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Proof: The Science of Booze
Humans have been perfecting alcohol production for ten thousand years, but scientists are just starting to distill the chemical reactions behind the perfect buzz. In a spirited tour across continents and cultures, Adam Rogers takes us from bourbon country to the world’s top gene-sequencing labs, introducing us to the bars, barflies, and evolving science at the heart of boozy technology. He chases the physics, biology, chemistry, and metallurgy that produce alcohol, and the psychology and neurobiology that make us want it. If you’ve ever wondered how your drink arrived in your glass, or what it will do to you, Proof makes an unparalleled drinking companion.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 435 reviews
May 23, 2021
Though medicine has consumed my academic pursuits for the better part of the last decade, my first university love was for biochemistry. In the labyrinth pathways and molecular constructs I found a field whose granular description of the natural world spoke a language I'd always wanted to hear. While, yes, medicine's basis is in molecular biology and biochemistry, it had been years since I'd truly dove into my foundational field. So, when my wife gifted me Proof I was pleasantly surprised to find a thoroughly scientific text that didn't skimp on style. Proof scratched an itch I forgot existed.
Rogers dive into the world of booze is enjoyable from start to finish and vacillates between historical precedent and the edge of the current science* Roughly each chapter starts with a variation on "a man walks into a bar" as Rogers visits distilleries, breweries, booze labs, and hybrids of the local tap house and modern lab bench. I was drawn into the processes through which various alcohols are made and kept pausing my reading to ask whoever was in ear shot if they knew about the fact I'd just read.
I've fallen into the craft beer explosion. After the little one is down for bed I love to crack open a cool can and enjoy it alongside whatever it is I'm reading. While reading Proof, that experience was all the more enriched by a deeper understanding of the process that turned grain into such a delicious beverage. There's moments throughout that tie history to science to the man popping in for a quick pint on his way home from work. For such a short book its scope is wide but never feels unwieldy and its subjects are never underserved.
Though I'm a bit slower at reading nonfiction than fiction, I kind of shoved the rest of my books aside while I worked through Proof. It felt like each chapter could have been a TED talk or Chef's Table episode, and that squares up with my interests outside of the fiction you all usually see me reviewing. For some readers I'm sure that Rogers' waxing on and on about the processes by which yeast produces ethanol or how ethanol works on the brain will be a drag. But, for many others, I think the book will be serve as it did for me: a fascinating look at the science and history of making alcohol.
*Science moves fast and this was written in 2014.
Rogers dive into the world of booze is enjoyable from start to finish and vacillates between historical precedent and the edge of the current science* Roughly each chapter starts with a variation on "a man walks into a bar" as Rogers visits distilleries, breweries, booze labs, and hybrids of the local tap house and modern lab bench. I was drawn into the processes through which various alcohols are made and kept pausing my reading to ask whoever was in ear shot if they knew about the fact I'd just read.
I've fallen into the craft beer explosion. After the little one is down for bed I love to crack open a cool can and enjoy it alongside whatever it is I'm reading. While reading Proof, that experience was all the more enriched by a deeper understanding of the process that turned grain into such a delicious beverage. There's moments throughout that tie history to science to the man popping in for a quick pint on his way home from work. For such a short book its scope is wide but never feels unwieldy and its subjects are never underserved.
Though I'm a bit slower at reading nonfiction than fiction, I kind of shoved the rest of my books aside while I worked through Proof. It felt like each chapter could have been a TED talk or Chef's Table episode, and that squares up with my interests outside of the fiction you all usually see me reviewing. For some readers I'm sure that Rogers' waxing on and on about the processes by which yeast produces ethanol or how ethanol works on the brain will be a drag. But, for many others, I think the book will be serve as it did for me: a fascinating look at the science and history of making alcohol.
*Science moves fast and this was written in 2014.
July 22, 2015
"He likes the warm feeling but he's tired of all the dehydration..."
A very fun book for anybody interested in booze beyond "I like how it tastes." I found the first half of the book to be more engaging and more thorough than the second half (which is more about alcohol's effects on the body) but that's just me. My big takeaway from this book is something that came from the introduction, something that's probably already obvious to everyone else but me: being passionate about something necessarily leads to wanting to take it apart, to figure out how it does what it does. I'd never really thought about it before, but when I look at the things I'm really into -- baseball, food, books -- that rings true.
A very fun book for anybody interested in booze beyond "I like how it tastes." I found the first half of the book to be more engaging and more thorough than the second half (which is more about alcohol's effects on the body) but that's just me. My big takeaway from this book is something that came from the introduction, something that's probably already obvious to everyone else but me: being passionate about something necessarily leads to wanting to take it apart, to figure out how it does what it does. I'd never really thought about it before, but when I look at the things I'm really into -- baseball, food, books -- that rings true.
November 7, 2022
I have been on my fair share of brewery, winery, and distillery tours. Yet despite all of the explanations, videos, and tastings, I only managed to acquire a vague notion of how alcohol is really produced. Adam Rogers’s book promised to fill in all of the missing gaps in my understanding, and it delivered.
Indeed, this book may have lived up a little too fully to the promise of its subtitle, as it is so densely packed with information as to be—if you’ll excuse the expression—a little dry. There are virtually no jokes, and only one story about getting overly drunk. Instead, Rogers takes the reader through the evolution of yeast, the history of distillation, the neurobiology of inebriation, and the pathology of hangovers—with much else, besides.
There were a few surprises. For example, according to Rogers, alcohol’s mode of effecting brain chemistry is poorly understood—at least, compared with other substances such as marijuana or heroine. Another surprise is that it is currently unknown what, exactly, causes hangovers, and there is no known effective cure. One would think that an effective hangover pill could take the market by storm, but apparently there is not even much research being done on the problem.
Oh well. If I do not know much about hangovers, at least I have learned a lot about alcohol. Rogers has written an intelligent, informative, and enjoyable book about the world’s favorite vice. I can raise a glass to that.
Indeed, this book may have lived up a little too fully to the promise of its subtitle, as it is so densely packed with information as to be—if you’ll excuse the expression—a little dry. There are virtually no jokes, and only one story about getting overly drunk. Instead, Rogers takes the reader through the evolution of yeast, the history of distillation, the neurobiology of inebriation, and the pathology of hangovers—with much else, besides.
There were a few surprises. For example, according to Rogers, alcohol’s mode of effecting brain chemistry is poorly understood—at least, compared with other substances such as marijuana or heroine. Another surprise is that it is currently unknown what, exactly, causes hangovers, and there is no known effective cure. One would think that an effective hangover pill could take the market by storm, but apparently there is not even much research being done on the problem.
Oh well. If I do not know much about hangovers, at least I have learned a lot about alcohol. Rogers has written an intelligent, informative, and enjoyable book about the world’s favorite vice. I can raise a glass to that.
January 3, 2016
For an added thrill I decided to read this book while drinking.
This book is high entertainment and highly informative. We all should be more informed consumers of alcohol and you never know when you may need to know enough about the stuff to make it yourself. This book will give you a running start. He begins with yeast and the fermentation process and moves on to distillation. From here the author does a lot to break down a lot of the myths associated with beer, wine, and spirits.
I especially like the conclusions of the wine tasting club of university professors and the “science” of wine tasting in general. In a nutshell, most of us don’t have the ability to sniff out one wine from another. I hate the adjectives (wine bullshit) wine snobs use to describe wines and have always suspected that people who claim to have such sensitive palates are no better at it than I.
It was also a revelation to learn how little research has been done to reduce hangovers. You would think that drug companies would be tripping over each other to find a cure for this common ailment.
This book is high entertainment and highly informative. We all should be more informed consumers of alcohol and you never know when you may need to know enough about the stuff to make it yourself. This book will give you a running start. He begins with yeast and the fermentation process and moves on to distillation. From here the author does a lot to break down a lot of the myths associated with beer, wine, and spirits.
I especially like the conclusions of the wine tasting club of university professors and the “science” of wine tasting in general. In a nutshell, most of us don’t have the ability to sniff out one wine from another. I hate the adjectives (wine bullshit) wine snobs use to describe wines and have always suspected that people who claim to have such sensitive palates are no better at it than I.
It was also a revelation to learn how little research has been done to reduce hangovers. You would think that drug companies would be tripping over each other to find a cure for this common ailment.
February 2, 2015
Ok, so I know the title of the book has the word "science" in it.....but somehow I didn't think there would be this MUCH of it!
I need a book called the history of booze, that would be more my speed. I'm just not a science guy and this book didn't do it for me. Dropped it at around 20% in.
I need a book called the history of booze, that would be more my speed. I'm just not a science guy and this book didn't do it for me. Dropped it at around 20% in.
November 6, 2014
Recommended for all loves and appreciators of alcohol.
Proof was just my kind of book- a massive information drop on a subject that I have appreciated but didn’t really know much about. It was written in journalistic style with wit that made it edgy and fun. The book made me thirsty, and as I drank, I appreciated how little we really understand about alcohol. Given them million different variations on beer, wine, and liquor, I had incorrectly assumed that we had basically unlocked the mysteries of the drink.
Turns out that’s a big “nope.” It appears that alcohol is still very much the mysterious miracle it always was. We don’t really understand what makes people get drunk, what causes hangovers, or even why people drink (ethanol is really gross, but um, also so so good?).
So why read a book explaining that we don’t really know that much about alcohol? Well, if you are in to the drink, then you get to learn all sorts of nifty facts about the “angels share,” that your hangover is worst as your body nears 0.0 BAC, and have all sorts of fun discussions with people about what came first- civilization or alcohol? Oh, and if you’re American, there is all sorts of prohibition woe that will fill your spirit, much in the same way bibliophile’s still lament the destruction of the Alexandrian library (which, awesomely, is mentioned –sort of- along with Douglas Adams and a bunch of other things I love, like women scientists!)
A word of caution though- I definitely would recommend print over the audiobook. The narrator is unpleasant to listen to. He has a raspish voice, lispy “s”, and grating diction. Also, there is such a HUGE amount of information and chemical names, I really feel that this book would benefit from being read.
**Dear pharma companies- please begin investing in an anti-hangover medication. I’m fairly hangover resistant (thank you Viking and Scottish genes), but it would certainly be nice to have that level of sureness. I promise I won’t drink more, okay, maybe I’ll drink ONE more, but that’s all. I swear. I’ll be good. I just want to be 100% that I won’t even have a wee headache in the morning. I don’t understand the moralizing over alcohol any ways. Stop holding over from the 30’s people.
And as an added bonus one of my favorite drinking songs!
Literally, if you love drink (and pirates), this is the best song ever
ONE FOR THE ROAD!t
Proof was just my kind of book- a massive information drop on a subject that I have appreciated but didn’t really know much about. It was written in journalistic style with wit that made it edgy and fun. The book made me thirsty, and as I drank, I appreciated how little we really understand about alcohol. Given them million different variations on beer, wine, and liquor, I had incorrectly assumed that we had basically unlocked the mysteries of the drink.
Turns out that’s a big “nope.” It appears that alcohol is still very much the mysterious miracle it always was. We don’t really understand what makes people get drunk, what causes hangovers, or even why people drink (ethanol is really gross, but um, also so so good?).
So why read a book explaining that we don’t really know that much about alcohol? Well, if you are in to the drink, then you get to learn all sorts of nifty facts about the “angels share,” that your hangover is worst as your body nears 0.0 BAC, and have all sorts of fun discussions with people about what came first- civilization or alcohol? Oh, and if you’re American, there is all sorts of prohibition woe that will fill your spirit, much in the same way bibliophile’s still lament the destruction of the Alexandrian library (which, awesomely, is mentioned –sort of- along with Douglas Adams and a bunch of other things I love, like women scientists!)
A word of caution though- I definitely would recommend print over the audiobook. The narrator is unpleasant to listen to. He has a raspish voice, lispy “s”, and grating diction. Also, there is such a HUGE amount of information and chemical names, I really feel that this book would benefit from being read.
**Dear pharma companies- please begin investing in an anti-hangover medication. I’m fairly hangover resistant (thank you Viking and Scottish genes), but it would certainly be nice to have that level of sureness. I promise I won’t drink more, okay, maybe I’ll drink ONE more, but that’s all. I swear. I’ll be good. I just want to be 100% that I won’t even have a wee headache in the morning. I don’t understand the moralizing over alcohol any ways. Stop holding over from the 30’s people.
And as an added bonus one of my favorite drinking songs!
Literally, if you love drink (and pirates), this is the best song ever
ONE FOR THE ROAD!t
April 11, 2016
“Proof” is an outstanding book. Neither too short nor too long for its topic, it crisply discusses various elements of the production of (ingestible) alcohol. The author, Adam Rogers, an editor at Wired magazine, writes in a compelling, engaging fashion, including enough science to be interesting and not superficial, without putting in so much science that the average reader gets bored.
Rogers discusses in turn every major element of the process. First, he covers yeasts, ranging over their history in the happenstance production of alcohol, through the modern production of specialized yeasts for different processes. Then he discusses sugars, the raw material on which yeasts act, and then fermentation—the process of yeasts acting on sugar. This sounds very technical, and parts of it are. But Rogers manages to smoothly intersperse simplified scientific discussions with anecdotes and conversations with individuals tied to each topic of interest. It all fits together quite well.
“Proof” then moves on to secondary steps in alcohol production: distillation and aging. Rogers ends with ancillary topics: the mostly subjective area of smell and taste, and then the objective, but poorly understood, area of the effect of alcohol on the human body and brain. Finally, Rogers caps off the book with a discussion of hangovers.
Perhaps controversially, Rogers implies that he believes two heresies: that all vodka is the same and therefore perceived taste differences in vodka are delusional, and that much wine appreciation is similarly delusional. As to vodka, I have no idea, although a liquor company executive once told me the same thing and blind taste tests tend to prove delusion as well. Rogers faintly contemptuously points out that vodka has no congeners and is merely pure alcohol, and that while “die-hard vodka drinkers believe that the purest vodkas really do differ in flavor, on its face, that claim doesn’t make sense.” He notes that “one hypothesis for why they don’t says that [water] forms crystalline molecular cages called clathrates, trapping ethanol inside. . . . . [but] it’s not like there are taste buds for hydrogen bond strength.” He never quite comes out and says that perceived vodka differences are fantasy, though.
