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Vodka Brand Differences May Reflect Water-Alcohol Arrangement

I once took part in a vodka tasting contest, in which participants tried to tell an expensive brand from a cheap one. I don’t recall the exact outcome, for obvious reasons. But I do know that several people swore they could taste the difference.

我曾经参加过一个伏特加品酒大赛，赛上要求参与者辨别出顶级伏特加与普通品牌。由于种种原因，我已不记得当初的比赛结果。但的确有人信誓旦旦地表示他们能品出其中的区别。

Well, maybe they could. Because according to a study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, different vodkas can have different molecular “structures,” which could drive drinkers to favor one brand over another. [Naiping Hu et al., SV]

好吧，也许他们的确能。因为根据《农业与食品化学学报》发布的一项研究[作者Naiping Hu等，SV]，不同品牌的伏特加含有不同的分子“结构”，该分子“结构”决定了饮酒者对酒品的选择。

Vodka’s an alcoholic beverage that’s supposed to be relatively flavorless. So researchers got to wondering: how come people who enjoy the stuff often express brand preference?

一直以来，人们认为伏特加是一种相对无味的酒精饮料。因此科学家们感到困惑：为什么喜欢这种酒的人经常表现出特定的品牌偏好？

Being good little scientists, they trotted out their spectroscopic equipment and examined the chemical signatures of five different vodkas. What they found is that each brand differs in how its ethanol molecules cluster. In the ethanol-water mix we call vodka, some of the ethanol molecules get surrounded by a sort of “cage” made of water. And different brands differ in how much ethanol is caged. Vodkas with fewer cages might seem more “watery” than those with more structure.

于是这些可爱称职的科学家们拿出光谱仪器开始考察。他们观察了五种伏特加的化学结构，发现其中的区别在于乙醇分子的聚集方式。在我们称之为伏特加的乙醇与水混合物中，一些乙醇分子周围存在着水分子构成的“笼”。而笼内乙醇分子的数量决定了伏特加之间的差别。笼越少，口感愈淡。

Of course, drink enough of the stuff and it really won’t matter how tightly caged it is. You’ll be loose as a grey goose.

当然，只要喝得尽兴，管它笼多笼少呢。你就会感觉自己像灰雁一样自由畅快地翱翔。

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