He Opened A Matchmaking Agency In 18Th Century London [EN]: Chapter 106

< 106. A Rising Tycoon in London >

◈ Intelligence Club, Friday Evening.

“Lord Sanderson, everything is ready now.”

At Harold’s words, Tae-oh nodded.

A few days prior, Tae-oh had promised to introduce T&S Coffee to the members of the Intelligence Club.

And finally, the day to showcase the taste of the coffee beans had arrived.

“As I mentioned on Monday, I will be providing T&S coffee beans produced from my farm to all of you.

To briefly explain, this is not the Turkish-style coffee we commonly drink, but a clean, drip-style coffee filtered through cloth.

The process of roasting the green coffee beans was completed three days ago, and we will grind the beans here and serve it as drip coffee right away.”

After speaking, Tae-oh gave a signal to Harold and Marguerite, who were preparing.

Then, as if they had rehearsed, the two began to place the coffee beans into the grinder and grind them at a similar pace.

Thump- thump- thump-

News of introducing coffee that had caused a sensation in France had brought not only members who had been absent from the club for some time but also reporters from newspapers and magazines requesting to attend the tasting.

And among them was ‘Timothy Miller,’ an acquaintance of the white-haired gentleman member.

Timothy Miller, who ran a coffee house, had personally tasted the problematic French coffee and had considerable knowledge and expertise in coffee. He was invited to verify whether the coffee was the same product as T&S Coffee.

Crackle-

Grit- grit-

The ground beans finally began to be filtered by the twins.

Soon, the rich aroma of coffee beans slowly began to spread inside the club.

“Ah…!”

“What… what is this…”

“My goodness, what kind of coffee smells like this?”

Exclamations and admiration erupted from all over the club.

‘…?’

However, the smile disappeared from Tae-oh’s lips as he watched calmly, and his eyebrows twitched.

‘Huh… the scent… the scent is different?’

Tae-oh clearly remembered the unique aroma of T&S coffee beans, having drunk it almost every day for about two months in Jamaica.

But he felt a subtle difference from the previous scent.

‘What is it? Did the green beans change during the voyage of over two months?’

This was one of Tae-oh’s biggest concerns.

In the 18th century, when refrigeration facilities and even airtight containers were not properly developed,

Coffee green beans, being living seeds, were bound to be sensitive to humidity and temperature.

There was plenty of room for problems such as decay during the long voyage of over two months.

Fortunately, Mr. Spencer had been confident that he had his own long-standing know-how to prevent decay.

The secret he was confident in was the container for the green beans.

The method was to put the green beans, dried in a special drying method, into a tightly sealed wooden barrel with burlap, wax, and tin.

Mr. Spencer had assured that the green beans in this sealed barrel would be exposed to sea breeze while crossing the sea, which would make the aroma and taste even deeper and richer.

However, the green beans, which were examined when they arrived in London and placed in the warehouse, did not seem to have any particular differences, at least on the surface.

And even when roasting the green beans three days ago to showcase them at the club today, he couldn’t find anything special.

But the smell coming from the ground beans now was definitely deeper and richer than before.

As Tae-oh was flustered by the changed scent, Marguerite responded with a reassuring smile.

‘Ah, the twins already knew it had changed like this… Mr. Spencer wasn’t just confident for no reason. Then, what about the taste? Has the taste gotten better too?’

He couldn’t be sure yet whether only the scent had improved or whether the taste had also improved.

But with just the deepened scent, Tae-oh’s heart was fluttering as if he had tasted T&S coffee beans for the first time.

Tap- tap-

The twin siblings gently poured the finely ground bean powder onto the cloth.

And soon, they poured the prepared hot water over it.

Pouring-

As the two poured hot water at a similar pace simultaneously, the bean powder swelled up like bread, and a rich coffee liquid dripped down the large glass container.

Soon, an indescribably deep and sweet scent began to emanate strongly, as if showing off that it was a mysterious coffee.

The club members, who had been captivated by the beautiful appearance of the twin siblings, were slowly permeating into the rich aroma of coffee beans, as if nothing had happened.

It was amazing that such a scent could be created from fruit.

“Timothy, how is it? Is the scent the same as the French coffee you tasted?”

The white-haired gentleman asked Timothy Miller, the owner of the coffee house who came with him, nonchalantly.

Miller, who had been lost in the fragrance, seemed to nod, but soon shook his head.

The white-haired gentleman questioned his ambiguous attitude.

“What is it? Are you saying that the scent of the French coffee beans is the same, or not?”

