有趣灵魂说

想要知道哪种气泡水最好喝？《经济学人》的专栏作者潜入布鲁克林苏打水节，从主打“唯一口味就是无味”的新锐品牌Seltzie，到以大气泡和纯净口感著称的Topo Chico，再到欧洲精致之选Badoit和圣培露，展开了一场气泡满满的品鉴之旅。气泡水为何风靡全球？谁才是真正的王者？答案或许就藏在那一口“刺痛感”里。读完这篇，你不仅会想打嗝，更会想立刻开一瓶。

译文为原创，仅供个人学习使用

The Economist ｜World in a dish

经济学人｜盘中世界

Which sparkling water is the best?

哪种气泡水最好喝？

Diving into the frothy world of bubbly

潜入气泡翻腾的奇妙世界

安杰洛·罗法罗钟爱“无味”。他也希望你能爱上“无味”。这位身材瘦小、胡须整齐的男人，在近期布鲁克林苏打水节上，像打了鸡血的小猎犬一样充满干劲，不停地向路人递上小纸杯。“看到了吗？你终于尝到了‘无味’！”罗法罗先生吹嘘自己“花了六个月研究气泡”。成果便是这款口感纯净、气泡柔和的新品。

有人或许会将这款无味苏打水——名为 Seltzie，口号是“唯一的口味：无”——视为气泡水行业出现泡沫的征兆。而在其两侧的展位上，消费者可以品尝到柑橘姜、百香果、青柠薄荷、黑莓黄瓜和覆盆子等风味的气泡水，全部来自 Topo Chico——一个隶属于可口可乐公司的热门墨西哥品牌。

水涨船高，所有气泡水都在受益。随着酒精消费量下降，气泡水比以往任何时候都更受欢迎。根据研究公司 Mintel 的数据，2025 年美国的销售额约为 64 亿美元，比 2019 年增长了 70%。

Johann Schweppe被称为“驯服气泡的男人”

英国化学家约瑟夫·普里斯特利被认为在 1767 年通过向水中充入二氧化碳，创造了人造气泡水。大约 15 年后，瑞士科学家约翰·史威佩（Johann Schweppe）——他的名字所有格形式对任何爱好者来说都不陌生——成立了一家公司，开始大规模生产。19 世纪，现场制作碳酸饮料的苏打水机开始普及。在美国，气泡水尤其受到犹太移民的欢迎，或许因为它是曼哈顿下东区能获得的最干净的水。它被称为“seltzer”，得名于一个以气泡水闻名的德国小镇。（如今，许多人将“sparkling water”和“seltzer”混用。）

消费者的选择多到令人眼花缭乱。对于欧洲的精致人士（或附庸风雅者），有 Badoit 或圣培露的细腻气泡。格鲁吉亚人则对 Borjomi 宣称的疗愈功效赞不绝口，这是一种天然带气的气泡水，带有硫磺气味和浓重的矿物味道，不喜欢的人则将其比作带泡的唾液。

气泡水的需求如此旺盛，以至于连锁超市也推出了自家品牌的调味气泡水。想要减少碳酸软饮料摄入的人可以选择略带果味的 Spindrift 或 La Croix。美食家与得克萨斯人——这两个群体并非总是泾渭分明——则钟爱 Topo Chico 那种大气、锐利的气泡和纯净的口感，最近这款水还出现了短缺。（正如音乐节上一件 T 恤上自豪地写道：“好的苏打水就该有刺痛感。”如果你曾因喝得太快而被呛到，就会明白这句话的含义。）

那么，哪种最好呢？有些人偏爱 Badoit 那样气泡如低语般细腻，但这似乎浪费了体验。Topo Chico 没有矿物余味，气泡冲击力十足，与辛辣食物堪称绝配，能化解油腻，还能安抚肠胃。消费者们应该为此欢呼。然后，打个嗝。◾

ANGELO ROEFARO loves nothing. He wants you to love nothing, too. A small, trim man with a neat beard, he manned his stall at the recent Brooklyn SeltzerFest with the manic energy of a caffeinated terrier, thrusting little paper cups at passersby. “See? You finally taste nothing!” Mr Roefaro boasts that he spent “six months researching bubbles”. The result is cleantasting and only lightly fizzy.

Some may see the launch of a new unflavoured seltzer—Seltzie, with the slogan, “only one flavour: none”—as a sign of a bubble in the sparkling-water business. At the stalls on either side, consumers could sample tangerine-ginger, passionfruit, lime-mint, blackberry-cucumber and raspberry, all produced by Topo Chico, a popular Mexican brand owned by Coca-Cola.

A rising tide is lifting all fizzy waters. With alcohol consumption declining, sparkling water is more popular than ever. Sales of it in America were around $6.4bn in 2025, up 70% from 2019, according to Mintel, a research firm.

Joseph Priestley, an English chemist, is credited with creating artificially sparkling water in 1767 by infusing it with carbon dioxide. Some 15 years later Johann Schweppe, a Swiss scientist whose name in possessive form should be familiar to any enthusiast, started a company to produce it at scale. Soda fountains, which make carbonated drinks on site, spread in the 19th century. In America sparkling water proved especially popular among Jewish immigrants, perhaps because it was the cleanest water available on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. It was known as “seltzer”, after a German town famous for its sparkling water. (Today many use sparkling water and seltzer interchangeably.)

Consumers are spoiled for choice. For European sophisticates (or wannabes), there are the delicate bubbles of Badoit or San Pellegrino. Georgians rave about the putative healing properties of Borjomi, a naturally sparkling water with a sulphurous scent and heavy mineral flavour that detractors compare to fizzy saliva.

So buoyant is demand for sparkling water that even supermarket chains have their own lines of the flavoured sort. People trying to cut back on fizzy drinks can choose lightly fruity Spindrift or La Croix. Gourmets and Texans—not always separate categories— love the large, sharp bubbles and clean taste of Topo Chico, which has recently experienced a shortage. (As one Tshirt at the festival boasted, “Good seltzer should hurt.” You will understand if you have ever guzzled one too quickly.)

So which is the best? Some people prefer a Badoitesque whisper of bubbles, but that seems an experiential waste. Topo Chico, with its lack of mineral aftertaste and bubbles that pack a punch, pairs perfectly with spicy food, cuts through richness and settles the stomach. Consumers should cheer. And then burp.