The season of ice cream treats is in full swing. Nothing captures pure joy and innocence like an ice-cream cone dripping down your hand.

時下正是冰淇淋美食季，還有什么比冰淇淋甜筒滴落指尖來得更加愉悅愜意呢？

But have you ever wondered why some ice cream just stands apart from all the others？ What really makes good ice cream？ Well， here’s how to tell high-quality ice cream without even tasting it.

但你是否想過為何一些冰淇淋品牌能夠從同類產品中脫穎而出？好的冰淇淋又要具備哪些元素呢？那么，下面就讓我們來告訴你，無需品嘗便可分辨出優質冰淇淋的訣竅。

Let the ingredients speak

讓原料“說話”

High-quality ice cream， often referred to as premium and super premium， is always made with real vanilla， nuts， chocolate or fruit. On the other hand， if you’ve ever looked closely at the ingredients in ice cream from less fancy brands， you may have noticed that they only say “vanilla flavored” or “chocolate flavored”. This is because they don’t contain real vanilla or chocolate.

所謂“優質冰淇淋”，通常指的是那些特級和頂級精品，通常由純正香草、堅果、巧克力或水果制作而成。另一方面，如果你仔細看過一些普通品牌冰淇淋的原料表，你也許會發現上面寫著“香草口味”或是“巧克力口味”。這是因為它們不含純正的香草或巧克力。

Check the butterfat content

查看乳脂含量

What difference does butterfat make？ Besides making ice cream taste less like frozen milk， butterfat gives the product a creamy texture and a mellow flavor. In order to even be called ice cream in the United States， the product must contain at least 10 percent butterfat， according to the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) regulations. High-quality brands of ice cream usually contain anywhere from 13 to 17 percent butterfat.

乳脂含量有何影響呢？除了讓冰淇淋口感變得不那么像凍牛奶之外，乳脂還會讓冰淇淋質地濃稠、口味醇香。根據美國食品和藥物管理局規定，在美國市場上標有“冰淇淋”名稱的產品，乳脂含量至少要達到10%。高級品牌的冰淇淋通常含有13%-17%的乳脂。

Judge by the amount of mix-ins

通過配料的用量來辨別

Have you ever noticed the amount of mix-ins in high quality brands？ You almost can’t stick your spoon into them without hitting a piece of candy， nut， or whatever mix-in they contain. With some of the average brands， however， you really have to dig to find the mixed in goodies.

你是否曾注意過優質冰淇淋的配料含量？你只要動動勺子，就保準會挖到一些糖果、堅果或其他配料。然而，在一些普通冰淇淋中，你必須挖很久才能吃到“甜頭”。

Take home the heavier one

要選就選最重的

Ice cream mixtures have air pumped into them as they freeze. Air is essential， or ice cream would be as hard as rock. While the legal limit for the amount of air (called overrun) in the US is 100 percent， the less air added to ice cream， the higher quality it is. A more dense ice cream will be creamier on the palate and will melt more slowly in the mouth.

混合后的冰淇淋在冷凍成型過程中會加入空氣。空氣是必不可少的，否則冰淇淋會硬得像石頭。雖然在美國，冰淇淋的法定空氣含量（俗稱“含氣量”）最高可達百分之百，但是冰淇淋的空氣含量越少，質量越高。冰淇淋密度越大口感越柔滑，而且入口融化得也更慢。

But how can we tell which ice cream has less air in it？ Well， one thing you should know about ice cream is that it’s usually sold by volume， not by weight. Tubs may be equal in size， but one ice cream may be denser than another and therefore weigh more.

但是，我們要如何分辨哪款冰淇淋中的空氣含量較少呢？好吧，關于冰淇淋，你不得不知道的一點就是冰淇淋通常按體積出售，而非重量。桶裝冰淇淋雖然大小一樣，但密度較大的那桶一定比另一桶更重一些。

（實習編輯：于曉偉）