英国卫报:小冰块下的大生意(7)

In parallel to this democratisation of ice, a new wave of cocktail¹ bars had started to focus on ice as a key component² of their offering.

在冰块的民主化进程中，新一波的鸡尾酒吧也开始把冰块作为他们产品的关键组成部分。

In Liquid Intelligence – the bible of modern cocktail culture – Dave Arnold dedicates a whole chapter to the subject,

在现代鸡尾酒文化的圣经《液体智能》一书中，戴夫·阿诺德用了整整一章的篇幅来讲述这个主题，

coaching his readers on the science and technology of making and using the sort of high-quality ice that "was the norm in the days before mechanical refrigeration".

指导他的读者如何制作和使用“在机械制冷之前是标准的”高品质冰块的科学和技术。

Bars increasingly put this sort of ice front and centre: when The Aviary³ opened in Chicago in 2011,

酒吧越来越倾向于将冰块放在前沿和中心位置：2011年，当鸟舍在芝加哥开业时，

it did so with a promotional video that showcased 25 individual types of ice in different shapes, sizes and flavours – from tiny pearls to cricket-ball-sized shells

它通过一段宣传视频展示了25种不同形状、大小和口味的冰块——从小珍珠到板球大小的贝壳

(as used in the classic, much-imitated "In The Rocks", in which the cocktail is served inside an ice cube that the drinker shatters at the table) – made on-site in a dedicated⁴ ice room by a dedicated ice guy.

(就像在经典的、被大量模仿的《岩石之中》中使用的那样，鸡尾酒被放在一个冰块里，喝的人可以在桌子上将冰块打碎)——在一个专门的冰室里由一名专业制冰人现场制作。

This new "craft ice" even looked different: crystalline, "water-clear" in Arnold's formulation, carved (in the fanciest bars) or shaved into exquisite⁵ shapes.

这种新的“工艺冰块”甚至连看上去都与众不同：晶莹剔透，阿诺德将其描述为“无色透明”，雕刻(在最高档的酒吧里)或切成精美的形状。

The cloudy, brittle⁶ cubes lurking⁷ in the nation's freezer drawers were exposed as the abominations people in the trade had always thought them to be.

那些藏在国家冰屉里不透明的、易碎的冰块被公开示众，正如那些讨厌的商人所期望的那样。

As the author and spirits expert Emma Stokes told me over email, the craft cocktail movement also helped to foster a growing awareness⁸ that "you need a decent amount of ice to make good cocktails⁹".

正如作家兼烈酒专家艾玛·斯托克斯在电子邮件中告诉我的那样，工艺鸡尾酒运动还有助于培养了一种越来越强烈的意识，即“想要做出好酒，你需要添加适量的冰块”。

Add insufficient¹⁰ ice to a drink and the ice will do what ice always seeks to do: melt into a watery¹¹ mess.

在饮品中加的冰太少，冰块就会正常融化成水。

Add lots of ice, though, and the opposite happens: the drink remains¹² cold and crisp.

但如果加了太多的冰，就会出现相反的情况：饮料会一直冰凉爽口。

These were encouraging signs for the packaged ice business: if ice was supposed to be abundant, then a single domestic freezer tray or integrated fridge ice dispenser was no longer going to meet demand.

这些对包装冰业务来说是鼓舞人心的迹象：如果冰量充足，那么单一的家用冷冻托盘或者集成的冰箱冰分配器将无法满足需求。

Within the space of a few years, ice in the UK had started to matter, both in quantity and quality; people were even starting to display signs of ice snobbery¹³.

在英国，冰块的数量和质量在短短几年内开始变得越来越重要。人们甚至开始表现出冰势利的迹象。

Within the trade, of course, they have always heaped derision on inferior product:

当然，同业间总会对劣质冰大加嘲讽。

Camper English, perhaps the pre-eminent cocktail ice scholar, refers to "shitty hotel ice" in contrast to proper, craft stuff;

杰出的鸡尾酒冰学者Camper English将“劣质的酒店冰块”和正规的手工冰块进行了比较。

in The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, David Embury warns against making ice at home, lest your fridge-freezer introduce unwanted notes of "camembert cheese or leftover¹⁴ broccoli¹⁵".

