Waiters friend and those rubber corks
Discussion
FFS
TBF it's not the fault of the waiters friend, I had a very expensive electric wine opener and a cantilever type one, both were fine with normal corks and screw caps
but the odd bottle (ususally bought by somebody else 
) has destroyed both of those due to the difficulty of removing the "cork".
Anyway because of this I only have a waiters friend left and I have just nearly written my kitchen and my hands off trying to open one of these rubber cork things.
What is the reason for making what should be a simple procedure so f
king difficult by using a rubber substitute instead of cork or a screw top?
TBF it's not the fault of the waiters friend, I had a very expensive electric wine opener and a cantilever type one, both were fine with normal corks and screw caps
but the odd bottle (ususally bought by somebody else ) has destroyed both of those due to the difficulty of removing the "cork".Anyway because of this I only have a waiters friend left and I have just nearly written my kitchen and my hands off trying to open one of these rubber cork things.
What is the reason for making what should be a simple procedure so f
king difficult by using a rubber substitute instead of cork or a screw top?
I've only had a problem with real corks every so often usually when it breaks on removal, but that's usually down to my stupidity.Over the last few years it has become cheaper (and supposedly more 'eco') to use synthetic corks and screw-caps.. Another argument is apparently the wines are less likely to be 'corked'..
Is your waiters friend the single action or double action variety?
Double:
Single:
I can't get on with the single action ones, but I much prefer my double action one to the lever-action ones. The main problem with the single action one is it tends to catch on the side of the cork as you draw it out.
The double-action works by just easing the cork out a little on the lower (higher?) notch, then using the top (bottom?) notch to pull the rest of the cork out. It's a very smooth action once you've got the hang of it, with both 'organic' corks and synthetic ones. Can't say it's particularly good with screw-caps though.
Is your waiters friend the single action or double action variety?
Double:
Single:
I can't get on with the single action ones, but I much prefer my double action one to the lever-action ones. The main problem with the single action one is it tends to catch on the side of the cork as you draw it out.
The double-action works by just easing the cork out a little on the lower (higher?) notch, then using the top (bottom?) notch to pull the rest of the cork out. It's a very smooth action once you've got the hang of it, with both 'organic' corks and synthetic ones. Can't say it's particularly good with screw-caps though.
justanotherJC said:
Over the last few years it has become cheaper (and supposedly more 'eco') to use synthetic corks and screw-caps.. Another argument is apparently the wines are less likely to be 'corked'..
When has it been more 'eco' to use synthetic corks / screw caps?I agree that wines intended to be drunk young taste far fresher and nicer from bottles with screw caps / synthetic corks.
However cork is a natural product with a relatively smaller carbon footprint in the making compared with smelting steel or melting plastic.
Moreover there's an eco-argument for retaining cork: namely that the ultra-rare Iberian lynx (among others) survives purely because the cork forests where it lives haven't been bulldozed and put to other uses, which they surely would were there no longer any market for cork.
Mobile Chicane said:
justanotherJC said:
Over the last few years it has become cheaper (and supposedly more 'eco') to use synthetic corks and screw-caps.. Another argument is apparently the wines are less likely to be 'corked'..
When has it been more 'eco' to use synthetic corks / screw caps?I agree that wines intended to be drunk young taste far fresher and nicer from bottles with screw caps / synthetic corks.
However cork is a natural product with a relatively smaller carbon footprint in the making compared with smelting steel or melting plastic.
Moreover there's an eco-argument for retaining cork: namely that the ultra-rare Iberian lynx (among others) survives purely because the cork forests where it lives haven't been bulldozed and put to other uses, which they surely would were there no longer any market for cork.
I agree with you that cork is probably the most sustainable.
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