He Opened A Matchmaking Agency In 18Th Century London [EN]: Chapter 92

< 92. Engagement >

◈ Four months later, August 1777.

Sir Evans’s mansion in Jamaica.

Theo was at Sir Evans’s house with Mr. Spencer.

It was to celebrate the engagement of Sir Leonard Evans and Miss Elisa Butler.

Sir Evans’s mansion, which had been devastated by the slave rebellion, had apparently undergone extensive repairs and renovations. It was neatly organized and almost back to its original state.

“I heard he’s one of the richest men in all of Jamaica, and it seems to be true.”

Mr. Spencer, who was visiting Sir Evans’s house for the first time, was amazed by the size of the farm and the mansion.

“There were more than a thousand black slaves working on the farm.”

“Oh, really?”

At that moment, Mr. Sebastian Martin, the manager of Palmer Farm, approached and greeted them warmly.

“Sir Sanderson! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? And Mr. Spencer, it’s been a while for you too.”

“Ah, Mr. Martin. How have you been, Mr. Martin?”

“Yes, I’m always the same. Haha. I heard from Sir Gray that you’re staying at the coffee farm these days? Then I guess you’ll be going to London later than planned?”

“Yes. I was originally planning to return to London a few months ago, but I think I need to keep an eye on the farm work. So I’ve postponed it for a few more months.”

“Oh, I see.”

Mr. Martin, who was about to turn around after greeting them, said to Theo as if he had remembered something.

“Oh, right! A few days ago, a large package arrived from Manchester, England, in Sir Sanderson’s name via a merchant ship.”

“Oh, really? I guess it’s the cotton I asked for.”

“Yes, yes. I think so. Are you going to take it to the coffee farm?”

“Yes. I don’t know when I’ll be down here again, so I’ll have to take it with me when I go up after the engagement ceremony.”

“Then I’ll assign some slaves to go with you. There’s quite a lot of it, so you won’t be able to carry it all. I’ll assign the slaves when you go up, so take them with you.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry to bother you every time. Thank you so much.”

“It’s nothing. Haha.”

After saying goodbye, Mr. Martin went to another person, and Mr. Spencer asked with a curious expression.

“Sir Sanderson, cotton? Did you order some fabric for the slaves’ clothes?”

“No, that’s not it. Do you remember what I told you before? That I need cloth to use when roasting the beans and making coffee.”

At that time, coffee was mainly made by putting ground coffee beans in water and boiling it.

This was commonly called Turkish coffee, which was made by pouring ground coffee beans into a copper pot, stirring the foam, and boiling it while letting it settle.

Theo, who was used to modern clear coffee, frowned at the bitterness and heaviness of the Turkish coffee he tasted for the first time in the 18th century.

It was an inevitable result because there was no machine like an espresso machine or paper filter.

At this time, Theo came up with the idea of ‘flannel drip’ coffee.

‘Flannel’ refers to flannel material, which the Osborne Weaving Factory, which Theo bought, was good at making.

When he was in modern times, Theo liked the aroma of coffee beans, but he didn’t really like the taste, but the first time he admired the taste was ‘flannel drip’ coffee.

If you use this cloth to drip coffee, you can enjoy a cleaner and richer taste of coffee beans, capturing the oil components in the beans.

However, the type of cotton often affects the taste of coffee, so you need to pay close attention when choosing a cloth.

“No, are you saying you ordered a cloth to filter the ground coffee beans in the meantime?”

“Didn’t Mr. Spencer say that he could commercialize the coffee farm this year after seeing it? As soon as I heard that, I contacted them right away.”

“When I heard Sir Sanderson’s idea of filtering coffee beans with flannel, I thought it was a pretty good idea, similar to the ‘immersion’ method of pouring boiling water and steeping [like tea]… But Mr. Martin said that there was quite a lot of stuff, aren’t you ordering too much when you don’t know what will happen?”

“It’s not one kind of cloth, but various kinds of cloth, so there’s a lot of it. As you said, I haven’t filtered it myself, so I asked them to make flannel of various particle sizes and send it to me by type. I’m going to make drip coffee with the cloth that tastes the best.”

“It must have cost a lot of money to ask the Manchester weaving factory to make cloth by type and send it to Jamaica?”

Mr. Spencer was well aware that Manchester was home to the largest weaving factories in England.

But he couldn’t understand why such large factories would make coffee filter cloth and send it to Theo.

It was even more strange to send the cloth to this far-off Jamaica in several pieces to experiment with.

“Such a large factory would only be bothered and wouldn’t have much left over, so even if they paid double the price, they wouldn’t try to send it… Do you have someone you know well at the Manchester weaving factory?

But even if it tastes good after filtering, I’m worried. If I keep asking them to make and send it like this in the future, will they really send it? And even if they send it at first, they may refuse to send it in the middle because there is no profit.”

Mr. Spencer, as a businessman who once ran a large trading business, was worried about maintaining the business, although it was important to make a taste right away.

