The World’s Most Consumed Alcohol Is One You Might Not Have Tried. But It's Coming to a Bar Near You
BY AMY GUNIA
“You’re going to drink a little more than you like, and you can’t refuse,” the late Anthony Bourdain told his co-star Eric Ripert when they ventured to China’s Sichuan Province on his Parts Unknown television show.
“你总会喝得比你想要的多一点，而且你推辞不了，”已故的安东尼·布尔丹(Anthony Bourdain)在探访中国四川省并拍摄电视节目《未知之旅》时对他的搭档埃里克·里佩特(Eric Ripert)说。
Bourdain’s statement perfectly expresses the Chinese style of drinking, and at the center of the country’s drinking culture is the national drink baijiu, or “clear liquor.”
布尔丹的描述完美地展现了中国的饮酒风格，而中国饮酒文化全部围绕着中国的“国饮”白酒（字面意思是：透明的酒）来展开。
The potent grain-based spirit has been produced for thousands of years in China and is much stronger than most Western spirits, typically coming in at between 40% and 60% alcohol by volume. (Whisky or vodka, by comparison, are around 40%). It’s not sipped the way a fine single malt might be. Instead, shots of baijiu are taken neat during meals. If a toast is made, which happens often during dinners in China, it can be considered gauche not to throw back a slug of baijiu, tequila style.
这种以谷物为原料的烈性酒在中国已经生产了数千年，白酒的酒精含量通常在40%至60%之间，比大多数西方烈酒都要浓烈得多(威士忌或伏特加约为40%)。不像单一麦芽威士忌那样需要单独品尝，喝白酒的时候总要配上饭菜。在中国，人们经常会在晚餐上敬酒，如果在被敬酒时不用喝龙舌兰的方式（一口闷——译注）回敬，就会被认为是一种粗鲁无礼的行为。
Baijiu’s popularity in the country of 1.4 billion people makes it the world’s most consumed spirit—10.8 billion liters were sold in 2017, according to an analysis by the International Wines and Spirits Record (IWSR). But outside of China it is not well known and many of those who have tried it consider its taste an acquired one. Normally made from sorghum, the drink is fermented with a naturally harvested yeast and the same microorganism culture that is used to ferment soy sauce and rice vinegar. Indeed, one variety is called “sauce baijiu” because of its savory, umami-like flavors. Other styles are more appealing to non-Chinese palates, coming in fruity, light and sometimes sweet versions.
白酒在这个拥有14亿人口的国家受到的欢迎使其成为世界上消耗最多的烈酒——根据国际葡萄酒和烈酒记录(IWSR)的分析，2017年白酒的销量达到108亿升。但在中国以外的地方，它的知名度并不高，许多尝过它的人都认为它的味道是后期添加的。这种酒通常由高粱为原料，用自然收获的酵母和用于发酵酱油和米醋的微生物培养物发酵。事实上，有一种白酒就因为其鲜香的味道而被称为“酱香型”。其他类型的白酒有果味、度数较低，有些还有甜味，这些白酒对外国人来讲更有吸引力。
“Most people taste baijiu for the first time, the flavors are unfamiliar to them—it’s easy to write off it off and assume there’s something wrong with the drink,” says Derek Sandhaus, author of the first English language book on the beverage, Baijiu: The Essential Guide to Chinese Spirits.
“很多人第一次喝白酒时很容易就放弃了，因为他们对白酒的味道并不熟悉，以为这款酒有问题，”德里克•桑德豪斯(Derek Sandhaus)说，他写了第一本关于白酒的英文书《白酒：中国烈酒的必备指南》。
A few businesses are trying to change that perception, however, and with it baijiu’s global appeal. One such outfit is Ming River, of which Sandhaus is a cofounder. It’s a venture between one of China’s oldest baijiu distilleries and a group of expatriate enthusiasts of the drink, who ran a baijiu bar in Beijing that was popular with both foreigners and locals. The bar came to the attention of Luzhou Laojiao—a state-owned in distillery in Sichuan, where baijiu is said to originate—and the firm approached them for help in getting into the American market.