As to wine, Rogers seems to believe, with long discussion, that most wine perception is purely subjective, although with training, experts can sometimes use the same language to describe the same wines—but they are likely perceiving things differently, even though they are using the same language, and nearly all perceptions of relative quality are purely subjective, both to the person and the situation. Yes, an expert can identify a specific wine—but only one that he is familiar with, in most cases. His own description of an unfamiliar wine will usually vary from the descriptions of others, even when supposedly using a common vocabulary. Rogers notes studies that wine tasters who are given white wines to taste, then the same wine colored red, report wildly different tastes, appropriate for red wines, for the colored white wines. Rogers notes studies that show that no human can actually distinguish more than four flavors or smells blended together, in wine or anything else. He implies that he believes that people like Robert Parker “are essentially making it all up. Or, like some storefront psychics, possibly they think they know what they’re talking about, when in actuality they’ve merely intuited their way into a con.” So this book may enrage the haute vodka or wine drinker.
For the book as a whole, its net effect is something like watching “Modern Marvels” or “How It’s Made,” but in print and in more detail. Of course, if you hate shows like those, you won’t like this book. But if you do, you’ll love this book.
Rogers discusses in turn every major element of the process. First, he covers yeasts, ranging over their history in the happenstance production of alcohol, through the modern production of specialized yeasts for different processes. Then he discusses sugars, the raw material on which yeasts act, and then fermentation—the process of yeasts acting on sugar. This sounds very technical, and parts of it are. But Rogers manages to smoothly intersperse simplified scientific discussions with anecdotes and conversations with individuals tied to each topic of interest. It all fits together quite well.
“Proof” then moves on to secondary steps in alcohol production: distillation and aging. Rogers ends with ancillary topics: the mostly subjective area of smell and taste, and then the objective, but poorly understood, area of the effect of alcohol on the human body and brain. Finally, Rogers caps off the book with a discussion of hangovers.
Perhaps controversially, Rogers implies that he believes two heresies: that all vodka is the same and therefore perceived taste differences in vodka are delusional, and that much wine appreciation is similarly delusional. As to vodka, I have no idea, although a liquor company executive once told me the same thing and blind taste tests tend to prove delusion as well. Rogers faintly contemptuously points out that vodka has no congeners and is merely pure alcohol, and that while “die-hard vodka drinkers believe that the purest vodkas really do differ in flavor, on its face, that claim doesn’t make sense.” He notes that “one hypothesis for why they don’t says that [water] forms crystalline molecular cages called clathrates, trapping ethanol inside. . . . . [but] it’s not like there are taste buds for hydrogen bond strength.” He never quite comes out and says that perceived vodka differences are fantasy, though.
As to wine, Rogers seems to believe, with long discussion, that most wine perception is purely subjective, although with training, experts can sometimes use the same language to describe the same wines—but they are likely perceiving things differently, even though they are using the same language, and nearly all perceptions of relative quality are purely subjective, both to the person and the situation. Yes, an expert can identify a specific wine—but only one that he is familiar with, in most cases. His own description of an unfamiliar wine will usually vary from the descriptions of others, even when supposedly using a common vocabulary. Rogers notes studies that wine tasters who are given white wines to taste, then the same wine colored red, report wildly different tastes, appropriate for red wines, for the colored white wines. Rogers notes studies that show that no human can actually distinguish more than four flavors or smells blended together, in wine or anything else. He implies that he believes that people like Robert Parker “are essentially making it all up. Or, like some storefront psychics, possibly they think they know what they’re talking about, when in actuality they’ve merely intuited their way into a con.” So this book may enrage the haute vodka or wine drinker.
For the book as a whole, its net effect is something like watching “Modern Marvels” or “How It’s Made,” but in print and in more detail. Of course, if you hate shows like those, you won’t like this book. But if you do, you’ll love this book.
October 1, 2017
Three stars is a bit low for this book, while I enjoyed it, and it would actually rank somewhere around the 3.75 mark, I couldn't bring myself to round up when using Goodreads' infuriating whole star rating system.
An easy read riddled with trivia around the topic of booze and drinking, each chapter featuring a single topic. This "short story" style makes it easy to pick up and put down, and I'm afraid my professional occupation made some of the more novel bits discussed by others skim worthy for me. I can, however, still see the draw for others, and included this book in an Oktoberfest themed reading list on my blog (tangibleansible.wordpress.com).
An easy read riddled with trivia around the topic of booze and drinking, each chapter featuring a single topic. This "short story" style makes it easy to pick up and put down, and I'm afraid my professional occupation made some of the more novel bits discussed by others skim worthy for me. I can, however, still see the draw for others, and included this book in an Oktoberfest themed reading list on my blog (tangibleansible.wordpress.com).
Read
September 18, 2021I won't be rating this because I read this for a history class but it's a good, pretty short non-fiction about primarily the science of alcohol, with a bit of history thrown in there too. It's written by a Wired journalist and he's definitely writing for a general audience. This is definitely a good book for people interested in alcohol and I don't drink, so I definitely missed some stuff when it came to taste and sensation and things on that front. There were still parts I enjoyed but I would mostly recommend this to people who do drink, at least every once in a while, and have some curiosity about what is actually happening with the alcohol they're drinking.
July 6, 2019
It was a lot of chemistry. I'm better at drinking alcohol than learning the science about it. It's cool, I'll just stay in my lane.
July 6, 2015
Proof by Adam Rogers
Proof is a nerds eye view (get it? It's like birds eye view, you know like a big picture overhead kind of perspective, but like, the reverse in a sense, so it's like a super zoomed in look at the more technical aspects of a given subject, in this case) of booz.
I thought of the phrase "nerds eye view" just a moment ago, and I was all excited. I imagined a series of books like ______ for dummies, only _____ for smart people. Anyway, some person who is probably smarter than me already thought of it.
Hold on. Let me Google it....
Yep. It's already been done.
Of course it has.
Has this ever happened to you?
You think of something and get excited and then Google it and it's already a thing. And then you feel all disappointed.
Does that phenomena have a name?
Like Googapointment or Dissagoogle.
Those are terrible names but you get the idea right?
Okay. Let me Google the concept and see if there's word for that.
Nope...
Okay, here's my chance to contribute to something to pop culture.
If I can just jin up a cute or clever enough name for this thing, perhaps I can get a meme rolling.
And nothing...
I got nothing...
Anyway, Proof is a nerds eye view of Alcohol. The history, chemistry and craft behind that deliciously problematic pastime otherwise know as getting fucked up.
I no longer drink or use intoxicants of any sort. But I still found this book utterly fascinating and fun. In fact I had a hard time putting it down.
No. No. I will not make the obvious, nay obligatory quip about the book being addictive or what ever.
I'm better than that. Or at least I'd like to continue to cling to that belief for a bit longer.
Anyway.
One thing that proof did for me is spark my interest in organic and biochemistry.
About midway through the book I found myself fantasizing about being like a vampire or something, and being able to live long enough to thoroughly pursue all of the interesting, nerdy things that I would love to learn about.
That is what you call a REALLY LAME fantasy.
I'm ashamed.
But there you have it.
Anyway. The author, Adam Rogers (cool nome de plume dude, how'd ya dream that one up) is a really interesting and breezy writer.
He can really turn a phrase.
About now it should be clear that I don't have much to say about Proof. Other than it was a great summer read.
You can take my word for it, or if you need proof (get it?...proof?...right?.....) you can read it for your self.
One last obligatory warning statement.
As an addiction recovery professional, I would be remiss in my duty if I did not provide the following precautionary addendum.
A brief nerds eye view of addiction:
The taste of alcohol is aversive. But the secondary psychological effects are typically quite rewarding. So the brain learns to perceive the flavors of alcohol appetitively.
In common parlance, you acquire the taste.
Of course getting too drunk can be downright awful. Vomiting is particularly aversive. Often times when you vomit after ingesting a given food or drink, your brain generates a very strong signal to never ingest that shit ever again.
If you've ever gotten so drunk that you barfed, you probably noticed yourself uttering the anguished and drool soaked words "I'm never ever going to fucking drink again" or something along those lines.
There are of course myriad other aversive long-term effects of habitual drinking.
And of course ethanol is highly addictive.
So one can easily find themselves in the peculiar situation of hating the effects of alcohol, and still feeling compelled to drink it.
It's a common misperception that liking and wanting are the same thing. The findings of neuroscience clearly demonstrate that they're not.
The fact of the matter is that you can hate something that you want, this is a common experience of alcoholics and other substance dependence individuals.
You don't know how many times I've heard clients say "I hate meth, I have know idea why I do it", or "I don't even like heroin any more, but I can't stop".
Another common misperception is that people "decide" or "chose" to do the things they do. Not always, and never 100%.
Human motivation has implicit (unconscious and automatic) and explicit (conscious and intentional) biological, psychological and social factors.
In the case of substance dependence, implicit biological factors can override explicit psychological and social factors and take control of the behavior.
In fact, substance depended individuals can have an extremely difficult time using explicit psychological and social factors to override their implicit biologically driven automatic behavioral tendencies.
In other words, drunks and junkies can have a really difficult time kicking dope or booze, even if they want to, and even if everyone around them is giving them hella shit for using.
So please use extreme caution when you're playing with fire water. If you find yourself addicted don't trip, it can happen to anybody. Just go get help.
Proof is a nerds eye view (get it? It's like birds eye view, you know like a big picture overhead kind of perspective, but like, the reverse in a sense, so it's like a super zoomed in look at the more technical aspects of a given subject, in this case) of booz.
I thought of the phrase "nerds eye view" just a moment ago, and I was all excited. I imagined a series of books like ______ for dummies, only _____ for smart people. Anyway, some person who is probably smarter than me already thought of it.
Hold on. Let me Google it....
Yep. It's already been done.
Of course it has.
Has this ever happened to you?
You think of something and get excited and then Google it and it's already a thing. And then you feel all disappointed.
Does that phenomena have a name?
Like Googapointment or Dissagoogle.
Those are terrible names but you get the idea right?
Okay. Let me Google the concept and see if there's word for that.
Nope...
Okay, here's my chance to contribute to something to pop culture.
If I can just jin up a cute or clever enough name for this thing, perhaps I can get a meme rolling.
And nothing...
I got nothing...
Anyway, Proof is a nerds eye view of Alcohol. The history, chemistry and craft behind that deliciously problematic pastime otherwise know as getting fucked up.
I no longer drink or use intoxicants of any sort. But I still found this book utterly fascinating and fun. In fact I had a hard time putting it down.
No. No. I will not make the obvious, nay obligatory quip about the book being addictive or what ever.
I'm better than that. Or at least I'd like to continue to cling to that belief for a bit longer.
Anyway.
One thing that proof did for me is spark my interest in organic and biochemistry.
About midway through the book I found myself fantasizing about being like a vampire or something, and being able to live long enough to thoroughly pursue all of the interesting, nerdy things that I would love to learn about.
That is what you call a REALLY LAME fantasy.
I'm ashamed.
But there you have it.
Anyway. The author, Adam Rogers (cool nome de plume dude, how'd ya dream that one up) is a really interesting and breezy writer.
He can really turn a phrase.
About now it should be clear that I don't have much to say about Proof. Other than it was a great summer read.
You can take my word for it, or if you need proof (get it?...proof?...right?.....) you can read it for your self.
One last obligatory warning statement.
As an addiction recovery professional, I would be remiss in my duty if I did not provide the following precautionary addendum.
A brief nerds eye view of addiction:
The taste of alcohol is aversive. But the secondary psychological effects are typically quite rewarding. So the brain learns to perceive the flavors of alcohol appetitively.
In common parlance, you acquire the taste.
Of course getting too drunk can be downright awful. Vomiting is particularly aversive. Often times when you vomit after ingesting a given food or drink, your brain generates a very strong signal to never ingest that shit ever again.
If you've ever gotten so drunk that you barfed, you probably noticed yourself uttering the anguished and drool soaked words "I'm never ever going to fucking drink again" or something along those lines.
There are of course myriad other aversive long-term effects of habitual drinking.
And of course ethanol is highly addictive.
So one can easily find themselves in the peculiar situation of hating the effects of alcohol, and still feeling compelled to drink it.
It's a common misperception that liking and wanting are the same thing. The findings of neuroscience clearly demonstrate that they're not.
The fact of the matter is that you can hate something that you want, this is a common experience of alcoholics and other substance dependence individuals.
You don't know how many times I've heard clients say "I hate meth, I have know idea why I do it", or "I don't even like heroin any more, but I can't stop".
Another common misperception is that people "decide" or "chose" to do the things they do. Not always, and never 100%.
Human motivation has implicit (unconscious and automatic) and explicit (conscious and intentional) biological, psychological and social factors.
In the case of substance dependence, implicit biological factors can override explicit psychological and social factors and take control of the behavior.
In fact, substance depended individuals can have an extremely difficult time using explicit psychological and social factors to override their implicit biologically driven automatic behavioral tendencies.
In other words, drunks and junkies can have a really difficult time kicking dope or booze, even if they want to, and even if everyone around them is giving them hella shit for using.
So please use extreme caution when you're playing with fire water. If you find yourself addicted don't trip, it can happen to anybody. Just go get help.