在《调制饮料的艺术》一书中，大卫·恩伯里警告大家不要在家里制冰，以免冰块沾上冰箱冷冻层中不想要的“卡芒贝尔奶酪或吃剩的西兰花”的味道。

But a giant piece of market research commissioned by The Ice Co in 2014 revealed that the average consumer, too, had an opinion:

但The Ice Co在2014年委托进行的一项大型市场调查显示，普通消费者也有自己的看法：

increasingly, people wanted different kinds of ice depending on how that ice was going to be used – whether to

越来越多的人想要不同种类的冰块——取决于冰块的使用方式，

pack into a cocktail shaker, chill an ice bucket, or melt decorously and imperceptibly in a dram of single malt.

是放入鸡尾酒摇酒器中，还是放入冰桶中，还是在一小杯纯麦芽威士忌中优雅地、悄无声息地融化。

1 cocktail   

n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物

参考例句：

• We invited some foreign friends for a cocktail party.我们邀请了一些外国朋友参加鸡尾酒会。
• At a cocktail party in Hollywood,I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin.在好莱坞的一次鸡尾酒会上，人家把我介绍给查理·卓别林。

2 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

3 aviary   

n.大鸟笼，鸟舍

参考例句：

• There are many different kinds of birds in the aviary.大鸟笼里有很多不同种类的鸟。
• There was also an aviary full of rare birds.那里面还有装满稀有鸟类的鸟舍。

4 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

5 exquisite   

adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的

参考例句：

• I was admiring the exquisite workmanship in the mosaic.我当时正在欣赏镶嵌画的精致做工。
• I still remember the exquisite pleasure I experienced in Bali.我依然记得在巴厘岛所经历的那种剧烈的快感。

6 brittle   

adj.易碎的；脆弱的；冷淡的；(声音)尖利的

参考例句：

• The pond was covered in a brittle layer of ice.池塘覆盖了一层易碎的冰。
• She gave a brittle laugh.她冷淡地笑了笑。

7 lurking   

潜在

参考例句：

• Why are you lurking around outside my house? 你在我房子外面鬼鬼祟祟的，想干什么？
• There is a suspicious man lurking in the shadows. 有一可疑的人躲在阴暗中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

9 cocktails   

n.鸡尾酒( cocktail的名词复数 )；餐前开胃菜；混合物

参考例句：

• Come about 4 o'clock. We'll have cocktails and grill steaks. 请四点钟左右来，我们喝鸡尾酒，吃烤牛排。 来自辞典例句
• Cocktails were a nasty American habit. 喝鸡尾酒是讨厌的美国习惯。 来自辞典例句

10 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

11 watery   

adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的

参考例句：

• In his watery eyes there is an expression of distrust.他那含泪的眼睛流露出惊惶失措的神情。
• Her eyes became watery because of the smoke.因为烟熏，她的双眼变得泪汪汪的。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

13 snobbery   

n. 充绅士气派, 俗不可耐的性格

参考例句：

• Jocelyn accused Dexter of snobbery. 乔斯琳指责德克斯特势力。
• Snobbery is not so common in English today as it was said fifty years ago. 如今＂Snobbery＂在英语中已不象50年前那么普遍使用。

14 leftover   

n.剩货，残留物，剩饭；adj.残余的

参考例句：

• These narrow roads are a leftover from the days of horse-drawn carriages.这些小道是从马车时代沿用下来的。
• Wonder if that bakery lets us take leftover home.不知道那家糕饼店会不会让我们把卖剩的带回家。

15 broccoli   

n.绿菜花，花椰菜

参考例句：

• She grew all the broccoli plants from seed.这些花椰菜都是她用种子培育出来的。
• They think broccoli is only green and cauliflower is only white.他们认为西兰花只有绿色的，而菜花都是白色的。