然而，一些企业正试图改变这种看法，进而改变白酒的全球吸引力。其中一个组织是明河，桑德豪斯是明河的联合创始人之一。明河是一家历史悠久的中国白酒酒厂与一群海外白酒爱好者的合资企业。这些海外爱好者在北京经营着一家深受外国人和当地人欢迎的白酒酒吧。这家酒吧引起了泸州老窖的注意，这家来自白酒诞生地——四川的国营酒厂找到了酒吧，希望他们能帮助泸州老窖进军美国市场。
Ming River is not alone in its quest. A Portland family has been making baijiu for more than seven generations, bringing their baijiu recipe with them with when they emigrated to the U.S. from Vietnam in 1979. The family’s patriarch, Phan Ly, began distilling the spirit at home. When he retired from the family restaurant business, he decided to start a proper distillery. Today the Vinn Distillery is the U.S.’s only domestic baijiu distillery. Ly’s five children took over the running of it when he passed away in 2012.
明河并不是唯一这样做的企业。波特兰市有一个酿造白酒已有七代之久的家族，他们在1979年从越南移民到美国的时候把白酒的配方也带了过去。这家人的族长潘力(音译)开始在家里蒸馏这种酒。当他从家族餐厅退休后，他决定开一家正规的酿酒厂。如今，Vinn酿酒厂是美国唯一一家白酒酿造厂。2012年潘力去世后，他的五个孩子接手了这家公司。
“When we first introduced baijiu to the consumers here in Portland it was rough going because we came to quickly realize that no one knew what baijiu was,” Michelle Ly, one of the children, tells TIME.
“当我们第一次在波特兰向消费者介绍白酒时，情况并不乐观。我们很快意识到，没有人知道白酒是什么，”其中一个孩子米歇尔告诉《时代》记者。
To make the drink more approachable, she says Vinn Distillery reduced the potency of its signature bottling to 40% alcohol by volume, a level similar to vodka, and notes that the attitude toward the drink has slowly begun to shift.
她说，为了让这款酒更容易接受，Vinn 酿酒厂将经典款的酒精含量降低到了40%，与伏特加的酒精含量相同。她还指出，人们对白酒的态度已经开始慢慢转变。
“I think it has a lot to do with where craft spirit is today. People are much more embracing of spirits that taste different.”
“我认为这与如今人们对精酿烈酒的认识有很大关系。人们更愿意接受不同的味道。”
Ming River is hoping to capitalize on this new receptivity. The brand’s founders are working with U.S. restaurants specializing in regional Chinese cuisine to create food pairings. They are also encouraging bartenders to come up with creative cocktail recipes.
明河寄希望于这种新的接受能力。该品牌的创始人正在与专门从事中国地方美食的美国餐厅合作，尝试新的菜品和酒品搭配方式。他们还鼓励调酒师们调配出富有创意的鸡尾酒。
H. Joseph Ehrmann, proprietor of the San Francisco bar Elixir, tells TIME that when he first encountered the drink he did not know what to do with it, but his bar now serves it in highballs, sours and punches—albeit with a word of warning.
旧金山怡丽丝尔酒吧的老板H·约瑟夫·厄尔曼告诉《时代》杂志，当他第一次喝白酒时，他有些无所适从，但他的酒吧现在已经在嗨棒、酸酒、和潘趣酒中添加了白酒—— 尽管还是要事先提醒顾客。
“You wouldn’t tell someone to drink an ounce of hot sauce or pickle brine without explaining what they are getting into. It’s kind of like that,” Ehrmann says. “But bartenders and customers alike are starting to get into it as a shot, just as they have in the past with other flavors that were new to them, like Fernet or mezcal,” he says, respectively referring to the aromatic Italian spirit and agave liquor.