Want to read
July 27, 2022推薦序嗜酒的真菌
梁岱琦
那一年到艾雷島波摩（Bowmore）蒸餾廠，
走進可能是世界上最古老的威士忌酒窖裡，
牆外是波濤洶湧的大海、牆內靜謐得彷彿另一時空。
威士忌酒液在橡木桶裡靜靜地睡著，
那一堵阻隔了海洋與威士忌的牆，上頭黑抹抹一片，
本以為是歲月的累積，後來才知道，上頭附著的原來是種真菌
，還是種專門吃乙醇、識貨的真菌！
許多蒸餾廠的牆上、天花板裡，常會長出黑色、
不甚美觀的黴菌，對製酒沒什麼影響，
但對酒廠的外觀和住在酒廠附近的居民可是一大問題。
威士忌在橡木桶中熟成時，酒液會從木桶的孔隙中，
揮發至空氣裡，這些隨著時間而蒸發的酒，稱為「天使的分享
」（The Angelsʼ
Share），橡木桶裡少掉的威士忌，
本以為只是被貪杯的天使給喝掉，沒想到還有真菌來分一杯羹。
《酒的科學》作者亞當．羅傑斯身為雜誌編輯，
發揮他對新聞和酒精同樣敏銳的嗅覺，
挖掘到當初本只為了解決蒸餾廠遭汙染的外牆，
結果竟意外發現全新「菌屬」的故事。在驗證菌種的過程裡，
真菌專家遭遇挫折，
後來發現只要在培養皿裡倒些加拿大會所威士忌（Canadian
Club），原本奄奄一息的真菌就長得飛快，
證明威士忌酒廠裡不但藏有佳釀，還有全新不為世人所認識、
專吃空氣中因「天使的分享」散發出酒精的真菌。
這樣意外的發現，常在閱讀《酒的科學》過程中出現。
炎熱的夏季裡，喜歡來上一杯白酒消暑，尤其偏愛白蘇維濃，
如果是來自新世界產區紐西蘭就更棒了。
本只是單純喜歡白蘇維濃裡與眾不同的芭樂香氣，看了《
酒的科學》才知道，原來是白蘇維濃葡萄品種裡含有「硫醇」
這種化學物質，才造就獨一無二、充滿異國風情的滋味。
「這種葡萄富含稱為硫醇的化學物質。在葡萄汁裡，
硫醇會與半胱胺酸這種氨基酸連結……
但是酵母能將少量的硫醇與半胱胺酸分離，
這樣可以為你帶來白蘇維濃所特有的『百香果』或『熱帶水果』的果香味。」這段文字對離開高中後，
就再也不曾碰觸過任何生物或化學知識的人，譬如我，
其實有些難懂，不過���點是，有像亞當．
羅傑斯這樣的作者幫忙，他用最淺顯的方式將複雜的過程簡化
，讓即使懼怕理科的人也能立即看懂重點。
《酒的科學》告訴我們，杯中的世界大有來頭，
酒的學問不只是好喝與不好喝，構成風味的元素極為複雜。
喝酒有「理性與感性」一體兩面，
當我們一再探究風土如何影響酒的滋味，
有一群人以純然理性的角度，
運用科學的方法分析解構酒的本質，
我們只需要感性地將酒杯倒滿，慢慢地啜飲即可，「酒的科學」交給科學家們，喝酒這辛苦的差事，就由我們代勞吧！
（本文作者著有《到艾雷島喝威士忌：嗆味酒人朝聖之旅》）
序曲
酒的故事訴說著一次又一次微妙的觀察與圓滿的體悟，形塑出
、亦塑形自我們最普遍的共同經驗與集體記憶。
人類與酒精的關係，
就像是為我們與自然界攝製的一部全景立體投影，
影像中的人類與世界相映生輝。
這店鋪藏身於紐約唐人街的巷弄深處，
外觀巧妙地融入附近街景，看來毫不起眼，也難以分辨。
按照店面招牌所寫，應該是一家室內設計坊，可是，
似乎又不太像；不過倒也無妨，
反正上面的文字都已被鷹架遮住，只剩旁邊標示著中文。
門牌也放錯位置，貼在一扇通往樓上公寓的門上，
看來連地址也是僅供參考。這地方真的很不好找，
除非你仔細尋覓，不然多半都會錯過。
倘若你是前來赴約，並且終於通過折騰人的門牌地址猜謎遊戲
，或許現在可以低頭欣賞你的獎品，那是一張寫了字的小紙片
，黏在窗上及腰的高度。上面寫著：「布克與達克斯（
BOOKER AND DAX）。」
在熟門熟路的紐約客眼中，「布克與達克斯」
是一家洋溢著居家風格的酒吧，外牆用紅磚砌成，
位於離此處北方差不多二十條街的下東城區（Lower East
Side）。飲酒人士皆以虔敬之心看待這間酒吧，而毫無疑問的
，它可是世上數一數二的科學調酒創作大本營。
酒客們在這兒喝下肚的雞尾酒全部加起來，
恐怕還遠不及調酒魔法師大衛．阿諾德（Dave
Arnold）所耗費掉的研發用酒；
他在精心研製的過程裡採用特選酵素來純淨酒品，
搭配特製的實驗器材，以嚴格的標準進行改造，
各款傳統雞尾酒於是逐一變身為創意的傑作。
他的工作室就在唐人街的這間店鋪。
說起多才多藝的阿諾德，原本是畢業於哥倫比亞大學的雕刻家
，之後，他的傳奇經歷包括曾在紐約法國烹飪學院（French Culinary Institute）擔任烹飪技術系主任，
為許多世界知名的創意料理廚師們提供技術指導，
接著還成為一個討論烹飪技術的熱門電台節目主持人與部落客
。看他手中操弄著各式各樣新奇的器具與設備，沒錯，
他絕對稱得上是發明家，更是引領調酒創新的先驅。
各種傳統調酒只要經他之手，就會美味得讓人瞠目結舌；
而原本就相當瘋狂的飲品，則因為有他加持而變得更加精彩。
才剛走進門，阿諾德就打開了話匣子說個不停。
眼前這名男子體格相當結實，留了個刺蝟頭，
略顯灰白的頭髮或許是歲月留下的痕跡。
工作室裡有條為他量身打造的二氧化碳管，他打開開關，
為自己噴出一杯氣泡水──他對氣泡的大小很是講究──
然後又匆匆回去關注他正在進行的實驗。
這位術士正在施法當中。
工作室相當狹窄，寬度只有六公尺左右，
地下室接了二百二十伏特的高壓電源，裡頭擺滿各種電動工具
；一樓的牆上掛了張白板，上面寫滿實驗摘要，
白板旁剩下的牆面勉強擠進一個實驗室專用的玻璃器皿晾乾架
；另一邊的牆上則是一層一層的置物格，書本都是靠右擺放，
緊接著塞滿了各式各樣的酒瓶。阿諾德做試驗時，
會重複使用這批酒瓶來裝東西；
他會用藍色膠帶蓋掉酒瓶上原有的標籤，
然後往裡頭灌注不同的玩意兒。譬如說，有支英人牌（
Beefeater）的方肩琴酒，裡頭半滿的液體不是清澈的，
而是褐色，
這個畫面足以顛覆任何常年坐在吧台盯著酒架的人所習以為常
的印象。阿諾德把這支酒瓶拿下來擺在我面前，
並為我準備一只小酒杯，然後說嘗一點看看。標籤上手寫著「
西洋松二十五％」幾字。我在杯中倒入少許，
啜了約四分之一盎司。這味道就像是燉煮過的屋頂瓦片。
阿諾德端詳著我困窘狼狽的表情，鼻中發出了悶哼聲。
這是他還沒搞定的一項試驗品。
這批酒瓶的左手邊再過去些，
有一堆白色的塑膠容器和一罐罐化學原料。「這裡有些東西連我都不知道是什麼，」
他邊說邊從架上拿下一個容器，唸著上面的標示，「『凱爾妥強效劑』（Keltrol Advanced
Performance），這又是啥玩意兒？」
那玩意兒其實是玉米糖膠（Xanthan gum），一種乳化劑，很適合用在混搭液體與固態物質時，
使兩者調勻並保持濃稠度。
阿諾德用到的大部分化學材料不外乎三種──
分別是類似凱爾妥的增稠劑、用來分解蛋白質的酵素，
以及澄清劑，那是可以把固體雜質從液體中濾出的化學藥劑。
「當我接觸一種新水果或口味時，
我的標準反應是先將其成分單純化，然後研究口感的變化，」
阿諾德說道。明膠和魚膠可以有效地去除丹寧；甲殼素（
提煉自甲殼類動物的外殼）
和二氧化矽可以過濾牛奶中的固態懸浮物。
不過素食者是不吃甲殼素、明膠或魚膠的──
因為這些東西全來自動物。
阿諾德想為酒吧找到替代物。
他說曾經試用真菌細胞壁來提煉甲殼素，
如此一來或許素食者無話可說，只可惜澄清效果欠佳；另外，
還用過一種叫膨潤土（bentonite）的礦物質，效果也不理想。
有時，阿諾德也使用提煉自海藻的瓊脂（agar）。「
我喜歡用瓊脂來做淨化處理，而不是明膠。」他說，「
它們的風味不同。但是結果可能時好時壞，要看是否運用得當
。」
這裡用到的各種尖端化學技巧與實驗手法，
都只為了促成那完美無瑕的神奇時刻：調酒師獻上酒品，
客人開始啜飲的那一剎那。
就好比說，布克與達克斯推出了一款名叫「飛行員」（Aviator
）的調酒，這件即興之作堪稱經典，令人聯想到禁酒時期之前
，美國流行的一款雞尾酒：「飛行」（Aviation）──
那是以琴酒為基酒，加上檸檬汁、馬拉斯奇諾利口酒（
maraschino
liqueur）和少許紫羅蘭酒調成。若能調配得恰到好處，
這杯酒會呈現亮乳白色，光影之中隱約透露出淺藍色暈，
碎冰裡微微傳遞著橘皮的刺辣口感。
阿諾德的改版作法則是使用澄清的葡萄柚汁及萊姆汁，
成功為原創配方增加了濃郁的琴酒加草本風味的柑橘口感，
同時還能維持酒體的通透感。酒精飲料都有自己的風格，
就複雜度來說，完全不亞於任何頂級料理；
正是這般深刻的感觸，
使得布克與達克斯絲毫不敢懈怠而不斷創新。
倒是阿諾德並不這麼認為。「我並不想改變人們習慣的口味。
我只是努力變化我們的調酒方式，」他說，「
而不是讓客人們變得無法輕鬆自在。」
不過，話說回來，阿諾德又表示，
他在研究中所做的各種改善與調整，包括他使用旋轉蒸發器（
rotary-evaporator）做蒸餾處理，
以及用甲殼素澄清酒品等所有努力，
目的都是為了讓客人們變得輕鬆自在。
他致力於透過嚴格的科學方式，
期許每一次的品酒經驗都能同樣圓滿。
雖說在客人享用阿諾德的神奇創作之餘，
並不需要了解箇中奧秘，但是讓客人有機會欣賞一點奇幻手法
，或許對雙方都有好處。「有時候，」阿諾德說，「
因為客人完全不清楚我們在做些什麼，反而有點麻煩。」
在布克與達克斯剛開始營業的那些日子裡，
阿諾德每晚都會親上火線。有一次，
店裡來了位客人要點一杯伏特加蘇打。
它可說是有史以來最蠢的一種調酒；在大多數酒吧裡，
酒保會拿出平底杯，先裝滿冰塊，然後倒入少量廉價伏特加──
不是從後面的酒架上拿下來，而是取自吧台下的「雜物櫃」，
那裡頭放的都是些庶民百姓喝的普通品牌──接著，
他會拿起收銀機旁的塑膠噴頭，漫不經心地朝杯裡噴些碳酸水。
但是，在「布克與達克斯」可不能如此馬虎。
阿諾德心中盤算片刻之後，告訴那位酒客可以為他做一杯，
但得花上十分鐘，
並客氣地詢問是否可以具體告知想要嘗到的烈度？
阿諾德要計算好冰塊及蘇打水通常會造成的稀釋度，
然後按照這個比例，使用「滴定」（titrate）
裝置一點一滴慢慢調整伏特加的占比，
或許會用少許純淨的萊姆汁及純水來增減濃度，調和勻稱後，
再使用酒吧裡的二氧化碳噴管為整杯飲料製造出氣泡。
聽起來，這真是煞費苦心的伺候這種不知好歹的酒客味蕾。「
幹嘛這麼麻煩呢？」我問道，「伏特加蘇打分明就是垃圾。」
「我認為伏特加蘇打之所以會成為垃圾，
都是因為沒有好好的加入氣泡，」阿諾德回答，「
只要我能讓它的二氧化碳氣泡密度達到一定要求，
就不會變成垃圾。我絕對不會端出一杯難喝的雞尾酒。」
我有點想找碴：「可是客人要的就是一杯很粗獷的伏特加蘇打
，他想要噴槍噴出來的蘇打水，因為那是他習慣喝的東西。」
「請你搞清楚，我們並沒有立場去批評別人的品味。
但是我不會賣給你垃圾。」阿諾德說完停了下來，
啜飲一口自己調製的氣泡水。「
我還沒碰過有人不喜歡改良版的。」
兩個奇蹟
我曾在酒吧中享受過許多令人陶醉的絕美時光，
這本書才得以誕生。說到其中一次經驗：
在一個酷熱溼黏的華府夏日午後，
我跟友人相約下班後一起喝上一杯，然而因事耽擱，
眼看就要遲到。於是，我急忙穿越街道奔向酒吧，抵達時，
整個人狼狽不堪，汗水從腋下滲透了身上的襯衫，
額頭上沾著凌亂糾結的頭髮。
走進酒吧時，迎面而來的是一陣清涼乾爽──
那不只是空調冷氣的效果，
那分涼爽宛如深秋傍晚時分的微風輕拂。
當外頭仍處於烈日肆虐，
窗內的深色木質帷幕卻已為酒吧營造出夜晚十點的氣氛。
在一家好的酒吧裡，時間永遠滯留在晚上十點。
我點了杯啤酒；但我已不記得是哪個牌子。
只見酒保向我點了點頭，時間開始慢了下來。
他先為我鋪好一紙方巾，隨手取出一只啤酒杯，走向供酒閥。
眼見他推開拉桿，啤酒從桶中流出。不久後，啤酒送達，
只見杯子外緣結了一層薄霜。我緊緊握住杯子，
用心感受滿手沁涼，舉起杯子，仔細覺察它的重量，
然後啜飲一口。
時光瞬間停止。世界為之翻轉。看似如此微不足道的舉動──
不就是某人走進一間酒吧這麼簡單嗎？──然而，
正是這看似簡單的行為構築了本書的核心基石，
敘述一件人類有史以來無與倫比的盛事。在世界各地，
每天都發生成千，甚至數百萬次的這件事，看似尋常，
卻是人類成就、科技文明達到極致的表徵，
反映出人類在自然環境與工藝技術間領悟的奧義。
曾有考古學家及人類學家的論述主張，
啤酒的出現使得人類願意安家落戶，開始以務農為生──
認真地定居下來，栽植穀物，
從而停止了四處遷徙游牧的生活方式。
另外，當「智人」（Homo Sapiens
）創造了酒精飲料，毋庸置疑的也對社會與經濟帶來了革命，
促使其自身演進成為更具文明的人種。
地球上人類的生活方式於焉達到頂峰。
這著實是不折不扣的奇蹟。
其實總共有兩個奇蹟。
第一個奇蹟是經過二億年的演進才發生的。發酵，
這是個極其複雜而又驚人的奈米技術之作，過程中，
一種我們稱為酵母的真菌，
讓單純的糖類轉化成二氧化碳及乙醇。早在人類出現之前，
發酵和乙醇就已存在。微生物與人類共生共存於地球；然而，
微生物的世界裡不斷進行著我們看不見、永無休止的戰爭，
戰爭中使用乙醇做為武器，對人類大腦造成的愉悅效應，
則僅為其副作用。
發酵的生化作用在各種化工產業中都相當受到倚重，
但它至今仍是寶貴的研究題材。畢竟就在不久之前，
世上一些了不起的化學家和生物學家還不曉得它是什麼，
並為此爭論不休。路易．巴斯德（Louis
Pasteur）證明了釀酒酵母（Saccharomyces cerevisiae
，啤酒酵母）具有生命，並會引起發酵作用，因此功成名就，
也順勢帶動了細胞生物學的發展。
從遺傳學的角度看今天的改良菌種，則仍存在不少待解謎團：
它是在何時發展出製造乙醇的能力，以及人類是基於什麼原因
，又是在何時才將它馴化為己所用？
人類直到大約一萬年前才開始擁有控制發酵的能力，
隨即便與真菌建立起合作關係，
而等到認清這位合作伙伴的真實身分時，
又已經是許久之後的事了。
我們的先人使用了與馴養狗與牛一樣的方法來馴化這種微生物
，只為了一件事，就是製作發酵飲料。
據信，在距今二千年前左右，我們人類自己創造了第二個奇蹟
：蒸餾法，混沌之初的科學家所使用最古老的設備之一。
當時的煉金術士亟欲採集天地萬物菁華（spirits，靈魂）
做為煉丹靈藥；然而，在冶煉過程中收集起來的蒸汽，
卻意外提供了濃縮味道與香氣於液體（spirits，烈酒）
的絕佳途徑，產生的液體也發展成為人類日常消耗的各種飲品
。現代化學就是從蒸餾法衍生而出，
為人類奠定了石油經濟的基礎。
多虧了這些奇蹟，才能造就出酒吧裡的美妙時刻；
從屏氣凝神輕啜的第一口起，每分每秒都感受無比快樂，
在享用第二杯雞尾酒當下，歡欣之情依然無可挑剔。
乙醇的口感絕無僅有，當它放送出其他風味時更是別具特色。
製酒是一門工藝──然而製酒師們，無論���在野火雞波本威士忌
（Wild Turkey）、阿比塔啤酒（Abita）或是嘉露（E. & J.
