某些雞尾酒術語的來源往往模糊難辨，但“西姆”一詞卻并非如此。2008年，它由美國作家兼雞尾酒迷Dinah Saunders在書中杜撰而來。在2013年出版的《西姆的藝術：不失水準的低酒精雞尾酒》一書中，她對“西姆”作出了定義：簡而言之，西姆是一種“嚴肅的低酒精雞尾酒——低酒精含量令它們不像強勁雞尾酒那么易醉，但又不失復雜成熟雞尾酒的鮮明感官享受”。聽上去有道理嗎？Saunders正確地指出，曼哈頓、老式雞尾酒和薩澤拉克等厚重的棕色烈酒雞尾酒固然出色，但較為清淡的低酒精雞尾酒也同樣令人心滿意足。她提出的理念深受好評，酒吧界首先接受了西姆雞尾酒，現在更是被廣泛認可。這一類成本效益極佳的雞尾酒正好碰上了古典酒種的大范圍復興，如味美思、阿瑪羅和雪莉酒，而它們也是調制西姆雞尾酒的完美原料。該書出版一年多之后，西姆風潮在——還能是哪呢？

The etymology of some cocktail terms is often pretty opaque but not, it turns out, in the case of “shim”. The word was coined in 2008 by American writer-cocktail obsessive Dinah Sanders. As defined in her adroit 2013 book The Art of Shim: Low Alcohol Cocktails to Keep You Level, a shim is a “serious, low alcohol cocktail – low-octane enough to provide a gentler pace between or instead of strong drinks, yet still bring the vivid sensory pleasure of a complex adult beverage.” Sound reasonable? Sanders rightly posits that, for all the virtues of heavy, brown-spirit classics such as the Manhattan, Old Fashioned and Sazerac, lighter, lower-proof cocktails can be just as satisfying. Well received, the bar community embraced the idea and shims and now are widely accepted, cost-effective cocktail genre happily wedded to the increased popularity of hitherto-undiscovered, shim-friendly categories such as vermouth, amaro and sherry. Just over a year after the publication of the book, the trend has found its first fully committed ally in – where else? –

Topiary坐落于荷里活道鴻豐商業中心三樓，設計師Laura Cheng打造的室內環境奢華又不落俗套，說明它的目標人群是女性。這并無不妥。酒單亦延續了同一風格。曾任職于Kee Club的調酒師主管Paul Fan設計了一個西姆酒單，首次涉足餐飲業的聯合所有人Ellen Ho說，低酒精雞尾酒一直不受重視，而酒吧希望展現它們的魅力。“我們想吸引女性客人群體——她們青睞優質原料調制的低酒精雞尾酒，因為這樣的話多喝幾杯也不會紅臉或酩酊大醉，”她說，“是時候為女士們提供果味雞尾酒之外的成熟選擇了。”Ellen并未參考Saunders的著作，她的靈感來自紐約和倫敦見聞——西姆文化已經在這兩座城市扎根。她自然也希望西姆雞尾酒能在香港流行開來。為什么不能呢？發展中的亞洲市場對強勁的全烈酒雞尾酒很是敏感，西姆雞尾酒應該也很適合這里。想要嘗試新酒種的調酒師亦可通過西姆進行大膽實驗。Paul的酒單包含了各種各樣的原料，如肉桂苦精、白色愛爾啤酒、桂花醋、年份波特酒和自制荔枝席拉伯（用于調制以波本威士忌為基酒的Bonus Season，雞尾酒的名字源自金融界）。酒單還特別標示，每款酒都以“真摯的樂觀心態”奉上。相比之下，千篇一律的白葡萄汽酒是多么無聊。讓我們為西姆舉杯！

Set on the third floor of Hilltop Plaza on Hollywood Road, designer Laura Cheng’s plush, excitable interior makes it pretty clear that Topiary is courting a female clientele. And nothing wrong with that. The menu, too, follows suit. Joining from Kee Club, head bartender Paul Fan has devised a menu of shims which co-owner and first-time f&b operator Ellen Ho claims is an attempt to open the cocktail cabinet to a long-ignored part of the drinking populace. “We want to appeal to the female audience who appreciate cocktails made of fine ingredients but with lower alcohol content to allow them to enjoy a few more drinks without turning red or getting knocked down early,” she says. “It’s time for ladies to start having more sophisticated choices beyond the usual fruit cocktails.” Ho doesn’t reference Sanders’s book – instead, the inspiration came from her visits to New York and London where the genre has long taken root. Naturally, she’s hoping the trend catches on in Hong Kong. And why shouldn’t it? After all, the genre seems well-suited a to a still-evolving Asian market sensitive to potent, all-spirit classics. Shims also allow for an alluring degree of creative latitude for bartenders looking to experiment with new categories. Fan’s menu shows a commendable breadth of ingredients: cinnamon bitters, white ale, osmanthus vinegar, vintage port and a homemade lychee shrub in the bourbon-based Bonus Season (drinks take their names from the finance world) – served, says the menu, with a “sincere dose of optimism”. The tired, tortured White-Wine Spritzer has never looked so vulnerable. Cheers to that.

Summer Interns Are Here

·30ml 高斯林金朗姆酒
·30ml 添萬利
·30ml 百利甜酒
·30ml 重奶油
將所有原料放入調酒聽，搖勻后濾入碟形香檳杯，以烤棉花糖裝飾。

·30ml Gosling’s Gold Rum
·30ml Tia Maria
·30ml Bailey’s
·30ml Heavy cream

Add all ingredients to a mixing tin, shake and strain into a coupette; garnish with roasted marshmallow