The CombiCork extraction tester is used all over the world by both producers of sparkling wines and spirits and cork manufacturers. This device enables these individuals to reliably check the suitability of different cork materials and designs, including the effects of any additives and coatings, in terms of the ease of opening the bottle.
Conventionally, to determine the openability of a bottle, corks were manually extracted by an operator, a subsequent assessment of how difficult the process was then subjectively conducted. Employing a tester that precisely mimics the helical extraction motion, and objectively measures, indicates, and reliably records the necessary release effort, eliminates this subjectivity.
When looking specifically at sparkling beverages, objectivity helps to resolve conflicts between the cork suppliers and the cork users over the relative difficulties in extraction. It is particularly important to avoid identifying an insufficiently low torque as a good indicator of a cork, as this could lead to the cork unexpectedly exploding out of a pressurized bottle, posing a risk of injury to the consumer.
The CombiCork creates controlled test settings to provide measurement reproducibility that is difficult to obtain using subjective manual testing methods.
Key Features
- Accommodates a wide range of standard bottles
- Clear, immediate display of relevant effort; torque, force
- Perform CIVC-recommended testing (for Champagne)
- Pneumatic clamping for efficient and quick testing
- Repeatable, quantified, calibrated results
- Replication of helical twist and pull motion