Gallo）的酒廠工作，都不需要了解分子生物學、酵母酶運動學
、冶金學，或是多環芳香烴（Polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons）屬有機化學。（
不過他們往往具備這些名詞背後的知識。）他們知道，
蒸餾器的造型及金屬材質，與產出的酒品口感息息相關；
他們也相當清楚，揀選不同木材所製的熟陳用酒桶，
對最後的成品風味具有關鍵影響。（
比起用美國橡木桶熟陳的波本酒及蘇格蘭威士忌，
日本橡木桶熟陳的威士忌在口感上要來得更為辛辣。很有意思
，對吧？）
眾人多半以為，所謂科學就是發現新的事物。其實，
科學饒富趣味之處並不在於最後的答案，
而是在探討諸多仍然存疑的問題、親身參與（或閱讀）
解答的過程中。在製作發酵飲品、
接著加以蒸餾成為烈酒的過程裡，
每一個環節背後都藏有高深的科學知識，
讓許許多多的研究者想方設法努力探究。
這便是本書的主題。酒吧裡的歡樂時光，
代表了人類與身處環境之間至高無上的共鳴、科技的登峰造極
，以及我們對自己身體、心靈與行為進行反思的重大時刻。
威廉．福克納（William
Faulkner）應該說過：「人類文明始於蒸餾。」
我認為尤有甚者──還要納入蒸餾酒、葡萄酒、啤酒、蜂蜜酒、
清酒……無所不包。這是屬於杯中之物的文明。
酒的科學之旅
母親與我都很愛看黑色電影，對洛杉磯的滄桑往事也相當著迷
。有一晚，我們來到好萊塢大道上的穆索法蘭克餐廳（Musso
&Frank Grill，以黑色電影風格的裝潢聞名）用餐。餐廳的歷史相當悠久
，足可追溯至一九一○年代，是洛杉磯現存最古老的餐廳之一
。那時我還年幼，父母親平時喝的多半是葡萄酒，
不過母親從外祖母那遺傳了偶爾來上一杯馬丁尼（Martini）
的癖好。當晚，她就點了一杯來配她的牛排──
要加冰塊和兩顆橄欖。（有點令人傻眼！不就是琴酒嗎？）
侍者不想照母親吩咐的做，他說冰塊會糟蹋了那杯酒。
結果母親自己取來馬丁尼──加了冰塊後又搖又攪的，
再將酒濾入一只雞尾酒杯。此情此景給了我震撼的一課：
喝酒是有規矩的；儘管大家的規矩不盡相同，
但是有些喝法的滋味就是比較好。酒吧所堅持的方式與偏好，
來自其奉行的法則。談到法則呢……只能說，
每個人都有辦法創造自己的法則。
我念研究所時，手頭很緊，但還是三不五時想辦法湊個幾塊錢
，光顧波士頓市中心的一家時髦餐廳，吃些點心。
那家餐廳設有酒吧，而且在當時來說，
它的單一麥芽蘇格蘭威士忌的酒藏量相當可觀，
所以當父親帶著信用卡來看我時，我就帶他來到這間酒吧，
並提議品嘗一下單一麥芽蘇格蘭威士忌。
我們兩人都還從沒喝過。
我們是在某個上班日的晚上前去，人不太多，
調酒師頗為樂意的對我們炫耀了一番。
父親和我各自隨意挑了不同酒標的威士忌，
然後詢問最佳的品嘗方式。他回答說純飲最好，
旁邊伴上一杯水。於是，我們就照他說的做了。
當我們點的威士忌送來時，兩人各自將鼻子湊近，
先深嗅了一口酒的香氣，然後再啜上一口。緊接著，
我們不約而同地說出：「啊，慘了。」因為我們突然發現，
這會成為一項昂貴的嗜好。
我們擔心的事情也確實應驗了。事實上，在那之後又過了幾年
，我跟父親說我書已經念得夠多了。我打算去蘇格蘭一週，
來一趟蒸餾廠巡禮。他說要跟我一塊去。「好啊，」我說，「
但這純粹是蒸餾廠之旅，可不去什麼博物館或城堡。」
他一口答應，而且旅途中也真沒嘮叨過想去打一輪高爾夫球──
不過，我們倒是造訪了一座城堡。我的計畫是：
直接開車前往蘇格蘭西南端的坎培爾鎮（Cambeltown），
那裡生產世上最好的威士忌。一個世紀前，那裡蒸餾廠林立，
鼎盛時期有好幾十家在運作；而今只剩下一家依然屹立不搖，
那便是家喻戶曉的雲頂（Springbank）蒸餾廠。
如同其他單一麥芽威士忌製造商，雲頂自己為麥芽漿發酵（
基本上就是啤酒），並自行蒸餾。在全蘇格蘭，
雲頂又身為少數幾家依然堅持自行製作麥芽與儲藏酒桶，
還自設生產線將成酒裝瓶的酒廠，
而這正是製酒工藝的三大要素。
老城區高牆後的灰色建築便是蒸餾廠，
裡面有三座閃閃發亮的銅製蒸餾器，每座都有房子般大小，
而其中一座的外觀，與另外兩座略微不同──
蒸餾器的造型和其產出烈酒的風味關係重大。
蒸餾廠中可以買到的最陳年的酒，是一瓶十八年的雲頂，
口感層次豐富，釋放出蜂蜜、香草、菸葉、檸檬皮，
以及皮革的風味。他們也賣過二十五年的陳釀，到達這般酒齡
，當中的皮革味已化為柔滑的油脂香氣。今天，
你得花上六百塊美金才能買到一瓶；
我在自己的婚宴上曾經喝過，不過當時還沒那麼貴。
以上對於雲頂這瓶威士忌的品後感言（當然完全出自肺腑），
可能是所有蒸餾廠都會希望得到的酒評。
我的描述並非節錄自任何書籍或酒標，不過既然你已讀到，
勢必也會想從這支酒中找尋我所提到的各種風味。
酒評在飲酒界具有強大的暗示力，尤其是對業界稱為「超頂級
」（super-premium）價位的商品而言。當你所費不貲，
自然企盼得到非比尋常的感官經驗。
這只是一種行銷手法，與真正裝在瓶內之物的關係微乎其微。
如雲頂這般的單一麥芽威士忌，是秉持了百年傳統、經驗，
近乎手工作坊的精巧產物。
昔日的蘇格蘭人從巨大如牛的陳年釀桶中舀出樣本，
透過上天恩賜的非凡嗅覺，他們能夠判斷，嗯，
這桶可以再放個十年、那桶已經好了，就讓婦人們動手裝瓶吧
。然而，威士忌的行銷手法──也同樣發生在大部分酒品──
卻是挾傳統之名，加諸於商品以吸引客源，
全然成為一場金錢遊戲。許多世上最大的企業會講得天花亂墜
，把他們每年賣出好幾百萬加侖的東西，
向你吹噓成那是如何根據代代相傳的純正配方、
如何在蘇格蘭高地使用古老蒸餾器精製，孩子，你想嘗一點嗎
？
行銷人員急於編造故事，企圖強調歷史血統的純正，
反而忽略或遺漏了酒類最重要的精神──
那些一開始就真正讓我著迷的東西。
琢磨於討論成分與品嘗方法自然頗具樂趣。
不過若要細說酒的故事，則還需要另外一項鑑賞能力，
而這正是行銷人員所望塵莫及，因此，
只能乖乖將話語權還給製酒人與品酒人。破題的第一個問題是
：「他們是如何把酒做出來的？」
飲酒人口眾多。根據疾病控制與預防中心（Centers for
Disease Control and
Prevention）的調查，十八歲以上的美國人中，
有超過百分之六十五表示，他們在過去一年內至���喝過一次酒
。一九九九年時，
酒精飲料消費的全年營業額為三百八十億美元；到了二○一○
年，數字攀升到五百八十億美元。在二○一一年，
美國人全年一共喝掉了四億六千五百萬加侖的蒸餾酒、
八億三千六百萬加侖的葡萄酒，以及六十三億加侖的啤酒。
每杯啤酒或波本調酒的熱量，大約是一百二十五卡路里；
換句話說，一位定期參加社交活動的飲酒者，
每天攝取的卡路里中，可能有高達百分之十來自乙醇。
然而無論飲酒與否，很少人對酒精飲料具備清楚的認知，
包括它從何而來、為何口感如此，或是會對自身造成哪些影響
。這對飲酒者來說或許是個謎，但酒商可是一點都不在乎。
然而，這些謎題其實都已解開，
只不過是發生在酒莊和釀酒廠的高牆後、蒸餾廠裡，
以及世上許許多多的研究實驗室中。
與其讓酒商牽著鼻子灌輸我們杜撰的故事，
不如自己以科學的方法去了解我們喝的酒精飲料。
時下許多大都會的酒吧，
都高調主打以全新素材重新調製封藏已久的古早雞尾酒配方──
或是由調酒師推出令人耳目一新的自創配方。
歷史學家與法醫般的化學家聯手揣摩，
勉強還原出一些禁酒時期前的雞尾酒，
然後經由令人乏味的貝莫（BevMo!）鋪貨通路，
賣給口渴的大賣場顧客。一些啤酒貿易商則是收購小型釀酒廠
，或推出自己的限量精釀啤酒。如果你不缺錢、熱衷此道，
又有著不屈不撓的毅力，飲酒的確可以當作嗜好。
掂量一下自己的荷包，看來我還算得上是酒商歡迎的客戶。
鑑賞家的作風，恰巧和我不太上道的行徑不謀而合：
我的理論是，既然你鍾情於一項事物，就理當對它追根究柢。
而當你坐在吧台前，
可不能只顧著欣賞架上裝了五顏六色液體的酒瓶。
你應該勇於提問──那都是些什麼？為什麼看起來不同？
它們又是怎麼做出來的？不過，在這般窮追猛打的提問之後，
恐怕只有三種人能夠全身而退，那就是記者、科學家，
還有三歲小孩。可是，三歲小孩是不准進酒吧的。
從酵母到宿醉
接下來的章節，
將是針對啜飲下肚的酒精飲料所做的一場由生至死的編年記述
。首先我們要探討酵母菌，這是種會產生酒精的微生物，
隨之而來的是分子生物學與有機化學的研究領域。然後，
我們討論一下糖，也就是酵母菌的食物──而且，
我會說它是全宇宙最重要的分子。所以在聊到糖的時候，
我們會探討農作法以及人類與植物之間的關聯，
回顧一下人類是如何從野生植物裡揀擇，
將某些植物特別育種成農作物。再來，在糖的話題上，
我還會回頭提到一個不太討喜、不太知名的微生物種，
然而這物種的重要性比起酵母菌來毫不遜色。我個人特別偏愛
、稱為清酒麴（koji）的真菌，若非遭逢命運反覆捉弄，
很可能會是更重要的菌種。
明瞭酵母與糖的關係後，我們就可以討論發酵了，
這是一堂關於酵母菌吃了糖之後排放酒精的基礎生物課。
但話說回來，這裡也訴說了一個人類最早開始利用自然現象，
加以操控後為己所用的例子。
接下來會談到蒸餾，人類別具匠心的創意巧思在此顯露無遺。
蒸餾過程對發酵後的產物施以技術與工藝的魔法去蕪存菁，
使其搖身一變成為精煉的佳釀。發明蒸餾法之際，
正值人類利用技術改善生活條件的時代開啟，因此絕非偶然。
這項源自古埃及煉金術士的新技術持續發光發熱、開枝散葉，
廣泛應用在製藥、物理與冶金。
酒精飲料製造出來後，到達你準備享用的那一刻前，
它的生命通常是在一個木桶中度過──行家稱之為「熟成」（
maturation）。其間又隱藏了另一套截然不同的化學，
酒桶木質中各種基本元素引起的化學反應，
與桶中盛裝的液體同樣驚人。對於製酒人來說，
酒品的熟陳過程會影響經濟效益──因此，
他們也嘗試運用科技手段來加速熟陳以利銷售，
其中有些作法還不錯，有些則讓人不敢領教。
接著我們言歸正傳，繼續談談我剛才說個不停的酒吧時刻，
只是，討論的話題從外在環境，來到了人體內部。首先，
我們會提到人類感官如何面對酒精飲料這門神奇科學，
這個主題引發了神經學家與心理學家之間的終極論戰。
蒸餾而來的烈酒裡有數百種氣味分子構成它的風味，
然而至今還無人能夠將它們全部歸納清楚。泥煤（peat），
是經由部分腐化分解的泥煤苔蘚夾雜其他植物的不完全碳化而
形成，為蘇格蘭威士忌帶來煙燻和泥土的味道，
但會因為開採地點的不同，而生成不同的化合物──
法國葡萄酒商按照生物分子學觀點，稱其為酒的風土（terroir
）。在二○一○年，美國辛辛那提州立大學的化學家（
當然也是在莫斯科國立大學物理學家協助下）對幾種純度最高
、成分只有乙醇及水的伏特加進行口感差異研究，
結果發現乙醇與水分子間的氫鍵（hydrogen
bonds）強度是造成不同口感的主因。所以，
當我們從鐵錨牌荷蘭琴酒中聞到、嘗到杜松子酒的味道（
就舉個令人驚訝的例子），
其實背後藏有極其深奧的生物學與遺傳學玄機，
而發現者還因此獲得了諾貝爾獎。
再來，要想弄清楚酒精飲料對身體與大腦產生的影響，
則需要面對更加複雜的神經生物學，而在抽絲剝繭之際，
還要為這杯雞尾酒加上一、兩份社會學與人類學研究當做輔料
。舉個例子：我們都知道人會喝醉，還有人會成癮；然而，
經過一個世紀以來的研究依舊是個謎，
沒人真的明白為什麼喝醉後會有那樣的感覺。
本書最後（你不妨當成餐後酒）會談到宿醉，
是指當你不是小酌，而是喝了很多、很多，非常大量的酒後，
會發生的事情。宿醉背後的科學其實不痛不癢，
遠非你想像中那種會殃及許多人、感覺很惡劣的事情。事實上
，
直到過去這幾年才有研究人員勉強同意對宿醉做個正式的定義
，所以別指望有人會真心替它尋找原因（及解方）。終於，
好不容易有幾位勇氣十足的研究人員（
研究主題更是英勇得令人感動）對宿醉做了研究。
研究結果顯示，你在大學時對於宿醉的所見所聞都不正確。
製酒人與研究酒的人都清楚知道，
儘管他們投入大量心力進行研究，仍然無法完全掌握其中玄妙
。酒的世界依舊存在不少神秘領域，而這正是令人敬畏之處。
在科學上，酒精飲料永遠站在一個無法攻克的據點──
主觀經驗不斷與客觀事證在此交鋒。
儘管研究人員使用分析儀器探索了發酵作用與蒸餾過程，
並且從中獲益頗豐，然而在某些情況下，
仍然無法回答一些基本問題。
乙醇是少數幾種遭到濫用的合法藥物，
也是唯一在功能上人們無法充分了解的藥品。然而，
整個商業環境（在流行文化推波助瀾下掀起���個風潮）
卻沉溺於包裝、美化酒品風味、引誘人們擇類消費的氛圍中。
有些科學家想要讓兩條分道揚鑣的平行線有所交集。
他們想將那些影響口感的分子逐一造冊，
因為這些分子在酒中的分量舉足輕重，拿捏恰當可讓口感變好
（也就可能賣得更好）。另外，
他們也希望找出酩酊大醉時的大腦狀態，
以及乙醇對人的外在行為所造成的影響，
並嘗試為此提出經得起反覆驗證的解說。至今，
兩個目標都還沒有達成。
梁岱琦
那一年到艾雷島波摩（Bowmore）蒸餾廠，
走進可能是世界上最古老的威士忌酒窖裡，
牆外是波濤洶湧的大海、牆內靜謐得彷彿另一時空。
威士忌酒液在橡木桶裡靜靜地睡著，
那一堵阻隔了海洋與威士忌的牆，上頭黑抹抹一片，
本以為是歲月的累積，後來才知道，上頭附著的原來是種真菌
，還是種專門吃乙醇、識貨的真菌！
許多蒸餾廠的牆上、天花板裡，常會長出黑色、
不甚美觀的黴菌，對製酒沒什麼影響，
但對酒廠的外觀和住在酒廠附近的居民可是一大問題。
威士忌在橡木桶中熟成時，酒液會從木桶的孔隙中，
揮發至空氣裡，這些隨著時間而蒸發的酒，稱為「天使的分享
」（The Angelsʼ
Share），橡木桶裡少掉的威士忌，
本以為只是被貪杯的天使給喝掉，沒想到還有真菌來分一杯羹。
《酒的科學》作者亞當．羅傑斯身為雜誌編輯，
發揮他對新聞和酒精同樣敏銳的嗅覺，
挖掘到當初本只為了解決蒸餾廠遭汙染的外牆，
結果竟意外發現全新「菌屬」的故事。在驗證菌種的過程裡，
真菌專家遭遇挫折，
後來發現只要在培養皿裡倒些加拿大會所威士忌（Canadian
