Rijksmuseum, Floral Still Life, Hans Bollongier, 1639

荷蘭製造永遠的鬱金香

(本文為長榮機上雜誌 Eva Air 合作文章請勿自行轉載)

鬱金香，讓荷蘭人迷戀了4百多年的美麗花卉。17世紀曾因為受大眾狂愛，出現期貨式交易。當時物價，一個工匠年收入250荷蘭盾，而一顆普通的鬱金香至少要價1千荷蘭盾，特殊品種甚至到3千荷蘭盾也不一定買到，可見瘋狂程度。

至今荷蘭人對鬱金香的熱情只增不減，用各式型態美讚國花。每年一月的鬱金香節 National Tulip Day，20萬株彩色鬱金香鋪滿阿姆斯特丹的水壩廣場，讓民眾替花季揭開序幕。從花開到花謝平均7~10天，有時天氣一暖只剩3~5天，為了能天天欣賞到鬱金香風采，荷蘭人早已把日常生活加入鬱金香元素。像是以鬱金香為造型的餐具，桌椅，腳踏車，食衣住行只要能想到的，就能找到鬱金香蹤影。

For over 400 years, the Dutch have been obsessed with tulips. In the 17th century, “Tulip Mania” gripped Holland and the price of exotic bulbs on the futures market shot up to 1,000 guilders. Extremely rare varieties could fetch well over 3,000 guilders. In comparison, a skilled craftworker at the time earned about 250 guilders a year.

Today, the Dutch are still crazy about tulips. On the National Tulips Day, which takes place every January, 200,000 tulips cover the Dam Square in Amsterdam. Tulips bloom for just 7 to 10 days (or 3 to 5 days if the weather is warm); however the tulip influence is year-round thanks to the cultural creative industry, which parts tulip designs on everything from tableware to furniture and bicycles.

Rijksmusum. metalen bord l Tulpen Groen.png

照片來源：Rijksmuseum Shop

世界第一瓶鬱金香伏特加酒

生長在鬱金香花田世家的 Joris Putman，期許自己能將家族傳統加入新創意。四年前開始嘗試使用鬱金香球莖製做伏特加酒，經過不斷精進蒸餾和發酵工藝，於是世界第一瓶『鬱金香伏特加酒』在2017年問世。

Putman 說『鬱金香球莖的結構非常獨特，所以在蒸餾過程需要特別花心思。最初試驗出的口味並不是最佳，卻耐人尋味。對每個生產細節要求極高的精確度，讓我能捕捉及儲存到鬱金香每一道香味。最終得到最純淨的伏特加酒，融合著鬱金香原味。』

全程荷蘭製造，採自北荷蘭農場的有機球莖，經過荷蘭沙丘的天然濾水滋潤，每一瓶手工完成。經典款『Pure』更由350顆鬱金香蒸餾出來，喝起來特別清香撲鼻，已成世界多家高等級米其林餐廳及名人們的最愛。

Joris Putman hails from a long line of Dutch tulip farmers. Four years ago, he began looking for a way to bottle the taste of tulips. After much experimentation to refine the fermentation and distillation procedure, Putman created the world’s first tulip vodka in 2017. Made entirely in the Netherlands from organic bulbs, each bottle of “Clusius Dutch Tulip Vodka PURE” is made from 350 tulip bulbs. Wonderfully fragrant, the vodka has become a favorite among connoisseurs and is stocked in Michelin-starred restaurant worldwide.