“Haha. You don’t have to worry about that at all.”

“…?”

“The weaving factory that sent the cloth is actually the factory I run. The flannel cloth I received now is also the item sent by the factory manager according to my instructions.”

Mr. Spencer had a blank expression for a moment.

“Sir Sanderson’s factory? You don’t mean you have a weaving factory in Manchester, do you?”

“Haha. It’s my factory. I ended up running a weaving factory. So you don’t have to worry too much about the quality or continuous supply of coffee bean filter cloth.

Mr. Spencer, you just need to filter it with the several cloths that came this time and choose the most suitable one. No, you can ask for other types of cloth.”

Mr. Spencer looked at Theo with a dumbfounded expression.

Mr. Spencer knew very well how much money it would take to have a weaving factory and that it would require quite complex technical and managerial know-how to operate the factory.

‘He has his own weaving factory? Huh, who is this guy really?’

*

A splendid engagement ceremony was soon held.

Sir Jacob Evans oversaw the engagement ceremony with a big smile, and he gave special instructions to allow all the slaves on the farm to rest comfortably that day.

Sir Butler and Mrs. Butler sat face to face with Sir Evans’s wife, blessing the auspicious day and sharing friendly stories.

Elisa, who had regained her health, had gained weight in a few months and was unrecognizablely pretty.

‘She’s not the Elisa I saw at first. She’s blooming so beautifully… The power of love is really amazing.’

Leonard, dressed in a nice suit, put a ring on Elisa’s hand and smiled brightly.

Wow-

Clap clap clap-

They were the most beautiful lovers.

Theo didn’t connect the couple directly, but he felt proud to have played a small role in connecting them, so he could watch the engagement ceremony with a happy heart.

‘Hehe… It’s really nice to see.’

Theo, who was clapping and congratulating the engagement ceremony for a while, was startled when he turned around.

A dozen or so women were standing right behind Theo with fans and bright smiles, wondering when they had arrived.

Theo smiled awkwardly and tried to slip away.

Then the women quickly blocked the way and greeted him.

“Sir Sanderson? Hello?”

“Ah, yes. Hello.”

The women quickly surrounded Theo, trapping him and preventing him from going anywhere.

“Sir Sanderson, I’ve heard everything.”

“Yes? What… are you talking about?”

“Elisa and Leonard. I heard that Sir Sanderson is the one who connected those two couples?”

“Ah, no. I didn’t connect them, but originally they were…”

“Hey- why are you doing this? I heard everything from Sir Evans’s wife. She said that Sir Sanderson came to her and said that the two of them looked so good together and that they should get married no matter what?”

“No… that’s not it…”

However, the women were too busy talking to listen to Theo’s words.

“You’re amazing. How did you connect those two families who turned their backs on each other like enemies?”

“That’s why they call you the best matchmaker in London, right? Hoho.”

“Sir Sanderson? When can I consult with my daughter?”

“I heard you’re leaving soon, that’s too much! You promised?”

“Please let me get a consultation, even if it’s just a consultation!”

Theo was sweating profusely and making excuses.

“Yes, yes. I think I’ll be returning to London a little later than planned. I’ll definitely consult with you when I have time. Well, there’s someone I need to greet over there…”

Theo was sweating and barely managed to escape, just like he did in Seoul.

◈ Early September 1777, Theo Coffee Farm.

The coffee farm, which started with Mr. Spencer’s participation, had passed six months and the harvest season was approaching.

Although most of the slaves were new to coffee farming, thanks to the favorable environmental conditions and Mr. Spencer’s skillful command, the Theo coffee farm was full of ripe red coffee cherries.

Mr. Spencer, who had been carefully inspecting the coffee trees all over the farm since morning, seemed very satisfied.

Pop-

He picked a fruit from the tree, put it on his hand, rolled it around, and said to Theo.

“Sir Sanderson, do you remember when I first came and was very surprised to see this coffee fruit? But look at the fruits we’ve grown with care now. You’ll feel how much better they are than before.”

The coffee tree’s fruit was as red and plump as a well-ripened cherry.

“Yes, it’s definitely better.”

Even Theo could see that it was firmer and more colorful than before.

Mr. Spencer smiled contentedly and continued.

“This place is located on a rugged slope, so the water drains well even when it rains a lot. In addition, it’s located at an altitude of over 2,000 meters, so the temperature difference between day and night is close to 10 degrees [Celsius, or 18 degrees Fahrenheit].

As a result, the fruit expands during the day and contracts at night, repeating the exercise, and grows into a harder, larger, and more special-tasting fruit.”

Mr. Spencer put the fruit he had on his hand in his mouth and tasted it.

“Oh!”

He seems to taste it almost every day these days, but he exclaimed.

“It tastes different from yesterday. Gee, I’m so excited to see what kind of aroma and taste it will have when it’s harvested and processed in a week.

In a way, we were very lucky. Most of the coffee trees here that Baron Palmer planted are 4-5 years old, so now is the time when the most abundant and delicious fruits are produced.