Club），原本奄奄一息的真菌就長得飛快，
證明威士忌酒廠裡不但藏有佳釀，還有全新不為世人所認識、
專吃空氣中因「天使的分享」散發出酒精的真菌。
這樣意外的發現，常在閱讀《酒的科學》過程中出現。
炎熱的夏季裡，喜歡來上一杯白酒消暑，尤其偏愛白蘇維濃，
如果是來自新世界產區紐西蘭就更棒了。
本只是單純喜歡白蘇維濃裡與眾不同的芭樂香氣，看了《
酒的科學》才知道，原來是白蘇維濃葡萄品種裡含有「硫醇」
這種化學物質，才造就獨一無二、充滿異國風情的滋味。
「這種葡萄富含稱為硫醇的化學物質。在葡萄汁裡，
硫醇會與半胱胺酸這種氨基酸連結……
但是酵母能將少量的硫醇與半胱胺酸分離，
這樣可以為你帶來白蘇維濃所特有的『百香果』或『熱帶水果』的果香味。」這段文字對離開高中後，
就再也不曾碰觸過任何生物或化學知識的人，譬如我，
其實有些難懂，不過���點是，有像亞當．
羅傑斯這樣的作者幫忙，他用最淺顯的方式將複雜的過程簡化
，讓即使懼怕理科的人也能立即看懂重點。
《酒的科學》告訴我們，杯中的世界大有來頭，
酒的學問不只是好喝與不好喝，構成風味的元素極為複雜。
喝酒有「理性與感性」一體兩面，
當我們一再探究風土如何影響酒的滋味，
有一群人以純然理性的角度，
運用科學的方法分析解構酒的本質，
我們只需要感性地將酒杯倒滿，慢慢地啜飲即可，「酒的科學」交給科學家們，喝酒這辛苦的差事，就由我們代勞吧！
（本文作者著有《到艾雷島喝威士忌：嗆味酒人朝聖之旅》）
序曲
酒的故事訴說著一次又一次微妙的觀察與圓滿的體悟，形塑出
、亦塑形自我們最普遍的共同經驗與集體記憶。
人類與酒精的關係，
就像是為我們與自然界攝製的一部全景立體投影，
影像中的人類與世界相映生輝。
這店鋪藏身於紐約唐人街的巷弄深處，
外觀巧妙地融入附近街景，看來毫不起眼，也難以分辨。
按照店面招牌所寫，應該是一家室內設計坊，可是，
似乎又不太像；不過倒也無妨，
反正上面的文字都已被鷹架遮住，只剩旁邊標示著中文。
門牌也放錯位置，貼在一扇通往樓上公寓的門上，
看來連地址也是僅供參考。這地方真的很不好找，
除非你仔細尋覓，不然多半都會錯過。
倘若你是前來赴約，並且終於通過折騰人的門牌地址猜謎遊戲
，或許現在可以低頭欣賞你的獎品，那是一張寫了字的小紙片
，黏在窗上及腰的高度。上面寫著：「布克與達克斯（
BOOKER AND DAX）。」
在熟門熟路的紐約客眼中，「布克與達克斯」
是一家洋溢著居家風格的酒吧，外牆用紅磚砌成，
位於離此處北方差不多二十條街的下東城區（Lower East
Side）。飲酒人士皆以虔敬之心看待這間酒吧，而毫無疑問的
，它可是世上數一數二的科學調酒創作大本營。
酒客們在這兒喝下肚的雞尾酒全部加起來，
恐怕還遠不及調酒魔法師大衛．阿諾德（Dave
Arnold）所耗費掉的研發用酒；
他在精心研製的過程裡採用特選酵素來純淨酒品，
搭配特製的實驗器材，以嚴格的標準進行改造，
各款傳統雞尾酒於是逐一變身為創意的傑作。
他的工作室就在唐人街的這間店鋪。
說起多才多藝的阿諾德，原本是畢業於哥倫比亞大學的雕刻家
，之後，他的傳奇經歷包括曾在紐約法國烹飪學院（French Culinary Institute）擔任烹飪技術系主任，
為許多世界知名的創意料理廚師們提供技術指導，
接著還成為一個討論烹飪技術的熱門電台節目主持人與部落客
。看他手中操弄著各式各樣新奇的器具與設備，沒錯，
他絕對稱得上是發明家，更是引領調酒創新的先驅。
各種傳統調酒只要經他之手，就會美味得讓人瞠目結舌；
而原本就相當瘋狂的飲品，則因為有他加持而變得更加精彩。
才剛走進門，阿諾德就打開了話匣子說個不停。
眼前這名男子體格相當結實，留了個刺蝟頭，
略顯灰白的頭髮或許是歲月留下的痕跡。
工作室裡有條為他量身打造的二氧化碳管，他打開開關，
為自己噴出一杯氣泡水──他對氣泡的大小很是講究──
然後又匆匆回去關注他正在進行的實驗。
這位術士正在施法當中。
工作室相當狹窄，寬度只有六公尺左右，
地下室接了二百二十伏特的高壓電源，裡頭擺滿各種電動工具
；一樓的牆上掛了張白板，上面寫滿實驗摘要，
白板旁剩下的牆面勉強擠進一個實驗室專用的玻璃器皿晾乾架
；另一邊的牆上則是一層一層的置物格，書本都是靠右擺放，
緊接著塞滿了各式各樣的酒瓶。阿諾德做試驗時，
會重複使用這批酒瓶來裝東西；
他會用藍色膠帶蓋掉酒瓶上原有的標籤，
然後往裡頭灌注不同的玩意兒。譬如說，有支英人牌（
Beefeater）的方肩琴酒，裡頭半滿的液體不是清澈的，
而是褐色，
這個畫面足以顛覆任何常年坐在吧台盯著酒架的人所習以為常
的印象。阿諾德把這支酒瓶拿下來擺在我面前，
並為我準備一只小酒杯，然後說嘗一點看看。標籤上手寫著「
西洋松二十五％」幾字。我在杯中倒入少許，
啜了約四分之一盎司。這味道就像是燉煮過的屋頂瓦片。
阿諾德端詳著我困窘狼狽的表情，鼻中發出了悶哼聲。
這是他還沒搞定的一項試驗品。
這批酒瓶的左手邊再過去些，
有一堆白色的塑膠容器和一罐罐化學原料。「這裡有些東西連我都不知道是什麼，」
他邊說邊從架上拿下一個容器，唸著上面的標示，「『凱爾妥強效劑』（Keltrol Advanced
Performance），這又是啥玩意兒？」
那玩意兒其實是玉米糖膠（Xanthan gum），一種乳化劑，很適合用在混搭液體與固態物質時，
使兩者調勻並保持濃稠度。
阿諾德用到的大部分化學材料不外乎三種──
分別是類似凱爾妥的增稠劑、用來分解蛋白質的酵素，
以及澄清劑，那是可以把固體雜質從液體中濾出的化學藥劑。
「當我接觸一種新水果或口味時，
我的標準反應是先將其成分單純化，然後研究口感的變化，」
阿諾德說道。明膠和魚膠可以有效地去除丹寧；甲殼素（
提煉自甲殼類動物的外殼）
和二氧化矽可以過濾牛奶中的固態懸浮物。
不過素食者是不吃甲殼素、明膠或魚膠的──
因為這些東西全來自動物。
阿諾德想為酒吧找到替代物。
他說曾經試用真菌細胞壁來提煉甲殼素，
如此一來或許素食者無話可說，只可惜澄清效果欠佳；另外，
還用過一種叫膨潤土（bentonite）的礦物質，效果也不理想。
有時，阿諾德也使用提煉自海藻的瓊脂（agar）。「
我喜歡用瓊脂來做淨化處理，而不是明膠。」他說，「
它們的風味不同。但是結果可能時好時壞，要看是否運用得當
。」
這裡用到的各種尖端化學技巧與實驗手法，
都只為了促成那完美無瑕的神奇時刻：調酒師獻上酒品，
客人開始啜飲的那一剎那。
就好比說，布克與達克斯推出了一款名叫「飛行員」（Aviator
）的調酒，這件即興之作堪稱經典，令人聯想到禁酒時期之前
，美國流行的一款雞尾酒：「飛行」（Aviation）──
那是以琴酒為基酒，加上檸檬汁、馬拉斯奇諾利口酒（
maraschino
liqueur）和少許紫羅蘭酒調成。若能調配得恰到好處，
這杯酒會呈現亮乳白色，光影之中隱約透露出淺藍色暈，
碎冰裡微微傳遞著橘皮的刺辣口感。
阿諾德的改版作法則是使用澄清的葡萄柚汁及萊姆汁，
成功為原創配方增加了濃郁的琴酒加草本風味的柑橘口感，
同時還能維持酒體的通透感。酒精飲料都有自己的風格，
就複雜度來說，完全不亞於任何頂級料理；
正是這般深刻的感觸，
使得布克與達克斯絲毫不敢懈怠而不斷創新。
倒是阿諾德並不這麼認為。「我並不想改變人們習慣的口味。
我只是努力變化我們的調酒方式，」他說，「
而不是讓客人們變得無法輕鬆自在。」
不過，話說回來，阿諾德又表示，
他在研究中所做的各種改善與調整，包括他使用旋轉蒸發器（
rotary-evaporator）做蒸餾處理，
以及用甲殼素澄清酒品等所有努力，
目的都是為了讓客人們變得輕鬆自在。
他致力於透過嚴格的科學方式，
期許每一次的品酒經驗都能同樣圓滿。
雖說在客人享用阿諾德的神奇創作之餘，
並不需要了解箇中奧秘，但是讓客人有機會欣賞一點奇幻手法
，或許對雙方都有好處。「有時候，」阿諾德說，「
因為客人完全不清楚我們在做些什麼，反而有點麻煩。」
在布克與達克斯剛開始營業的那些日子裡，
阿諾德每晚都會親上火線。有一次，
店裡來了位客人要點一杯伏特加蘇打。
它可說是有史以來最蠢的一種調酒；在大多數酒吧裡，
酒保會拿出平底杯，先裝滿冰塊，然後倒入少量廉價伏特加──
不是從後面的酒架上拿下來，而是取自吧台下的「雜物櫃」，
那裡頭放的都是些庶民百姓喝的普通品牌──接著，
他會拿起收銀機旁的塑膠噴頭，漫不經心地朝杯裡噴些碳酸水。
但是，在「布克與達克斯」可不能如此馬虎。
阿諾德心中盤算片刻之後，告訴那位酒客可以為他做一杯，
但得花上十分鐘，
並客氣地詢問是否可以具體告知想要嘗到的烈度？
阿諾德要計算好冰塊及蘇打水通常會造成的稀釋度，
然後按照這個比例，使用「滴定」（titrate）
裝置一點一滴慢慢調整伏特加的占比，
或許會用少許純淨的萊姆汁及純水來增減濃度，調和勻稱後，
再使用酒吧裡的二氧化碳噴管為整杯飲料製造出氣泡。
聽起來，這真是煞費苦心的伺候這種不知好歹的酒客味蕾。「
幹嘛這麼麻煩呢？」我問道，「伏特加蘇打分明就是垃圾。」
「我認為伏特加蘇打之所以會成為垃圾，
都是因為沒有好好的加入氣泡，」阿諾德回答，「
只要我能讓它的二氧化碳氣泡密度達到一定要求，
就不會變成垃圾。我絕對不會端出一杯難喝的雞尾酒。」
我有點想找碴：「可是客人要的就是一杯很粗獷的伏特加蘇打
，他想要噴槍噴出來的蘇打水，因為那是他習慣喝的東西。」
「請你搞清楚，我們並沒有立場去批評別人的品味。
但是我不會賣給你垃圾。」阿諾德說完停了下來，
啜飲一口自己調製的氣泡水。「
我還沒碰過有人不喜歡改良版的。」
兩個奇蹟
我曾在酒吧中享受過許多令人陶醉的絕美時光，
這本書才得以誕生。說到其中一次經驗：
在一個酷熱溼黏的華府夏日午後，
我跟友人相約下班後一起喝上一杯，然而因事耽擱，
眼看就要遲到。於是，我急忙穿越街道奔向酒吧，抵達時，
整個人狼狽不堪，汗水從腋下滲透了身上的襯衫，
額頭上沾著凌亂糾結的頭髮。
走進酒吧時，迎面而來的是一陣清涼乾爽──
那不只是空調冷氣的效果，
那分涼爽宛如深秋傍晚時分的微風輕拂。
當外頭仍處於烈日肆虐，
窗內的深色木質帷幕卻已為酒吧營造出夜晚十點的氣氛。
在一家好的酒吧裡，時間永遠滯留在晚上十點。
我點了杯啤酒；但我已不記得是哪個牌子。
只見酒保向我點了點頭，時間開始慢了下來。
他先為我鋪好一紙方巾，隨手取出一只啤酒杯，走向供酒閥。
眼見他推開拉桿，啤酒從桶中流出。不久後，啤酒送達，
只見杯子外緣結了一層薄霜。我緊緊握住杯子，
用心感受滿手沁涼，舉起杯子，仔細覺察它的重量，
然後啜飲一口。
時光瞬間停止。世界為之翻轉。看似如此微不足道的舉動──
不就是某人走進一間酒吧這麼簡單嗎？──然而，
正是這看似簡單的行為構築了本書的核心基石，
敘述一件人類有史以來無與倫比的盛事。在世界各地，
每天都發生成千，甚至數百萬次的這件事，看似尋常，
卻是人類成就、科技文明達到極致的表徵，
反映出人類在自然環境與工藝技術間領悟的奧義。
曾有考古學家及人類學家的論述主張，
啤酒的出現使得人類願意安家落戶，開始以務農為生──
認真地定居下來，栽植穀物，
從而停止了四處遷徙游牧的生活方式。
另外，當「智人」（Homo Sapiens
）創造了酒精飲料，毋庸置疑的也對社會與經濟帶來了革命，
促使其自身演進成為更具文明的人種。
地球上人類的生活方式於焉達到頂峰。
這著實是不折不扣的奇蹟。
其實總共有兩個奇蹟。
第一個奇蹟是經過二億年的演進才發生的。發酵，
這是個極其複雜而又驚人的奈米技術之作，過程中，
一種我們稱為酵母的真菌，
讓單純的糖類轉化成二氧化碳及乙醇。早在人類出現之前，
發酵和乙醇就已存在。微生物與人類共生共存於地球；然而，
微生物的世界裡不斷進行著我們看不見、永無休止的戰爭，
戰爭中使用乙醇做為武器，對人類大腦造成的愉悅效應，
則僅為其副作用。
發酵的生化作用在各種化工產業中都相當受到倚重，
但它至今仍是寶貴的研究題材。畢竟就在不久之前，
世上一些了不起的化學家和生物學家還不曉得它是什麼，
並為此爭論不休。路易．巴斯德（Louis
Pasteur）證明了釀酒酵母（Saccharomyces cerevisiae
，啤酒酵母）具有生命，並會引起發酵作用，因此功成名就，
也順勢帶動了細胞生物學的發展。
從遺傳學的角度看今天的改良菌種，則仍存在不少待解謎團：
它是在何時發展出製造乙醇的能力，以及人類是基於什麼原因
，又是在何時才將它馴化為己所用？
人類直到大約一萬年前才開始擁有控制發酵的能力，
隨即便與真菌建立起合作關係，
而等到認清這位合作伙伴的真實身分時，
又已經是許久之後的事了。
我們的先人使用了與馴養狗與牛一樣的方法來馴化這種微生物
，只為了一件事，就是製作發酵飲料。
據信，在距今二千年前左右，我們人類自己創造了第二個奇蹟
：蒸餾法，混沌之初的科學家所使用最古老的設備之一。
當時的煉金術士亟欲採集天地萬物菁華（spirits，靈魂）
做為煉丹靈藥；然而，在冶煉過程中收集起來的蒸汽，
卻意外提供了濃縮味道與香氣於液體（spirits，烈酒）
的絕佳途徑，產生的液體也發展成為人類日常消耗的各種飲品
。現代化學就是從蒸餾法衍生而出，
為人類奠定了石油經濟的基礎。
多虧了這些奇蹟，才能造就出酒吧裡的美妙時刻；
從屏氣凝神輕啜的第一口起，每分每秒都感受無比快樂，
在享用第二杯雞尾酒當下，歡欣之情依然無可挑剔。
乙醇的口感絕無僅有，當它放送出其他風味時更是別具特色。
製酒是一門工藝──然而製酒師們，無論���在野火雞波本威士忌
（Wild Turkey）、阿比塔啤酒（Abita）或是嘉露（E. & J.
Gallo）的酒廠工作，都不需要了解分子生物學、酵母酶運動學
、冶金學，或是多環芳香烴（Polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons）屬有機化學。（
不過他們往往具備這些名詞背後的知識。）他們知道，
蒸餾器的造型及金屬材質，與產出的酒品口感息息相關；
他們也相當清楚，揀選不同木材所製的熟陳用酒桶，
對最後的成品風味具有關鍵影響。（
比起用美國橡木桶熟陳的波本酒及蘇格蘭威士忌，