“Ah… well, that is… it’s the same but different… subtly different.”

“What does that mean? The same but different?”

“How should I put it… The first scent is definitely the same as the French coffee I tasted, but the scent gets deeper as it goes on. It’s much deeper, richer, and more abundant than the scent I smelled back then… How can such a scent come out?”

“My friend, why are you asking me that?”

Some club members were skeptical about Tae-oh’s coffee.

The fact that the famous coffee that had become a hot topic in France was from a new farm that was less than a year old was difficult to accept in many ways.

However, once they gathered at the club and smelled the aroma of the coffee beans, it became difficult to doubt Tae-oh’s words any longer.

The bean scent that filled the club was so special that they could immediately be sure that it was the same coffee that the French were making such a fuss about.

“Ah, this is really like a scent that you can only smell in your imagination… such a fantastic scent.”

Professor Adam Smith, who was sitting in his chair, muttered as if sighing, and others agreed.

“That’s right. The scent is really amazing. I think I would be so happy just to brew a cup under the warm sunlight and smell it.”

There was something in the scent of T&S coffee beans that stimulated people’s emotions.

Just like how a beautiful memory of the past comes to mind from a randomly played song, the scent of T&S coffee beans brought out the stories in each person’s heart and made them want to have a warm conversation with someone.

“Lord Sanderson, I feel strange just smelling this. When I heard that there was a commotion in France, I thought it was too much fuss… but now I understand the reason a little bit? Haha.”

Tae-oh responded with a relaxed smile to Earl Burns’ words.

However, Tae-oh was also nervous about the subtly changed scent.

And he wanted to check the deep taste of the coffee beans that had been aged by the sea breeze as soon as possible.

Tap- pouring-

The coffee beans brewed in a large cup were divided into dozens of small porcelain cups again.

Soon, the Intelligence Club was filled with a deep and fragrant coffee aroma.

The reporters, who had been blankly intoxicated by the scent, quickly came to their senses and were busy writing articles.

“Now, everything is ready. Please take a cup of coffee on the table and try it. For your information, the official name of this coffee is ‘Jamaica Blue Mountain T&S Original.’”

Tae-oh had been 고민 [agonizing] with the twins about what to name the coffee, and a few days ago, they finally decided on two names.

One is ‘Jamaica Blue Mountain T&S Original.’

And the other is ‘Jamaica Blue Mountain T&S Juba Collection,’ which will be supplied mainly to the royal family.

When he was in modern times, he remembered that specialty coffees usually included the region and farm name where the coffee came from, so he combined the names.

Moreover, since many people still thought that the T&S farm was a French farm on 생도맹그 [Saint-Domingue] Island, it was necessary to indicate the origin in the name itself.

Tae-oh reached out with a trembling hand and picked up a coffee cup first.

And while savoring the scent that tickled the tip of his nose, he took a sip.

“Slurp-”

‘…!’

The taste had changed subtly.

Following the deep and rich scent, the taste had also changed to a more flavorful one.

The basic color and taste remained the same, but the mellow and bitter taste, as if it had been aged somewhere, harmonized with the sourness and sweetness, making the mouth happy.

In a word, it was perfect.

“Hehe, what is this?”

“Wow, this is really crazy.”

“What tea or alcohol can give you this feeling? It’s really amazing coffee.”

Earl Burns also smiled brightly and praised the taste of the coffee.

“Haha-. The French fuss wasn’t for nothing? It really can’t be compared to any coffee or tea I’ve ever had. It’s just amazing, amazing!”

Smiling at Earl Burns’ praise, Tae-oh looked around.

‘······.’

The faces of the people drinking coffee were filled with various emotions such as surprise, joy, and happiness.

It was noticeable that even Viscount Scott, who was known for being taciturn and unsmiling in the club, was wearing a benevolent smile and actively engaging in conversation.

It wasn’t just Viscount Scott. The emotions of everyone who drank Tae-oh’s coffee were changing calmly and pleasantly.

The reporters were constantly sipping coffee and writing articles.

Even from the reporters’ point of view, who had to give a cold evaluation of the coffee taste, Tae-oh’s coffee was just amazing.

Tae-oh enjoyed the atmosphere in the club and took another sip.

Slurp-

“Haa-”

The deeper aroma and taste of the coffee beans.

And its value was sufficiently proven through the reactions of club members and guests.

‘Now all preparations are complete. I should find a marriage agency and cafe location as soon as possible. Hehe.’

* * *

The ripple effect of the successful tasting at the Intelligence Club was beyond imagination.

