大蒜咖啡？你沒有聽錯，而且這種咖啡的原料真的全是大蒜。除去烤大蒜的香氣和咖啡不大相同外，這種大蒜制成的新飲料無論是看起來還是嘗起來都和真的咖啡很像。來看看大蒜變咖啡的神奇過程吧。

　　When you think about coffee alternatives, garlic is probably one of the last things that comes to mind, but that is exactly the ingredient that one Japanese inventor used to create a drink that looks and tastes like coffee.

　　提到咖啡替代品時，你怎麼也不會想到大蒜，但一位日本發明家正是用大蒜創造出了一種看起來和嘗起來都像咖啡的飲料。

　　74-year-old Yokitomo Shimotai, a coffee shop owner in Aomori Prefecture, Japan, claims that his unique “garlic coffee” is the result of a cooking blunder he made over 30 years ago, when he burned a steak and garlic while waiting tables at the same time. Intrigued by the scorched garlic’s aroma, he mashed it up with a spoon and mixed it with hot water. The resulting drink looked and tasted a lot like coffee. Making a mental note of his discovery, Yokimoto carried on with his job, and only started researching garlic coffee again after he retired.

　　74歲的Yokitomo Shimotai是日本青森縣的一位咖啡店主，他聲稱自家獨特的“大蒜咖啡”的靈感來自于自己在30多年前一次烹飪失誤，當時他在招待客人時不小心把牛排和大蒜燒焦了。由于被大蒜的焦香味所吸引，這位店主就用勺子把大蒜搗碎，然後將其和熱水混合。混合出的飲料外觀和味道都很像咖啡。當時他只是把這一發現記在心裏，繼續工作，直到退休後才開始研究大蒜咖啡。

　　Committed to turning his bizarre drink into a commercial product, Yokitomo Shimotai spent years optimizing the formula, and about five years ago, he finally achieved a result he was satisfied with. To make his soluble garlic grounds, he roasts the cloves in an electric oven, and, after they’ve cooled off, smashes them into fine particles and packs them in dripbags.

　　一心想將這種奇特飲料轉變為商品的Yokitomo Shimotai花了數年時間優化配方，大約五年前，他終于調出了自己滿意的配方。為了制造出可溶大蒜泥，他先將蒜瓣放在電烤箱裏烘烤，在冷卻之後，將蒜瓣搗成微小顆粒，然後將其放入滴水包（挂耳包）中。

　　“My drink is probably the world’s first of its kind,” the garlic coffee inventor told Kyodo News. “It contains no caffeine so it’s good for those who would like to drink coffee at night or pregnant women.”

　　這位大蒜咖啡的發明者告訴共同社説：“我的飲料在全世界來説應該是首創。這裏面沒有咖啡因，所以適合那些想在夜裏喝咖啡的人或懷孕的女性。”

　　“The bitterness of burned garlic apparently helps create the coffee-like flavor,” Shimotai adds.

　　Shimotai補充説：“燒焦大蒜的苦味顯然使其更接近咖啡的口感。”

　　The wacky inventor claims that, although his garlic coffee does give off an aroma of roasted garlic, it doesn’t cause bad breath, because the garlic is thoroughly cooked. And if you can get past the smell, the drink apparently does taste a lot like actual coffee.

　　這位古怪的發明者還表示，盡管他的大蒜咖啡確實散發出烤大蒜的香氣，但並不會在嘴裏留下不好聞的味道，因為大蒜已經充分烘烤過了。如果你可以接受這種氣味，該飲料的味道確實和真正的咖啡很像。

　　If decaf isn’t good enough for you, and you’re in the mood for something new, you can try Yokitomo Shimotai’s garlic coffee at his shop, in the city of Ninohe, Iwate Prefecture, or buy your own dripbags for just 324 yen ($2.8).

　　如果你不喜歡脫因咖啡，並且想嘗試新鮮事物，你可以去日本岩手縣二戶市，到Yokitomo Shimotai的咖啡店品嘗一下他的大蒜咖啡。你也可以購買大蒜咖啡包，每包價格只需324日元（合19元人民幣）。

　　除了讓人目瞪口呆的大蒜咖啡，前段時間還有人發明瞭無色咖啡，看起來像清水的飲料竟然能喝出咖啡的味道。如果你對無色咖啡和大蒜咖啡都不感興趣，你可以看看咖啡渣制成的杯碟，堪稱真正的“咖啡杯”。要是你覺得用杯子喝咖啡實在麻煩，你還可以試試便宜又省時的可嚼咖啡塊。咖啡居然如此百變，想不到吧！

　　翻譯&編輯：丹妮

【糾錯】

責任編輯： 謝艷