日本橡木桶熟陳的威士忌在口感上要來得更為辛辣。很有意思
，對吧？）
眾人多半以為，所謂科學就是發現新的事物。其實，
科學饒富趣味之處並不在於最後的答案，
而是在探討諸多仍然存疑的問題、親身參與（或閱讀）
解答的過程中。在製作發酵飲品、
接著加以蒸餾成為烈酒的過程裡，
每一個環節背後都藏有高深的科學知識，
讓許許多多的研究者想方設法努力探究。
這便是本書的主題。酒吧裡的歡樂時光，
代表了人類與身處環境之間至高無上的共鳴、科技的登峰造極
，以及我們對自己身體、心靈與行為進行反思的重大時刻。
威廉．福克納（William
Faulkner）應該說過：「人類文明始於蒸餾。」
我認為尤有甚者──還要納入蒸餾酒、葡萄酒、啤酒、蜂蜜酒、
清酒……無所不包。這是屬於杯中之物的文明。
酒的科學之旅
母親與我都很愛看黑色電影，對洛杉磯的滄桑往事也相當著迷
。有一晚，我們來到好萊塢大道上的穆索法蘭克餐廳（Musso
&Frank Grill，以黑色電影風格的裝潢聞名）用餐。餐廳的歷史相當悠久
，足可追溯至一九一○年代，是洛杉磯現存最古老的餐廳之一
。那時我還年幼，父母親平時喝的多半是葡萄酒，
不過母親從外祖母那遺傳了偶爾來上一杯馬丁尼（Martini）
的癖好。當晚，她就點了一杯來配她的牛排──
要加冰塊和兩顆橄欖。（有點令人傻眼！不就是琴酒嗎？）
侍者不想照母親吩咐的做，他說冰塊會糟蹋了那杯酒。
結果母親自己取來馬丁尼──加了冰塊後又搖又攪的，
再將酒濾入一只雞尾酒杯。此情此景給了我震撼的一課：
喝酒是有規矩的；儘管大家的規矩不盡相同，
但是有些喝法的滋味就是比較好。酒吧所堅持的方式與偏好，
來自其奉行的法則。談到法則呢……只能說，
每個人都有辦法創造自己的法則。
我念研究所時，手頭很緊，但還是三不五時想辦法湊個幾塊錢
，光顧波士頓市中心的一家時髦餐廳，吃些點心。
那家餐廳設有酒吧，而且在當時來說，
它的單一麥芽蘇格蘭威士忌的酒藏量相當可觀，
所以當父親帶著信用卡來看我時，我就帶他來到這間酒吧，
並提議品嘗一下單一麥芽蘇格蘭威士忌。
我們兩人都還從沒喝過。
我們是在某個上班日的晚上前去，人不太多，
調酒師頗為樂意的對我們炫耀了一番。
父親和我各自隨意挑了不同酒標的威士忌，
然後詢問最佳的品嘗方式。他回答說純飲最好，
旁邊伴上一杯水。於是，我們就照他說的做了。
當我們點的威士忌送來時，兩人各自將鼻子湊近，
先深嗅了一口酒的香氣，然後再啜上一口。緊接著，
我們不約而同地說出：「啊，慘了。」因為我們突然發現，
這會成為一項昂貴的嗜好。
我們擔心的事情也確實應驗了。事實上，在那之後又過了幾年
，我跟父親說我書已經念得夠多了。我打算去蘇格蘭一週，
來一趟蒸餾廠巡禮。他說要跟我一塊去。「好啊，」我說，「
但這純粹是蒸餾廠之旅，可不去什麼博物館或城堡。」
他一口答應，而且旅途中也真沒嘮叨過想去打一輪高爾夫球──
不過，我們倒是造訪了一座城堡。我的計畫是：
直接開車前往蘇格蘭西南端的坎培爾鎮（Cambeltown），
那裡生產世上最好的威士忌。一個世紀前，那裡蒸餾廠林立，
鼎盛時期有好幾十家在運作；而今只剩下一家依然屹立不搖，
那便是家喻戶曉的雲頂（Springbank）蒸餾廠。
如同其他單一麥芽威士忌製造商，雲頂自己為麥芽漿發酵（
基本上就是啤酒），並自行蒸餾。在全蘇格蘭，
雲頂又身為少數幾家依然堅持自行製作麥芽與儲藏酒桶，
還自設生產線將成酒裝瓶的酒廠，
而這正是製酒工藝的三大要素。
老城區高牆後的灰色建築便是蒸餾廠，
裡面有三座閃閃發亮的銅製蒸餾器，每座都有房子般大小，
而其中一座的外觀，與另外兩座略微不同──
蒸餾器的造型和其產出烈酒的風味關係重大。
蒸餾廠中可以買到的最陳年的酒，是一瓶十八年的雲頂，
口感層次豐富，釋放出蜂蜜、香草、菸葉、檸檬皮，
以及皮革的風味。他們也賣過二十五年的陳釀，到達這般酒齡
，當中的皮革味已化為柔滑的油脂香氣。今天，
你得花上六百塊美金才能買到一瓶；
我在自己的婚宴上曾經喝過，不過當時還沒那麼貴。
以上對於雲頂這瓶威士忌的品後感言（當然完全出自肺腑），
可能是所有蒸餾廠都會希望得到的酒評。
我的描述並非節錄自任何書籍或酒標，不過既然你已讀到，
勢必也會想從這支酒中找尋我所提到的各種風味。
酒評在飲酒界具有強大的暗示力，尤其是對業界稱為「超頂級
」（super-premium）價位的商品而言。當你所費不貲，
自然企盼得到非比尋常的感官經驗。
這只是一種行銷手法，與真正裝在瓶內之物的關係微乎其微。
如雲頂這般的單一麥芽威士忌，是秉持了百年傳統、經驗，
近乎手工作坊的精巧產物。
昔日的蘇格蘭人從巨大如牛的陳年釀桶中舀出樣本，
透過上天恩賜的非凡嗅覺，他們能夠判斷，嗯，
這桶可以再放個十年、那桶已經好了，就讓婦人們動手裝瓶吧
。然而，威士忌的行銷手法──也同樣發生在大部分酒品──
卻是挾傳統之名，加諸於商品以吸引客源，
全然成為一場金錢遊戲。許多世上最大的企業會講得天花亂墜
，把他們每年賣出好幾百萬加侖的東西，
向你吹噓成那是如何根據代代相傳的純正配方、
如何在蘇格蘭高地使用古老蒸餾器精製，孩子，你想嘗一點嗎
？
行銷人員急於編造故事，企圖強調歷史血統的純正，
反而忽略或遺漏了酒類最重要的精神──
那些一開始就真正讓我著迷的東西。
琢磨於討論成分與品嘗方法自然頗具樂趣。
不過若要細說酒的故事，則還需要另外一項鑑賞能力，
而這正是行銷人員所望塵莫及，因此，
只能乖乖將話語權還給製酒人與品酒人。破題的第一個問題是
：「他們是如何把酒做出來的？」
飲酒人口眾多。根據疾病控制與預防中心（Centers for
Disease Control and
Prevention）的調查，十八歲以上的美國人中，
有超過百分之六十五表示，他們在過去一年內至���喝過一次酒
。一九九九年時，
酒精飲料消費的全年營業額為三百八十億美元；到了二○一○
年，數字攀升到五百八十億美元。在二○一一年，
美國人全年一共喝掉了四億六千五百萬加侖的蒸餾酒、
八億三千六百萬加侖的葡萄酒，以及六十三億加侖的啤酒。
每杯啤酒或波本調酒的熱量，大約是一百二十五卡路里；
換句話說，一位定期參加社交活動的飲酒者，
每天攝取的卡路里中，可能有高達百分之十來自乙醇。
然而無論飲酒與否，很少人對酒精飲料具備清楚的認知，
包括它從何而來、為何口感如此，或是會對自身造成哪些影響
。這對飲酒者來說或許是個謎，但酒商可是一點都不在乎。
然而，這些謎題其實都已解開，
只不過是發生在酒莊和釀酒廠的高牆後、蒸餾廠裡，
以及世上許許多多的研究實驗室中。
與其讓酒商牽著鼻子灌輸我們杜撰的故事，
不如自己以科學的方法去了解我們喝的酒精飲料。
時下許多大都會的酒吧，
都高調主打以全新素材重新調製封藏已久的古早雞尾酒配方──
或是由調酒師推出令人耳目一新的自創配方。
歷史學家與法醫般的化學家聯手揣摩，
勉強還原出一些禁酒時期前的雞尾酒，
然後經由令人乏味的貝莫（BevMo!）鋪貨通路，
賣給口渴的大賣場顧客。一些啤酒貿易商則是收購小型釀酒廠
，或推出自己的限量精釀啤酒。如果你不缺錢、熱衷此道，
又有著不屈不撓的毅力，飲酒的確可以當作嗜好。
掂量一下自己的荷包，看來我還算得上是酒商歡迎的客戶。
鑑賞家的作風，恰巧和我不太上道的行徑不謀而合：
我的理論是，既然你鍾情於一項事物，就理當對它追根究柢。
而當你坐在吧台前，
可不能只顧著欣賞架上裝了五顏六色液體的酒瓶。
你應該勇於提問──那都是些什麼？為什麼看起來不同？
它們又是怎麼做出來的？不過，在這般窮追猛打的提問之後，
恐怕只有三種人能夠全身而退，那就是記者、科學家，
還有三歲小孩。可是，三歲小孩是不准進酒吧的。
從酵母到宿醉
接下來的章節，
將是針對啜飲下肚的酒精飲料所做的一場由生至死的編年記述
。首先我們要探討酵母菌，這是種會產生酒精的微生物，
隨之而來的是分子生物學與有機化學的研究領域。然後，
我們討論一下糖，也就是酵母菌的食物──而且，
我會說它是全宇宙最重要的分子。所以在聊到糖的時候，
我們會探討農作法以及人類與植物之間的關聯，
回顧一下人類是如何從野生植物裡揀擇，
將某些植物特別育種成農作物。再來，在糖的話題上，
我還會回頭提到一個不太討喜、不太知名的微生物種，
然而這物種的重要性比起酵母菌來毫不遜色。我個人特別偏愛
、稱為清酒麴（koji）的真菌，若非遭逢命運反覆捉弄，
很可能會是更重要的菌種。
明瞭酵母與糖的關係後，我們就可以討論發酵了，
這是一堂關於酵母菌吃了糖之後排放酒精的基礎生物課。
但話說回來，這裡也訴說了一個人類最早開始利用自然現象，
加以操控後為己所用的例子。
接下來會談到蒸餾，人類別具匠心的創意巧思在此顯露無遺。
蒸餾過程對發酵後的產物施以技術與工藝的魔法去蕪存菁，
使其搖身一變成為精煉的佳釀。發明蒸餾法之際，
正值人類利用技術改善生活條件的時代開啟，因此絕非偶然。
這項源自古埃及煉金術士的新技術持續發光發熱、開枝散葉，
廣泛應用在製藥、物理與冶金。
酒精飲料製造出來後，到達你準備享用的那一刻前，
它的生命通常是在一個木桶中度過──行家稱之為「熟成」（
maturation）。其間又隱藏了另一套截然不同的化學，
酒桶木質中各種基本元素引起的化學反應，
與桶中盛裝的液體同樣驚人。對於製酒人來說，
酒品的熟陳過程會影響經濟效益──因此，
他們也嘗試運用科技手段來加速熟陳以利銷售，
其中有些作法還不錯，有些則讓人不敢領教。
接著我們言歸正傳，繼續談談我剛才說個不停的酒吧時刻，
只是，討論的話題從外在環境，來到了人體內部。首先，
我們會提到人類感官如何面對酒精飲料這門神奇科學，
這個主題引發了神經學家與心理學家之間的終極論戰。
蒸餾而來的烈酒裡有數百種氣味分子構成它的風味，
然而至今還無人能夠將它們全部歸納清楚。泥煤（peat），
是經由部分腐化分解的泥煤苔蘚夾雜其他植物的不完全碳化而
形成，為蘇格蘭威士忌帶來煙燻和泥土的味道，
但會因為開採地點的不同，而生成不同的化合物──
法國葡萄酒商按照生物分子學觀點，稱其為酒的風土（terroir
）。在二○一○年，美國辛辛那提州立大學的化學家（
當然也是在莫斯科國立大學物理學家協助下）對幾種純度最高
、成分只有乙醇及水的伏特加進行口感差異研究，
結果發現乙醇與水分子間的氫鍵（hydrogen
bonds）強度是造成不同口感的主因。所以，
當我們從鐵錨牌荷蘭琴酒中聞到、嘗到杜松子酒的味道（
就舉個令人驚訝的例子），
其實背後藏有極其深奧的生物學與遺傳學玄機，
而發現者還因此獲得了諾貝爾獎。
再來，要想弄清楚酒精飲料對身體與大腦產生的影響，
則需要面對更加複雜的神經生物學，而在抽絲剝繭之際，
還要為這杯雞尾酒加上一、兩份社會學與人類學研究當做輔料
。舉個例子：我們都知道人會喝醉，還有人會成癮；然而，
經過一個世紀以來的研究依舊是個謎，
沒人真的明白為什麼喝醉後會有那樣的感覺。
本書最後（你不妨當成餐後酒）會談到宿醉，
是指當你不是小酌，而是喝了很多、很多，非常大量的酒後，
會發生的事情。宿醉背後的科學其實不痛不癢，
遠非你想像中那種會殃及許多人、感覺很惡劣的事情。事實上
，
直到過去這幾年才有研究人員勉強同意對宿醉做個正式的定義
，所以別指望有人會真心替它尋找原因（及解方）。終於，
好不容易有幾位勇氣十足的研究人員（
研究主題更是英勇得令人感動）對宿醉做了研究。
研究結果顯示，你在大學時對於宿醉的所見所聞都不正確。
製酒人與研究酒的人都清楚知道，
儘管他們投入大量心力進行研究，仍然無法完全掌握其中玄妙
。酒的世界依舊存在不少神秘領域，而這正是令人敬畏之處。
在科學上，酒精飲料永遠站在一個無法攻克的據點──
主觀經驗不斷與客觀事證在此交鋒。
儘管研究人員使用分析儀器探索了發酵作用與蒸餾過程，
並且從中獲益頗豐，然而在某些情況下，
仍然無法回答一些基本問題。
乙醇是少數幾種遭到濫用的合法藥物，
也是唯一在功能上人們無法充分了解的藥品。然而，
整個商業環境（在流行文化推波助瀾下掀起���個風潮）
卻沉溺於包裝、美化酒品風味、引誘人們擇類消費的氛圍中。
有些科學家想要讓兩條分道揚鑣的平行線有所交集。
他們想將那些影響口感的分子逐一造冊，
因為這些分子在酒中的分量舉足輕重，拿捏恰當可讓口感變好
（也就可能賣得更好）。另外，
他們也希望找出酩酊大醉時的大腦狀態，
以及乙醇對人的外在行為所造成的影響，
並嘗試為此提出經得起反覆驗證的解說。至今，
兩個目標都還沒有達成。
July 25, 2017
Smart, wit, tasty work about and around booze. must-read and reread
September 4, 2022
飲酒的文化尚且從文獻有跡可尋，科學的玩意就是樣本物再看得清楚，也受制於裸眼的不足；宿醉的因果關係再明擺在眼前，病理的層層推演仍然有待商榷。科學普及書，就好像《流言終結者》一樣，把你想當然爾的事捅破。所以我想，愛酒之人未必會那麼受用吧，畢竟你總不想當個 partypooper，一味更正大夥對酒的迷思，又或者把話吞下不說。所以本來這本東西，梗概其實是探索酒的科學的旅程，真理孰是孰非，不好說，更何況許多理論沒有蓋棺定論。
由此得出一個結論，也只有這回事才是確實的——不親自嘗試不會有趣。我不想將科普書拒之門外，也不想盲目全盤接受，更不想讀完無所得著，興許最有效方式是把酒買一買啦。無論是經古法 floor malting 炮製的 whisky、不用陳化上十年的 bourbon、利用不同穀物組合釀成的、在海上熟陳的、一反傳統光做浸泡的……邊喝配合邊讀，再沒有比這種閱讀體驗更加四維的了。果然最好的行銷，都要先把故事說好。
懸而未決也不是書的整體「風味」，Adam Rogers 畢竟也在 MIT 當過科學新聞學的 fellow，所提到的科學理論，都有充足說明該理論的接受程度。也就是說，哪些是結論，哪些是理論，讀者只要有用心都分辨得出來。只要別老指出人家的不是，在社交場合上說說酒品也沒多失禮。這本書的風味大概是有點彩色油墨味、千禧年代的那種懵懂而不是全知的報導風格、大西洋兩岸的鹹味，還有一小撮蘇格蘭蒸餾廠氤氳的暖流。