In addition, the wonderful nature has brought us such wonderful fruits on its own, even though we didn’t manage it specifically, haha.”

Mr. Spencer shouted loudly to Noah, who was cleaning around the coffee trees a little further away.

“Noah! Stop doing that and gather the harvest team in front of the warehouse right now.”

“Yes, I understand!”

Mr. Spencer smiled and said to Theo.

“Now, shall we move in earnest to reap the rewards of our labor?”

*

In front of the warehouse, more than a dozen harvest teams who had been trained in advance to pick coffee cherries were gathered.

They were wearing large baskets with strings around their necks in front of their waists to hold the harvested coffee cherries.

When everyone gathered, Mr. Spencer opened his mouth with a solemn expression.

“If I had to pick the most important step in making good coffee, it would be this harvesting step. No matter how well you process it later and how well you roast the beans, if you don’t do this first step of harvesting properly, you’ll lose 50% of the taste and aroma. Keep that in mind.

So, as we practiced last week, focus your sense of touch as much as possible and pick only the best fruits and leave the rest alone. Everyone understands?”

“Yes!”

The degree of ripeness of the fruit when harvesting coffee cherries plays a decisive role in determining the aroma, taste, and quality of the coffee.

So, Mr. Spencer spent all last week showing them one by one what a good fruit is and letting them touch it with their hands to intensively train them on how to collect it.

Even if the coffee tree is of the same variety, the degree of ripening of the fruit was different. In general, the more ripe it was, the more it turned from red to purple, but the degree of ripeness was not always determined by color.

Therefore, it was necessary for the collector to select well-ripened fruits through the tactile sensation of his fingertips.

“The amount you fill in the basket doesn’t matter. It’s okay to fill the basket a little, so pick only the highest quality coffee cherries. And don’t touch the ones that need to ripen a little more, leave them as they are, and come back next week to pick them again. Everyone understands?”

“Yes!”

In order to obtain the best quality, the best way was to select and harvest only well-ripened fruits, and then come back several times at intervals of 8 to 10 days to pick well-ripened fruits again.

However, this method was meticulous, a very cumbersome task that required a lot of hands.

Therefore, most slaves on coffee farms preferred to grab the ends of the branches and sweep them all at once.

Because severe beatings from the managers were waiting for them if they didn’t pick a lot, they were busy filling the basket regardless of whether the fruit was properly ripe or not.

However, Mr. Spencer had a clear goal of producing the highest quality coffee. Therefore, the policy from the harvesting stage was clearly different from that of other farms.

The black slaves who worked were also full of the thought of picking only the best coffee cherries, pleasing the grateful farm owner, and protecting their precious home.

“Then pick them in the afternoon and gather in front of the processing plant. Good work!”

“Yes!”

The slaves’ faces even showed a sense of determination, like soldiers holding a send-off ceremony before going to war.

‘Everyone is really serious and full of passion to achieve their goals. Hehe, good.’

Theo, who had been expecting an invisible bond of trust and solidarity between the farm manager and the slaves, couldn’t help but feel good.

*

Several hours later.

The black slaves, who had filled their baskets with the first harvested coffee cherries, gathered one by one in front of the processing plant.

When all the harvest team members gathered, Noah came into the factory and reported to Theo and Mr. Spencer.

“The collection is complete.”

“Good! Sir Sanderson, let’s go out.”

“Yes.”

Mr. Spencer, who went out of the factory, clapped his hands and shouted to the scattered slaves.

“Come on! Come on! Everyone, put the fruits you’ve collected in front of me!”

Thud-

Thud thud-

The slaves placed the harvested fruit baskets in front of Mr. Spencer in turn.

Mr. Spencer nodded, looking at the fruits that the slaves had harvested one by one with a satisfied expression.

“Hehe, Sir Sanderson, look at these fruits.”

Theo looked at the coffee cherries in the baskets.

As he said, they were really plump and tempting to look at, and the color was excellent.

“Hehe, this size and color. It may look like just a common red fruit to other people, but I can imagine all the value this fruit has…”

But Mr. Spencer, who was excitedly talking while looking at the harvest basket, suddenly shut his mouth.

With the smile that had been on his face gone, he was staring at one slave’s basket.

Thud thud thud-

He threw the fruit he was holding into any basket and knelt down in front of the slave’s basket in question and looked at it for a long time.

Then he carefully reached out and grabbed a handful, and even started smelling it.

‘Why is he doing that? Is there a problem?’

The basket that Mr. Spencer was looking at belonged to the black female slave ‘Juba’.

She also seemed very embarrassed by Mr. Spencer’s sudden actions.

When Theo looked inside the basket, it seemed to have much less quantity than the other slaves’ baskets.

‘Is he doing that because the amount he collected is too small?’

I was worried that he would be scolded properly by Mr. Spencer, who is very nagging.

Mr. Spencer frowned and raised his head and shouted.

“This… whose basket is this? Who picked this fruit? Who is it!”