When you think about coffee alternatives, garlic is probably one of the last things that comes to mind, but that is exactly the ingredient that one Japanese inventor used to create a drink that looks and tastes like coffee.

當你想到咖啡替代品時，大蒜可能會是最后一個出現在你腦里的東西，但這恰恰是一位日本發明家用來制作一種看起來和嘗起來都像咖啡的飲料的原料。

74-year-old Yokitomo Shimotai, a coffee shop owner in Aomori Prefecture, Japan, claims that his unique "garlic coffee" is the result of a cooking blunder he made over 30 years ago, when he burned a steak and garlic while waiting tables at the same time.

74歲的橫井清史是日本青森縣的一位咖啡店主，他聲稱自家獨特的“大蒜咖啡”的靈感來自于自己在30多年前的一次烹飪失誤，當時他在招待客人時不小心把牛排和大蒜燒焦了。

Intrigued by the scorched garlic's aroma, he mashed it up with a spoon and mixed it with hot water. The resulting drink looked and tasted a lot like coffee.

由于被大蒜的焦香味所吸引，這位店主就用勺子把大蒜搗碎，然后將其和熱水混合。混合出的飲料，看起來和嘗起來都很像咖啡。

Making a mental note of his discovery, Yokimoto carried on with his job, and only started researching garlic coffee again after he retired.

當時橫井清史只是把這一發現記在心里，便繼續工作，直到退休后他才開始研究大蒜咖啡。

Committed to turning his bizarre drink into a commercial product, Yokitomo Shimotai spent years optimizing the formula, and about five years ago, he finally achieved a result he was satisfied with.

一心想將這種奇特飲料轉變為商品的橫井清史，花了數年時間優化配方，大約五年前，他終于調出了自己滿意的配方。

To make his soluble garlic grounds, he roasts the cloves in an electric oven, and, after they've cooled off, smashes them into fine particles and packs them in dripbags.

為了制造出可溶大蒜泥，他先將蒜瓣放在電烤箱里烘烤，在冷卻之后，將蒜瓣搗成微小顆粒，然后將其放入掛耳包中。

"My drink is probably the world's first of its kind," the garlic coffee inventor told Kyodo News. "It contains no caffeine so it's good for those who would like to drink coffee at night or pregnant women."

這位大蒜咖啡的發明者向共同社透露：“我的飲料在全世界來說應該是首創。這里面沒有咖啡因，所以適合那些想在夜里喝咖啡的人或懷孕的女性。”

"The bitterness of burned garlic apparently helps create the coffee-like flavor," Shimotai adds.

橫井清史補充說道：“燒焦大蒜的苦味顯然使其更接近咖啡的口感。”

The wacky inventor claims that, although his garlic coffee does give off an aroma of roasted garlic, it doesn't cause bad breath, because the garlic is thoroughly cooked.

這位古怪的發明者還表示，盡管他的大蒜咖啡確實散發出烤大蒜的香氣，但并不會在嘴里留下不好聞的味道，因為大蒜已經充分烘烤過了。

And if you can get past the smell, the drink apparently does taste a lot like actual coffee.

如果你可以接受這種氣味，該飲料的味道確實和真正的咖啡很像。

When you think about coffee alternatives, garlic is probably one of the last things that comes to mind, but that is exactly the ingredient that one Japanese inventor used to create a drink that looks and tastes like coffee.

當你想到咖啡替代品時，大蒜可能會是最后一個出現在你腦里的東西，但這恰恰是一位日本發明家用來制作一種看起來和嘗起來都像咖啡的飲料的原料。

74-year-old Yokitomo Shimotai, a coffee shop owner in Aomori Prefecture, Japan, claims that his unique "garlic coffee" is the result of a cooking blunder he made over 30 years ago, when he burned a steak and garlic while waiting tables at the same time.

74歲的橫井清史是日本青森縣的一位咖啡店主，他聲稱自家獨特的“大蒜咖啡”的靈感來自于自己在30多年前的一次烹飪失誤，當時他在招待客人時不小心把牛排和大蒜燒焦了。

Intrigued by the scorched garlic's aroma, he mashed it up with a spoon and mixed it with hot water. The resulting drink looked and tasted a lot like coffee.

由于被大蒜的焦香味所吸引，這位店主就用勺子把大蒜搗碎，然后將其和熱水混合。混合出的飲料，看起來和嘗起來都很像咖啡。

Making a mental note of his discovery, Yokimoto carried on with his job, and only started researching garlic coffee again after he retired.

當時橫井清史只是把這一發現記在心里，便繼續工作，直到退休后他才開始研究大蒜咖啡。

Committed to turning his bizarre drink into a commercial product, Yokitomo Shimotai spent years optimizing the formula, and about five years ago, he finally achieved a result he was satisfied with.

一心想將這種奇特飲料轉變為商品的橫井清史，花了數年時間優化配方，大約五年前，他終于調出了自己滿意的配方。

To make his soluble garlic grounds, he roasts the cloves in an electric oven, and, after they've cooled off, smashes them into fine particles and packs them in dripbags.

為了制造出可溶大蒜泥，他先將蒜瓣放在電烤箱里烘烤，在冷卻之后，將蒜瓣搗成微小顆粒，然后將其放入掛耳包中。

"My drink is probably the world's first of its kind," the garlic coffee inventor told Kyodo News. "It contains no caffeine so it's good for those who would like to drink coffee at night or pregnant women."

這位大蒜咖啡的發明者向共同社透露：“我的飲料在全世界來說應該是首創。這里面沒有咖啡因，所以適合那些想在夜里喝咖啡的人或懷孕的女性。”

"The bitterness of burned garlic apparently helps create the coffee-like flavor," Shimotai adds.

橫井清史補充說道：“燒焦大蒜的苦味顯然使其更接近咖啡的口感。”

The wacky inventor claims that, although his garlic coffee does give off an aroma of roasted garlic, it doesn't cause bad breath, because the garlic is thoroughly cooked.

這位古怪的發明者還表示，盡管他的大蒜咖啡確實散發出烤大蒜的香氣，但并不會在嘴里留下不好聞的味道，因為大蒜已經充分烘烤過了。

And if you can get past the smell, the drink apparently does taste a lot like actual coffee.

如果你可以接受這種氣味，該飲料的味道確實和真正的咖啡很像。