由此得出一個結論，也只有這回事才是確實的——不親自嘗試不會有趣。我不想將科普書拒之門外，也不想盲目全盤接受，更不想讀完無所得著，興許最有效方式是把酒買一買啦。無論是經古法 floor malting 炮製的 whisky、不用陳化上十年的 bourbon、利用不同穀物組合釀成的、在海上熟陳的、一反傳統光做浸泡的……邊喝配合邊讀，再沒有比這種閱讀體驗更加四維的了。果然最好的行銷，都要先把故事說好。
懸而未決也不是書的整體「風味」，Adam Rogers 畢竟也在 MIT 當過科學新聞學的 fellow，所提到的科學理論，都有充足說明該理論的接受程度。也就是說，哪些是結論，哪些是理論，讀者只要有用心都分辨得出來。只要別老指出人家的不是，在社交場合上說說酒品也沒多失禮。這本書的風味大概是有點彩色油墨味、千禧年代的那種懵懂而不是全知的報導風格、大西洋兩岸的鹹味，還有一小撮蘇格蘭蒸餾廠氤氳的暖流。
January 5, 2017
Proof was a 2.5 star book for me, mainly because this collection of factoids and tidbits just didn't provide the pleasure that I know is possible with really well-written nonfiction. Rogers does explain fermentation, distillation, brewing, yeast, and alcohol's effects upon various individuals, but often ad nauseum and with lots of rambling and pseudo-scientific anecdotes. I've learned more on brewery tours in Colorado, and had much more fun on the tours than while trying to read this dry book.
May 25, 2016
A heady mix of science, history, journalism, and memoir, Adam Rogers' PROOF is utterly unique and a complete joy. Ingeniously structured to mimic the process of making (and enjoying) booze, PROOF opens with a discussion of yeast before moving onto sugar, fermentation, distillation, aging, and finally to the neurochemistry of imbibing. Through it all, Rogers is a chatty, witty, geeky guide, who deftly balances science with humor.
December 6, 2020
I enjoyed this book, even though I have read a number of books on the topic, so much of the information was not new, and, as. brewer, I noticed several statements that were not entirely accurate. He did an excellent job, though, of presenting new research and providing an excellent overview of ethanol.
January 7, 2022
As someone who lives in a culture that is so dominated by alcohol but never had a drink myself this book was very fascinating.
Chapters 6 and 7 were the standouts for me.
Chapter 6 “Smell and Taste” which as its name suggests focuses on how we perceive ethanol with our five senses. I won’t spoil any of the conclusions but as someone who’s always thought that alcohol smell and tastes horrible it was cool to hear about all the mental gymnastics we go through to ingest something our body doesn’t like. Super cool stuff.
Chapter 7 “Body and Brain” goes into the effects ethanol has on the (you guessed it) body and brain. Again having no experience I’ve wanted to know what it is that alcohol does that feels so good. What I really liked is the author delves into the neurochemistry and doesn’t just leave it at subjective survey responses. This chapter was particularly well researched, the author seeking out studies that focused in what experts refer to as the relevant range, which is somewhere between buzzed and drunk. He spends time exploring this arena as it is where the majority of drinking happens and nearly none of the studies focus.
The first 5 chapters focus on the components and process of making alcohol. Although this is wasn’t what I was looking for in the book I actually learned a ton and appreciated the time spent on those other subjects. Chapter 8 is all about hangovers of which I had only cursory fascination.
Regardless of my relative interest in all the different subjects the book was thoroughly researched and presents science and research in a way that is easily digestible to a lay person. The book makes no judgements or assertions but rather explores and seeks to uncover that which is already known to experts in the field but not the average person. If you are curious about alcohol’s history with humans or how we learned to make, taste, and age it you will love the first half. If you are more curious about what it does once we ingest it you will love the latter portion. You may also find that start off wanting one thing and along the way developing interest in other areas you didn’t realize you cared about at all.
Chapters 6 and 7 were the standouts for me.
Chapter 6 “Smell and Taste” which as its name suggests focuses on how we perceive ethanol with our five senses. I won’t spoil any of the conclusions but as someone who’s always thought that alcohol smell and tastes horrible it was cool to hear about all the mental gymnastics we go through to ingest something our body doesn’t like. Super cool stuff.
Chapter 7 “Body and Brain” goes into the effects ethanol has on the (you guessed it) body and brain. Again having no experience I’ve wanted to know what it is that alcohol does that feels so good. What I really liked is the author delves into the neurochemistry and doesn’t just leave it at subjective survey responses. This chapter was particularly well researched, the author seeking out studies that focused in what experts refer to as the relevant range, which is somewhere between buzzed and drunk. He spends time exploring this arena as it is where the majority of drinking happens and nearly none of the studies focus.
The first 5 chapters focus on the components and process of making alcohol. Although this is wasn’t what I was looking for in the book I actually learned a ton and appreciated the time spent on those other subjects. Chapter 8 is all about hangovers of which I had only cursory fascination.
Regardless of my relative interest in all the different subjects the book was thoroughly researched and presents science and research in a way that is easily digestible to a lay person. The book makes no judgements or assertions but rather explores and seeks to uncover that which is already known to experts in the field but not the average person. If you are curious about alcohol’s history with humans or how we learned to make, taste, and age it you will love the first half. If you are more curious about what it does once we ingest it you will love the latter portion. You may also find that start off wanting one thing and along the way developing interest in other areas you didn’t realize you cared about at all.
