Umpire's Drink Break Scanjbeen (aka Nimbupanee, Karachi Lemonade)

Umpiring must be the most difficult job in cricket.  You stand still under the hot sun for the entire day with only a hat and some chapstick for protection.  Furthermore, you have to stay calm when a bowler like the Rawalpindi Express passes only inches away from you.    

Figure 1  Shoaib Akhtar, The Rawalpindi Express. Toot Toot!

That’s some seriously frightening stuff.  Some bowlers, unhappy with the umpire’s decision, have purposely crashed into the umpire.  It’s dangerous.  An umpire also has to deal with the crowd’s reaction to an unpopular decision when there is no UDRS (Umpire Decision Review System).   So imagine, as an umpire, you’re hot, you’re tired, and you’re trying not to get hit by a bowler or a ball, and you’re the crowd’s metaphorical punching-bag.    So to all the umpires in the sometimes violent world of cricket, I dedicate this traditional Pakistani drink recipe to you.

              Umpire’s Drink Break Scanjbeen (aka Nimbupanee or Karachi Lemonade)

5 or 6 lemons

Lots of sugar

1 or 2 litres of water, depending on the strength you like

About a ½ teaspoon of salt, more or less according to taste according to taste

Squeeze the juice from the lemons.  Add sugar , salt, and a bit of water.  Stir well so that the sugar and salt melt into the water and form a kind of syrup.  Then add more water until it’s the strength and consistency that you like.

This  is a great sports/hot weather drink because it has the balance of sugar and salt to keep your electrolytes in check.  Scanjbeen also makes a great hot weather cocktail, the famous Karachi Collins:

Dip the rim of a tall glass into a bit of water,

Dip the rim of the glass into some sugar mixed with a bit of salt. 

Fill the glass to the top with ice.

Pour in 1.5 ounces of gin, and almost fill the glass with Scanjbeen. 

Top with some soda water, and give a quick stir.  Garnish with a lemon slice.

If you’re umpiring a match, I strongly suggest that you drink the non-alcoholic version. 

Alcohol+hot sun+demands of cricket = general disaster. 

Be responsible!  Happy cricket everyone!