美国国家公共电台 NPR Behind The Genius Of Guinness, Ireland's Most Popular Tourist Attraction

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

NPR's Frank Langfitt filed this postcard.

FRANK LANGFITT, BYLINE¹: One of the first things you notice when you walk into the store house is a waterfall bathed in blue light, representing the water from the nearby Wicklow Mountains that Guinness uses to brew² its stout³. The store house is a cross between a museum and an interactive⁴ marketing⁵ campaign.

Upstairs, ingredients are vaporized so visitors can smell the flavors individually.

COLM O'CONNOR: This one here is the roasted barley⁶.

LANGFITT: Colm O'Connor is a beer specialist.

O'CONNOR: This is the hops⁷ that you see there. I'm getting slightly grassy⁸ notes. Floral - it would definitely remind you of the garden. In terms of the flavor, this is going to give a bitterness.

LANGFITT: Beyond ingredients and recipes, Guinness used aggressive exporting and clever marketing to become a global brand. In the '50s, the company's managing director, Hugh Beaver⁹, was on a hunting trip. And he got into an argument with his hosts over which game bird was the world's fastest. O'Connor says it was the sort of debate you hear in pubs across Ireland.

O'CONNOR: And a kind of marketing lightbulb went off in his head. He said, you know what we should do? Maybe we'll sort of formulate¹⁰ some kind of compendium¹¹ of superlatives that we can place behind the bar that will resolve all of these pub debates, and it'll be a nice bit of free PR. We'll put the Guinness name on it.

LANGFITT: And so the "Guinness Book Of Records" was born. Another thing that sets Guinness apart is the trademark¹² pour. It's a two-step process that takes nearly two minutes. Colm O'Connor explains.

O'CONNOR: The reason why we pour a pint¹³ of Guinness in two parts is that if you were to pour it in one fell swoop¹⁴, the head would be too big.

LANGFITT: O'connor says the beer, which uses nitrogen that provides the creamy head, needs time to settle. He instructs me to tilt¹⁵ the glass at 45 degrees, fill it up partway and then stop.

O'CONNOR: You need to be patient at this stage, OK? What I would suggest - you look elsewhere. Don't look at the pint.

LANGFITT: Once the head settles, O'Connor tells me to flip¹⁶ the tap in the other direction, releasing more beer but with fewer bubbles.

O'CONNOR: Just a little bit more, tiny bit more. Yeah, great stuff. So you see that little lip?

LANGFITT: Yeah.

O'CONNOR: It's like a little shadow forming there at the top.

LANGFITT: Although, if we were in a real Irish pub, it would overflow¹⁷ and then end up on the floor (laughter).

O'CONNOR: No, no. That wouldn't be a real Irish pub at all. No, no, no. That's called alcohol abuse in Ireland, you know?

LANGFITT: Guinness is still the world's best-known stout. But sales have been generally flat over the past five years, which means the store house serves as an important tool for marketing to the more than 1 million people who visit each year. Frank Langfitt, NPR News, Dublin.

(SOUNDBITE OF ZOE COMWAY AND JOHN MCINTYRE'S "KILKENNY STATION-LLALY"S FANCY")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 brew   

v.酿造，调制

参考例句：

• Let's brew up some more tea.咱们沏些茶吧。
• The policeman dispelled the crowd lest they should brew trouble.警察驱散人群，因恐他们酿祸。

3 stout   

adj.强壮的，粗大的，结实的，勇猛的，矮胖的

参考例句：

• He cut a stout stick to help him walk.他砍了一根结实的枝条用来拄着走路。
• The stout old man waddled across the road.那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。

4 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。

5 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

6 barley   

n.大麦，大麦粒

参考例句：

• They looked out across the fields of waving barley.他们朝田里望去,只见大麦随风摇摆。
• He cropped several acres with barley.他种了几英亩大麦。

7 hops   

跳上[下]( hop的第三人称单数 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• The sparrow crossed the lawn in a series of hops. 那麻雀一蹦一跳地穿过草坪。
• It is brewed from malt and hops. 它用麦精和蛇麻草酿成。

8 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

9 beaver   

n.海狸，河狸

参考例句：

• The hat is made of beaver.这顶帽子是海狸毛皮制的。
• A beaver is an animals with big front teeth.海狸是一种长着大门牙的动物。

10 formulate   

v.用公式表示；规划；设计；系统地阐述

参考例句：

• He took care to formulate his reply very clearly.他字斟句酌，清楚地做了回答。
• I was impressed by the way he could formulate his ideas.他陈述观点的方式让我印象深刻。

11 compendium   

n.简要，概略

参考例句：

• The Compendium of Materia Medica has been held in high esteem since it was first published.“本草纲目”问世之后，深受人们的推重。
• The book is a compendium of their poetry,religion and philosophy.这本书是他们诗歌、宗教和哲学的概略。

12 trademark   

n.商标；特征；vt.注册的…商标

参考例句：

• The trademark is registered on the book of the Patent Office.该商标已在专利局登记注册。
• The trademark of the pen was changed.这钢笔的商标改了。

13 pint   

n.品脱

参考例句：

• I'll have a pint of beer and a packet of crisps, please.我要一品脱啤酒和一袋炸马铃薯片。
• In the old days you could get a pint of beer for a shilling.从前，花一先令就可以买到一品脱啤酒。

14 swoop   

n.俯冲，攫取；v.抓取，突然袭击

参考例句：

• The plane made a swoop over the city.那架飞机突然向这座城市猛降下来。
• We decided to swoop down upon the enemy there.我们决定突袭驻在那里的敌人。

15 tilt   

v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜

参考例句：

• She wore her hat at a tilt over her left eye.她歪戴着帽子遮住左眼。
• The table is at a slight tilt.这张桌子没放平，有点儿歪.

16 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

17 overflow   

v.(使)外溢，(使)溢出；溢出，流出，漫出

参考例句：

• The overflow from the bath ran on to the floor.浴缸里的水溢到了地板上。
• After a long period of rain,the river may overflow its banks.长时间的下雨天后，河水可能溢出岸来。