The articles written by the reporters who attended the tasting that day played a big part in this.

Each article had slightly different contents, but they all consistently praised and raved about the aroma and taste of the coffee beans.

The daily newspapers, which usually had sales of about 1,000 to 2,000 copies, more than doubled as news of Tae-oh’s T&S coffee broke out.

And men’s magazines such as Gentleman’s Magazine highlighted Tae-oh’s huge expected profits from coffee, showing great interest in Theo Sanderson, who had emerged as a rising tycoon in London.

Magazines such as Spectator, which had been constantly criticizing T&S coffee for misunderstanding it as French, prominently covered Tae-oh’s Jamaican farm every day, breaking the best sales record since its founding by using patriotic marketing.

In the end, thanks to the great buzz in France before returning to London, Tae-oh was able to effortlessly introduce T&S coffee to the world and have its value recognized.

◈ A few days later, downtown London

Tae-oh was touring downtown London for several days with a real estate agent named ‘Brook Morgan’ to find a suitable building to use as a marriage agency.

Brook Morgan was a middle-aged gentry who had been introduced by a member of the Intelligence Club who had achieved great success in the real estate business. He was a man who seemed quite prudent and intelligent.

When Tae-oh said he wanted to see a place to run a marriage agency and a cafe, he hesitated for a moment and recommended a few places.

The first place was around St. Paul’s Cathedral.

However, the vicinity of the cathedral, which he examined directly, was not the place Tae-oh had in mind in terms of environment or atmosphere.

There needed to be more foot traffic, and the building and cafe themselves needed to be able to serve as billboards.

Brook Morgan, who heard Tae-oh’s story, recommended Covent Garden as the second place, and they toured the area for half a day.

It was near Mayfair, where Tae-oh currently lived, and it was lively and vibrant with much more foot traffic, buildings, and markets.

In particular, ‘London merchants’ who had made a lot of money through trade became a new bourgeois class and built good three- or four-story houses, and opera houses, restaurants, and tea gardens for them were springing up nearby.

However, the poor and homeless were crowded around the 멋진 [splendid] buildings, and even a red-light district was formed around the performing theaters, so it was not a very good environment for marriage counseling and sharing hearts.

Eventually, they passed Covent Garden and turned the carriage to an area slightly out of the center of London.

“It used to seem like there were many suitable places, but now that I’m trying to open a business, it’s not easy to choose.”

Brook Morgan, who was looking out the carriage window at Tae-oh’s words, nodded.

“Yes, that’s right. When you actually start a business, there are many things to consider.”

It was then.

“Wait! Wait a minute! Stop the carriage!”

Tae-oh shouted urgently, and the coachman quickly stopped the carriage.

Woah- woah-

As soon as the carriage stopped, Tae-oh got out in a hurry and went up the hill.

“No, why are you doing this, Lord Sanderson?”

Surprised Brook Morgan followed and asked.

Tae-oh stretched out his hand below the hill and pointed with his finger.

“There… what kind of place is that area?”

Brook Morgan looked in the direction Tae-oh was pointing and then answered.

“Ah, that’s Kensington. It’s where we were just about to go.”

“Kensington… you say?”

“Yes. It’s also the area I’m in charge of.”

When looking at the current value and future development potential of real estate, it is necessary to look at the location from a high place.

It may not be necessary to be as detailed as in modern real estate investment, but at least when considering the future business performance of the marriage agency and additional facilities such as cafes, ballrooms, costume shops, and wedding halls, it is good to look at the whole thing.

In the 21st century, it is possible to easily estimate the development potential of the real estate through satellite maps or bird’s-eye views on the Internet, but this is impossible in the 18th century.

So, when examining the cathedral or Covent Garden area earlier, he deliberately went up to a high building to look around.

However, unlike what he saw from below, the appearance of the street when viewed from above was very different from the street Tae-oh was planning.

But now, a place suitable for the location of ‘Theo Street’ that he had been drawing in his head appeared before Tae-oh’s eyes.

The beautiful gardens around Kensington Palace, the elegantly arranged townhouses, and the shops that looked luxurious even from a distance were lined up nicely, and the streets of culture and art, which looked like theaters and opera houses, were also well organized.

Although it was somewhat दूर [far] from the center of London, the many inns and stagecoaches that could be seen here and there made it easy to access London at any time.

Moreover, unlike the center of London, where it seemed difficult to create a new street with many existing buildings, Kensington still had enough space for street 조성 [development].

‘Yes, that’s the place!’

A faint smile spread across Tae-oh’s lips.