March 3, 2022
Content 4.0
Writing style/tone 3.0
When I recently read Rogers book on color science, I gave it a 4.0 on content and a 2.0 on writing style/tone, and I said then that I really hoped Proof didn't make him seem so annoying. So I guess the good news is that his tone was less obnoxious than in the other book. The bad news is that the other book was written first. Let's hope this isn't a trend because when he's not trying so hard to insert a joke in the material or going off on some tangent about some side thing he did while researching the material, he's a decent science writer. I watched an entire documentary on the science of bubbles, and Rogers did a far better job explaining the science of it in two pages than the documentary did in nearly two hours. And who knew yeasts could be so interesting? When he focuses the material, it's good. But, man, he can meander sometimes.
Writing style/tone 3.0
When I recently read Rogers book on color science, I gave it a 4.0 on content and a 2.0 on writing style/tone, and I said then that I really hoped Proof didn't make him seem so annoying. So I guess the good news is that his tone was less obnoxious than in the other book. The bad news is that the other book was written first. Let's hope this isn't a trend because when he's not trying so hard to insert a joke in the material or going off on some tangent about some side thing he did while researching the material, he's a decent science writer. I watched an entire documentary on the science of bubbles, and Rogers did a far better job explaining the science of it in two pages than the documentary did in nearly two hours. And who knew yeasts could be so interesting? When he focuses the material, it's good. But, man, he can meander sometimes.
September 30, 2023
I could have given Proof: The Science of Booze by Adam Rogers a higher rating if it focused solely on the science, unlike the negative reviews I see here on Goodreads. I liked the science parts and the nerdiness of reading this book, but what took me out of it was the author's writing style. Our sense of humor doesn't mesh well and I didn't care for some of the narrative voice here. Each chapter is based on the journey of a sip of alcohol and goes into a bit of a short story format for each one. I'm not into short stories with fiction so I didn't enjoy that here either. I almost wish it was a bit more clinical in it's tone because it would be more interesting to me.
July 23, 2017
Практически исчерпывающая книга про алкоголь. Про историю, эволюцию, культуру производства и употребления, технологии и тонкости, и еще много о чем.
Абсолютно потрясающая книга, после которой уже никогда не будешь относится к алкоголю по-старому. Как минимум, уважения прибавится.
Как давно люди делают выпивку, как и из чего делают виски, чем отличается виски и бурбон, а эль от пива и пятьдесят оттенков дрожжей. В какой-то момент те, кто проспали уроки органической химии в школе, могут слегка приуныть, но ненадолго. Как действует алкоголь и развивается зависимость (тут будет очень много интересных экпериментов, представьте, люди пьют для науки, нам так не жить), почему некоторые люди все просят “еще по одной”, если им уже давно пора “официант, мне счет”. И потом, закономерно, немного о похмелье.
Короче, книга не только увлекательная, но и крайне полезная.
Абсолютно потрясающая книга, после которой уже никогда не будешь относится к алкоголю по-старому. Как минимум, уважения прибавится.
Как давно люди делают выпивку, как и из чего делают виски, чем отличается виски и бурбон, а эль от пива и пятьдесят оттенков дрожжей. В какой-то момент те, кто проспали уроки органической химии в школе, могут слегка приуныть, но ненадолго. Как действует алкоголь и развивается зависимость (тут будет очень много интересных экпериментов, представьте, люди пьют для науки, нам так не жить), почему некоторые люди все просят “еще по одной”, если им уже давно пора “официант, мне счет”. И потом, закономерно, немного о похмелье.
Короче, книга не только увлекательная, но и крайне полезная.
April 29, 2022
3.5 stars. If Goodreads would kindly pull their heads out of their asses and allow for half-star ratings, we could then rate books more properly. This book is a fun science book. It is Pollanesque, but Rogers has a ways to go to be on said level. Proof makes me think, though, that he could achieve it in the future. :)
April 12, 2018
A fascinating read on the science and history of alcohol. Sometimes the science was a little beyond me, but the anecdotes and history were deeply interesting. Now if I could just remember everything I read to share at my next cocktail party...
July 29, 2020
Occasionally more science than my brain could process, but liberally laced with humor and, for the most part, understandable by the lay person (that would be me).
December 9, 2020
Very entertaining and filled with science. I really enjoyed this book and learned so much. Time to make a cocktail!
September 1, 2014
In 'Proof', author Adam Rogers takes his readers on a delightful tour of the human connection with alcohol, since the dawn of civilization itself. The journey is a well-crafted narrative that blends science with historic fact, and is guaranteed to entertain both drinkers and teetotalers alike.
Taking its title from a term that represents the measure of alcohol-by-volume (ABV), a descriptor of alcohol content in most drinks that we consume, this work clearly explains how wine or whisky actually comes about before it reaches us. One learns the microbiology of fermentation, and how yeasts that are central to this process have become domesticated, much like what happened to dogs in their interaction with humans over the ages. Rogers takes us into biology labs, distilleries and fermentation process labs where the reader experiences the process of booze-making for the first time - the basic component of ethanol and the importance of yeast are explained, as well as the role of the so-called 'congeners' - molecules other than ethanol and water in any drink, that gives distillates their flavor. A review of the aging process follows where one understands why wine and whisky makers have stored their booze in wooden barrels and casks, sometimes for centuries, and how the mycology of environment and storage impart the ultimate taste and finer flavor to the end-product.
The concluding chapters focus on the consumption aspect of alcohol (rather than their production). Rogers calls out the uniqueness of smell and taste as senses, where unlike sight, there are no objective descriptors of an individual's sensory experience. For example, unless one is colorblind, a call to snap a red wire in a wire bunch will lead individuals doing the task separately to all cut off the same wire. The same cannot be said of smell, and taste - an oak finish to a wine, for example, Rogers argues, is not an objective descriptor, and means very little to someone actually drinking a wine. He cites two studies which seriously question the ability of wine enthusiasts and sommeliers to judge aromas and tastes better than amateurs. The last chapter focuses on hangover chemistry, where the author points out that we still do not know what causes a hangover or how one can alleviate it.
This is a good survey of alcoholic history, blended with the right dose of science. It may not teach the curious reader any more about why red wine gives them a headache, but is guaranteed to boost the reader's confidence to "sommelier" levels when they are next handed responsibility for selecting the wine at dinner off the restaurant's wine list...
Cheers! Salud! Viva Saude! Drink it up!
Taking its title from a term that represents the measure of alcohol-by-volume (ABV), a descriptor of alcohol content in most drinks that we consume, this work clearly explains how wine or whisky actually comes about before it reaches us. One learns the microbiology of fermentation, and how yeasts that are central to this process have become domesticated, much like what happened to dogs in their interaction with humans over the ages. Rogers takes us into biology labs, distilleries and fermentation process labs where the reader experiences the process of booze-making for the first time - the basic component of ethanol and the importance of yeast are explained, as well as the role of the so-called 'congeners' - molecules other than ethanol and water in any drink, that gives distillates their flavor. A review of the aging process follows where one understands why wine and whisky makers have stored their booze in wooden barrels and casks, sometimes for centuries, and how the mycology of environment and storage impart the ultimate taste and finer flavor to the end-product.
The concluding chapters focus on the consumption aspect of alcohol (rather than their production). Rogers calls out the uniqueness of smell and taste as senses, where unlike sight, there are no objective descriptors of an individual's sensory experience. For example, unless one is colorblind, a call to snap a red wire in a wire bunch will lead individuals doing the task separately to all cut off the same wire. The same cannot be said of smell, and taste - an oak finish to a wine, for example, Rogers argues, is not an objective descriptor, and means very little to someone actually drinking a wine. He cites two studies which seriously question the ability of wine enthusiasts and sommeliers to judge aromas and tastes better than amateurs. The last chapter focuses on hangover chemistry, where the author points out that we still do not know what causes a hangover or how one can alleviate it.
This is a good survey of alcoholic history, blended with the right dose of science. It may not teach the curious reader any more about why red wine gives them a headache, but is guaranteed to boost the reader's confidence to "sommelier" levels when they are next handed responsibility for selecting the wine at dinner off the restaurant's wine list...
Cheers! Salud! Viva Saude! Drink it up!
November 30, 2015
I like red wine a lot. The scientist in me also wants to know the exact process of how grapes turn into wine. If you want to know a bunch of cool facts about booze in general, then you should read this. It will not tell you how to mix cocktails, or how to differentiate tastes in whiskeys or wine, but how the actual process of fermentation works, and how ethanol affects the human body and why the shape and type of metal of a distillery sill is so important.
Even though the author is not a scientist himself and tries to keep science simple as possible, but having a basic understanding of chemistry is helpful to understand some of the processes.
Here is what I learned and the next time I have a glass of wine I can spout some useless trivia:
Whiskey is basically distilled beer, and brandy is distilled wine.
Ales tend to be hotter and faster fermentation compared to lagers
Yeasts eat sugar. With the rise of angiosperms (flowering plants) 50 million years ago, yeasts really took advantage. Prior to that, yeasts dined on tree sap.
Dark rum contains a lot of bacteria which gives it unique flavours. Light rum does not.
For whiskey and other brown liquors, distilleries must use copper sills since copper absorbs sulfur which is a byproduct. Rice has low sulfur, so one can use steel sills to make sake or sochu.
It is the lignin decomposition of wood and ethanol as a key contributor in the chemical reactions in wood barrels that imparts flavours during the aging process. French and European oak is more porous than American oak.
Sommeliers do not have a more sensitive nose or palate than the average population. It is experience and a lot of practice to recognize certain tastes and smells.
We still don't know what neuroreceptors that ethanol binds to in the brain. We know with the other drugs such as heroin and marijuana.
Red wine contains less sulfites than white wine.
23% of the population do not suffer from hangovers.
Hangovers are caused by the body's inflammatory response.
Only 4 medicines or supplements that actual clinical trials have shown to be effective in treating hangovers. (The author's attempt to do a mini trial with his friends to test these remedies is comically hilarious).
There is someone who has reportedly made a chemical version of ethanol that would have the same effect on the brain but it with an antidote to sober up instantly. Like Star Trek's synthohol!
Highly recommended for anyone who wants to dive into the world of alcohol.
Even though the author is not a scientist himself and tries to keep science simple as possible, but having a basic understanding of chemistry is helpful to understand some of the processes.
Here is what I learned and the next time I have a glass of wine I can spout some useless trivia:
Whiskey is basically distilled beer, and brandy is distilled wine.
Ales tend to be hotter and faster fermentation compared to lagers
Yeasts eat sugar. With the rise of angiosperms (flowering plants) 50 million years ago, yeasts really took advantage. Prior to that, yeasts dined on tree sap.
Dark rum contains a lot of bacteria which gives it unique flavours. Light rum does not.
For whiskey and other brown liquors, distilleries must use copper sills since copper absorbs sulfur which is a byproduct. Rice has low sulfur, so one can use steel sills to make sake or sochu.
It is the lignin decomposition of wood and ethanol as a key contributor in the chemical reactions in wood barrels that imparts flavours during the aging process. French and European oak is more porous than American oak.
Sommeliers do not have a more sensitive nose or palate than the average population. It is experience and a lot of practice to recognize certain tastes and smells.
We still don't know what neuroreceptors that ethanol binds to in the brain. We know with the other drugs such as heroin and marijuana.
Red wine contains less sulfites than white wine.
23% of the population do not suffer from hangovers.
Hangovers are caused by the body's inflammatory response.
Only 4 medicines or supplements that actual clinical trials have shown to be effective in treating hangovers. (The author's attempt to do a mini trial with his friends to test these remedies is comically hilarious).
There is someone who has reportedly made a chemical version of ethanol that would have the same effect on the brain but it with an antidote to sober up instantly. Like Star Trek's synthohol!
Highly recommended for anyone who wants to dive into the world of alcohol.
July 4, 2014
3.5 stars
Wow! So much delicious information on alcohol (definitely way more delicious than the actual taste of ethanol). Half of the chapters focus on components (yeast, sugar) and processes in making a variety of alcoholic beverages. Probably the thing that I will remember most about that end of things is that yeast is a fungus. Take that, mushroom haters!! The rest of the chapters cover human interaction with alcohol - how we smell and taste it, what it does to our bodies, and a delightful chapter which obliterates so many myths related to hangovers (take some extract of prickly pear cactus skin and call me in the morning).
From time to time the chemistry got a bit intense (which I think could easily have been fixed with a few simple illustrations) but the author always managed to keep a light, enjoyable tone. It also helped that he focused on a lot of the high interest aspects of alcohol. Making for a very enlightening read even if I can't remember the difference between champagne and beer bubbles (guess I'll have to read that part again later).
Wow! So much delicious information on alcohol (definitely way more delicious than the actual taste of ethanol). Half of the chapters focus on components (yeast, sugar) and processes in making a variety of alcoholic beverages. Probably the thing that I will remember most about that end of things is that yeast is a fungus. Take that, mushroom haters!! The rest of the chapters cover human interaction with alcohol - how we smell and taste it, what it does to our bodies, and a delightful chapter which obliterates so many myths related to hangovers (take some extract of prickly pear cactus skin and call me in the morning).
From time to time the chemistry got a bit intense (which I think could easily have been fixed with a few simple illustrations) but the author always managed to keep a light, enjoyable tone. It also helped that he focused on a lot of the high interest aspects of alcohol. Making for a very enlightening read even if I can't remember the difference between champagne and beer bubbles (guess I'll have to read that part again later).
January 28, 2016
A really interesting book regardless of any real connection you have to drinking alcohol, though I imagine that knowing a bit more about it would have helped me enjoy the book more, but it was still a good read.
There's a lot that explores how yeast works, how sugars are turned into ethanol, and other basic aspects of making all sorts of alcohol, but Rogers puts in enough history and how these things are used in other areas of science to make it very interesting even to non-drinkers.
The last two sections dealing with how alcohol affects the body and brain, and then hangovers may have been the most interesting, especially the former. Especially as a minister, knowing more about how it affects the body is helpful to future counsel I might give. Along with that, the science behind how our culture, upbringing, and expectations of drinking affects ones behavior while intoxicated, or even how quickly they become intoxicated was pretty interesting.
I got this on sale for $2.99 and it was certainly worth the price for an interesting read.
There's a lot that explores how yeast works, how sugars are turned into ethanol, and other basic aspects of making all sorts of alcohol, but Rogers puts in enough history and how these things are used in other areas of science to make it very interesting even to non-drinkers.
The last two sections dealing with how alcohol affects the body and brain, and then hangovers may have been the most interesting, especially the former. Especially as a minister, knowing more about how it affects the body is helpful to future counsel I might give. Along with that, the science behind how our culture, upbringing, and expectations of drinking affects ones behavior while intoxicated, or even how quickly they become intoxicated was pretty interesting.
I got this on sale for $2.99 and it was certainly worth the price for an interesting read.
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