Paper Beer Paddle Cups
Beer tasting is a popular recreational activity enjoyed by many people around the world. One of the innovations beer tasters appreciate is the 'Beer Paddle'. This enables the sampling of a number of amber delights economically and responsibly.
Paper beer paddle cups, outlined in this instructable, is an extension of this innovation. It provides for the subdivision of one beer paddle into two! Excellent for couples and friends to share a beer.
Supplies
Baking paper.
Knife or scissors to cut baking paper into 4 squares.
Start With a Waterproof Square
Instructions on making a paper cup out of a sheet of paper have been around for many a year. Here's some from the Instructable archives:
Making a paper cup 1
Making a paper cup 2
Instructions can also be found on YouTube. Some of these are incomplete as they fail to emphasise the need for a drinking vessel to be able to contain liquid without it dissipating out. In short, it needs to be waterproof and most paper isn't. Hygienic, economic and environmental are other desirable attributes.
Here's a solution: use 'Baking Paper' :
Cut off a strip from the roll of baking paper and make it into a square by folding one edge of paper diagonally and cutting. Now, because we are making tasting cups (emphasis on the plural), this single large square of paper is turned into 4 smaller squares by folding it into quarters and having a responsible adult cut it into four (emphasis on responsible).
Corner Left, Corner Right
- Fold one of the square sheets of paper diagonally and make a crease along the fold.
- Position the diagonal to the bottom.
- Fold the left corner over to the right edge and the right corner to the left edge (see photos above)
Fold Top Corner Down
- Fold the top corner down the front.
- Turn the cup over and fold the second corner down the front.
Make 3 more from the remaining squares of paper.
To use: Open the middle of the cup, place the cup into your hand and pour in some beer from one of the tasting glasses. Consume without removing the cup from your hand. To sample a different beer, use a new cup.
Cheers!
The photos above demonstrate the paper beer paddle cups being put to good use.
Upping the Size
Making 'one off' beer tasting cups from baking paper work well, but for larger drinking vessels a stiffer grade of paper is required and then waterproofing becomes a major consideration.
Paper can be made water proof by sticking on 'book wrap' - available from stationery shops and often used to protect books.
'Book wrap' was applied to the inside of a square of paper cut from an A3 sheet of paper. This size of paper will hold the contents of a 440 mill can. A4 will hold less than half a can and if an A2 sheet is used it will hold a lot (though it is a little awkward to drink from). The use of tape may be required to secure the larger sized cups. Probably best to stick with the beer tasting size.