suicider”). The consumption of scumble in Lancre has earned the populace of the area a reputation for having “Four brain cells, huddling together for warmth”. The word scumble is a pun on the West Country cider known as scrumpy, but scumble is clearly stronger than cider and distilled, therefore it is the Discworld version of applejack. So, you can leave out rats, snake heads, lead shot, sheep, and trouser buttons. Not letting it come in contact with metal may be tricky, given the cider-making implements at hand. As [Applejack](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applejack_(beverage)) is a distilled beverage, board rules prevent giving you advice on how to make it. Cider, however, can be as simple as a 4:1 water:apple juice ratio, so, 4 gallons of water per 1 gallon of juice. If you want it to be stronger, leave out half a gallon of water and replace it with 4 pounds of honey. Do not under any circumstances use deadfall apples. The three-second rule does not apply when you’re going to toss it into a nutrient vat and let it ferment for a month. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumble-its-mostly-apples/668469/3 "2013-09-10T09:01:59Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > From the [wiki:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flora_and_fauna_of_the_Discworld#Scumble) > Do not under any circumstances use deadfall apples. The three-second rule does not apply when you’re going to toss it into a nutrient vat and let it ferment for a month. Why would that be? I know that most amateur cider makers over here in the UK use the windfall apples with no harmful effects. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumble-its-mostly-apples/668469/4 "2013-09-10T10:01:13Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Why would that be? I know that most amateur cider makers over here in the UK use the windfall apples with no harmful effects. I now name and invoke _ **The Sitting Duck Rule** _. There a so many easy and amusing answers that come to mind that a sporting person must simply throw up his or her hands and walk away. ---
**Author:** ![sylmar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@sylmar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sylmar)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumble-its-mostly-apples/668469/5 "2013-09-10T10:32:01Z")
Picked apples for a few orchards when I was younger. Harvested windfall apples were almost universally ( Could be different on Discworld) turned into cider. The joke was the brown color was derived from the slugs ground up in it. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumble-its-mostly-apples/668469/6 "2013-09-10T11:07:14Z")
I live in proper UK cider country, and also know quite a few UK hobby cider makers (hopefully trying it myself this year too)- they don’t add any water to the mix, it’s just pure juice, and they all use windfall apples. You really don’t have to worry about a few bugs and stuff in there either- one traditional English recipe really does involve chucking a dead rat in there, which _entirely dissolves_. Other places let a toad swim through the juice (apparently they’d keep a pet toad on the orchard for the purpose), dating back from before anyone knew anything about what caused fermentation, when there were some really bizarre ideas about what would encourage it. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumble-its-mostly-apples/668469/7 "2013-09-10T13:10:06Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > I now name and invoke _ **The Sitting Duck Rule** _. There a so many easy and amusing answers that come to mind that a sporting person must simply throw up his or her hands and walk away. :smack: let me clarify…no\* unanticipated \*harmful effects ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumble-its-mostly-apples/668469/8 "2013-09-10T13:40:03Z")
I always thought Scumble was Terry’s playful way of renaming Scrumpy, which is Very Strong Cider. It is mostly apples. Counts as one of your five a day, of course. ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumble-its-mostly-apples/668469/9 "2013-09-10T13:56:34Z")
I always thought of it as moonshine, made from whatever they had available. It might just be a [Noodle Incident](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NoodleIncident), something that leaves out the details cuz anything you make up to fill them in yourself will funnier than what the author could write. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumble-its-mostly-apples/668469/10 "2013-09-10T14:04:41Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > I always thought Scumble was Terry’s playful way of renaming Scrumpy, which is Very Strong Cider. It is mostly apples. Counts as one of your five a day, of course. One apple _per pint_. 😉 “Your glass is half full of scumble” "No, it’s half empty. “Either way, it’s apples all the way down” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumble-its-mostly-apples/668469/11 "2013-09-10T14:42:22Z")
**Tuba** , PM me for recipes if you want to make cider. I’ve won quite a few awards for mine. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumble-its-mostly-apples/668469/12 "2013-09-10T15:30:24Z")
I was going to suggest concentration via freezing and removing the ice (warning: this may still be technically illegal in the US), but apparently making [applejack](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applejack_(beverage)) via that method can result in a potentially dangerous or at least nasty-hangover-producing beverage. So never mind. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumble-its-mostly-apples/668469/13 "2013-09-11T03:41:26Z")
This is a wonderful thread and exactly the kind of information/stories I was looking for. Please keep sharing. I really appreciate homemade goods like this too and I’m always interested in learning from the kitchens and breweries of others. So please keep it coming, and thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumble-its-mostly-apples/668469/14 "2013-09-11T06:08:21Z")
> [@hotflungwok](#): > > It might just be a [Noodle Incident](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NoodleIncident) **I had NOTHING to do with it!** ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumble-its-mostly-apples/668469/15 "2013-09-11T06:13:18Z")
I heard there’s a test to see if it’s real discworld scumble. Have someone light a match, hold it over the mug of scumble, and peek into the mug. If he still has his eyelashes and eyebrows after that, it’s not real scumble. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumble-its-mostly-apples/668469/16 "2013-09-11T08:56:46Z")
I always suspected “water” from the Ankh River was involved in some way. ---
**Author:** ![sylmar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@sylmar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sylmar)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumble-its-mostly-apples/668469/17 "2013-09-11T10:29:57Z")
> [@Johnny\_Q](#): > > I always suspected “water” from the Ankh River was involved in some way. Doesn’t seem possible. There was no mention of having to _chew_ scumble…😉 ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumble-its-mostly-apples/668469/18 "2013-09-11T11:08:00Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > I was going to suggest concentration via freezing and removing the ice (warning: this may still be technically illegal in the US), Outside of New Zealand, distillation of alcohol _for human consumption_ is illegal pretty much everywhere and always. Distillation for other reasons, for use as a fuel or just as a science project, generally legal most other places in the world including the USA. It’s ‘possible’ to get a distillation permit in the US, but not practical for most people. I’m not a lawyer, but I read up on the subject a few years back. Anybody interested in distillation should check out [homedistiller.org](http://homedistiller.org/intro/faq) for some interesting reading, but be aware that actually \*making \*liquor is about as illegal as making methamphetamine. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumble-its-mostly-apples/668469/19 "2013-09-11T11:41:13Z")
Yup. I’m a homebrewer (in the US) so I know full well that running a still to make homemade booze is seriously illegal, but I wasn’t sure about just concentrating some hard cider. Turns out it’s probably a spectacularly bad idea regardless of legality. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumble-its-mostly-apples/668469/20 "2013-09-11T12:20:46Z")
I honestly don’t know if freeze distillation counts, but I believe so. It’s not as bad of an idea as it may sound. Any time you are using fruit as a base, instead of sucrose, you can end up with methanol and other impurities. But proper procedure and attention to detail will reduce or eliminate that risk. Most of the fear of methanol is outdated propaganda from the First War on Drugs (Prohibition), it’s like concerns about leftover lye in homemade meth. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scumble-its-mostly-apples/668469.md?page=2)