“就像你不可能让一个人喝下一盎司的辣酱或卤水，而不告诉他们正在喝什么。”埃尔曼说，“但调酒师和顾客都开始尝试白酒，就像他们过去尝试过的其他新口味一样，比如比特酒或龙舌兰。”
It’s still early days. Products from Vinn Distillery are only found in five states and drinks featuring Ming River are on the cocktail lists of not more than 65 bars and restaurants across the U.S., so far mostly in New York and California. (It’s also available in some European cities.) If you’re looking for it on store shelves, you’ll need to track it down in hipster enclaves like Brooklyn.
不过现在仍然时候未到。Vinn酿酒厂所产的酒只在五个州销售，而全美只有不超过65家酒吧和餐馆的酒单上有白酒，目前主要在纽约和加利福尼亚州(在一些欧洲城市也可以买到)。如果你想在商店买到它，你只能去布鲁克林这样的时髦街区。
Nevertheless, there is optimism among its devotees that baijiu’s appeal will grow. Amelie Kang, the cofounder of a popular Sichuan restaurant called MaLa Project, which has two locations in Manhattan, says she plans to put Ming River on her menu in the coming weeks, both as a straight drink and in cocktails with ingredients like passionfruit puree and osmanthus syrup.
尽管如此，白酒爱好者还是乐观地认为，白酒的吸引力将会增加。康是一家颇受欢迎的四川餐厅MaLa Project的联合创始人，在曼哈顿有两家分店。她说自己几周后就会把明河酒加入到餐厅的酒单里，直饮或者加入果汁变成鸡尾酒都可以。
Kang drank baijiu in her native China, but she says never really appreciated it until she moved in New York and missed the drink from home.
她说，虽然在祖国常能喝到白酒，但直到搬到纽约以后，她才开始真正想念家乡的白酒。
“I thought it was a grandpa and dad’s drink,” Kang tells TIME, adding that baijiu is going through a reinvention. Brands in China are trying to appeal to younger audiences, she explains, using trendy packaging and releasing versions of the drink that are supposed to be added to cold tea—a popular cocktail mixer.
康在接受《时代》杂志采访时表示:“我曾经以为那是爷爷、爸爸那代人喝的，但白酒现在正在经历重塑。”她解释道，中国的白酒品牌正试图吸引更年轻的消费者，他们使用时髦的包装，并推出了可以添加到冰茶这种受欢迎的鸡尾酒中。
Some experts say that the fiery drink has a long way to go before it makes an impact on happy hour.
一些专家表示，这种烈性饮料要想在美国酒吧的欢乐时光里成为明星，还有很长的路要走。
“A lot still needs to be done to educate [American drinkers] about the category—its history, where and how it is made and from what ingredients. They also need to be exposed to it and develop a taste for it,” Tommy Keeling, Asia-Pacific research director at IWSR, tells TIME.
“要让美国饮酒者了解这一酒类还有很多工作要做，包括它的历史、产地、制作方法以及成分。他们还需要能接触到它，并培养出品味来，”IWSR亚太研究主管汤米•基林(Tommy Keeling)告诉《时代》。
“It’s encouraging to see that some companies are trying, but it is likely to remain niche for a long time,” Keeling says.
基林说:“看到一些公司正在尝试，这是令人鼓舞的，但它很可能在很长一段时间内保持小众地位。”
But both Ly and Sandhaus are convinced that the spirit will continue to gain a following in U.S. and elsewhere. “I don’t think all Americans are ready for baijiu, but I think enough of them are ready,” Sandhaus says. “There are enough consumers who aren’t put off by it—who are, in fact, ready for new experiences and new flavors.”
但潘力和桑德豪斯都相信，美国和其他地区还会继续追随这种精神。桑德豪斯说:“我不认为所有的美国人都准备好了喝白酒，但我认为准备好了的人已经足够多了。只要有足够的消费者，白酒就不会因此却步——事实上，他们已经准备好了体验新的口味。”
翻译：秦欣玥，原载于2019年5月23日《时代》
责编| 王悦欢 yuehuanwang@caijing.com.cn
