He Opened A Matchmaking Agency In 18Th Century London [EN]: Chapter 96

< Coffee Tasting Session 1 >

◈ Jamaica Blue Mountain, Theo Coffee Plantation.

Finally, the day arrived to roast the green beans and transform them into coffee beans.

Under Mr. Spencer’s specific instructions, most of the coffee plantation’s laborers gathered at the processing plant.

This was to demonstrate firsthand how coffee beans are made from the fruits they had diligently harvested.

Thud-

Mr. Spencer randomly untied one of the sacks containing the green coffee beans, mixed them a few times, and then scooped a generous amount into a bowl.

To maintain freshness, the beans had been dried with the outer layer [parchment] intact, which had to be removed before roasting.

Grrr- Thududuk-

After several steps, the greenish-yellow green beans were revealed.

“Get a fire going under the iron pan.”

“Yes, Father.”

At Mr. Spencer’s command to his daughter Margaret, she quickly brought over a brazier and heated the iron pan.

Judging by her practiced movements, she seemed to have done this often.

After some time, she checked the temperature of the iron pan with her hand and nodded.

Then, Mr. Spencer poured the prepared green beans onto the pan.

Talararang-

With a cheerful sound, the green beans piled up on the well-heated iron pan.

Mr. Spencer, holding two wooden spatulas, gently stirred the green beans and began to speak.

“At the very least, if you work on a coffee plantation, it’s beneficial to witness how these green beans, which we’ve spent months cultivating with our sweat, undergo the process of becoming coffee beans, wouldn’t you agree?”

Mr. Spencer knew from experience that showing the plantation’s laborers how coffee is actually made would lead to better harvest results.

“Listen carefully, everyone. In order for these greenish beans to be roasted and transformed into beautiful brown coffee beans, you need to pay attention to three things: first, time; second, color; and third, sound.”

The amount of time spent roasting is a crucial factor in transforming green beans into coffee beans.

During this process, the green beans are roasted, popping as they turn brown.

And at this time, the moisture and gases inside the green beans escape, and they are reborn as flavorful coffee beans.

But when roasting coffee green beans, there was a sound to listen for attentively.

That was the ‘popping’ sound that the coffee green beans made as they cracked from the heat.

This loud ‘popping’ sound usually occurs twice, and the flavor of the coffee green beans varies greatly depending on how much longer they are roasted between those two intervals and when the roasting is stopped.

Experts usually aim for the specific flavor profile they want within this interval.

As the color of the coffee green beans gradually changed to a deep brown with skillful hand movements, Mr. Spencer meticulously checked the degree to which each bean was roasting with keen eyes.

Crack-

Finally, as the first popping sound erupted, a subtle coffee aroma began to spread throughout the processing plant along with smoke, and Mr. Sanderson quickly moved the iron pan onto a weak fire that had been lit nearby.

However, Theo, who was watching from directly behind, frowned slightly.

Having occasionally seen the roasting of coffee beans through broadcasts and various videos in modern times, this sight was not unfamiliar.

However, the smell was strange.

‘···?’

Even people who dislike coffee often appreciate the deep and sweet aroma of coffee beans themselves.

However, the aroma that emerged with the smoke as the roasted green beans changed color was not the scent that Theo had expected. There was more smoke than he had anticipated, and the smell of something burning felt somewhat repulsive.

‘Is this what it’s originally like when roasting green beans?’

A subtle savory aroma was present, but it was not the coffee scent he had been imagining.

It was an ambiguous scent that was difficult to describe accurately.

“Father, I think it’s done!”

“Me too!”

Just as Theo was feeling disappointed by the smell of burning green beans, Harold and Margaret shouted simultaneously.

As soon as Mr. Spencer heard Harold and Margaret’s shouts, he lifted the roasting pan as if he had been waiting for it and took it off the fire.

“Good! I needed to roast it a little longer than I thought.”

Because the timing of when the coffee’s aroma and flavor are produced varies slightly depending on the roasting method and the type of green bean, it was quite difficult to pinpoint the point of bringing out the best flavor unless one was a very skilled expert.

Green beans that have not been roasted enough tend to have a woody flavor because the oils [essential oils] do not develop properly, and conversely, green beans that have been roasted too much can burn and have an excessively bitter taste.

Knowing well that the point right before the coffee green beans burn is where the best flavor can be achieved, Mr. Spencer seemed to have called the twin siblings to capture that moment.

In other words, Mr. Spencer seemed to rely more on Harold and Margaret’s judgment than his own when it came to the roasting time of the coffee green beans.

Tadadak- Chiik-

Mr. Spencer sprinkled a small amount of water on the roasted beans to cool them quickly.

Then, he looked at the plantation’s laborers and explained the reason.

“If you sprinkle a small amount of water that won’t soak into the beans themselves and cool them quickly, you can maintain a slightly better aroma and flavor than if you just cool them in the air.”

At that time, Harold, who was fanning and cooling the beans, said to Mr. Spencer with an excited face.

“Father? The aroma is really good, isn’t it?”

Mr. Spencer, with a pleased smile, looked at Margaret and asked.

“Do you think so too?”

“Yes. I’ll have to grind the beans in a few days to know for sure, but it seems very well-balanced and good. It’s the best.”

However, unlike them, who were happy, the expressions of Theo, Noah, and most of the laborers were not very good.

Noah whispered to Theo anxiously.

“Mr. Sanderson, are our plantation’s green beans really okay? The smell isn’t quite what I expected. Honestly, the roasting smell seems less intense than at the coffee plantation I used to work at…”

The light of disappointment was evident on Noah’s face as he trailed off.

‘······.’

Theo was just as disappointed as Noah.

Perhaps because he had been expecting so much after hearing Mr. Spencer’s words, he felt even more disappointed.

Whether he knew Theo’s feelings or not, Mr. Spencer, beaming, carefully took out another green bean from a bag he had been keeping separately.

It seemed that Mr. Spencer had dried those green beans himself.

And he prepared to roast the green beans in the same way as before.

Before roasting, Mr. Spencer explained with a bright smile.

“These are green beans that have been processed separately from only the coffee fruits that Juba collected. On top of that, we applied a new processing method with Mr. Sanderson’s advice. We’re going to make very special high-end coffee beans with Juba’s fruits, so watch closely.”

The aroma from Juba’s roasting green beans was definitely more intense than the previous ones, and it smelled more like familiar coffee beans.

However, for Theo, who remembered the aroma of modern coffee beans, it was still not a satisfactory smell.

‘Perhaps my experiences and expectations are too high because I lived in the 21st century.’

However, words that were completely different from Theo’s worried feelings flowed out.

“Oh my! This one is unbelievably good, Father!”

“Me too. The previous one was also very good, but wow- this one will really have a special taste, won’t it?”

“Hehehe. I knew you guys would be this surprised. Didn’t I tell you? It seems like the best masterpiece of my coffee life will come out.”

“I really think it will?”

Mr. Spencer and his twins were proud.

However, there was a clear difference in sentiment from the people watching.

At that time, filled with some kind of worry and frustration,

Theo’s eyes caught Juba’s face.

‘···!’

Juba, who had been watching the roasting of the green beans she had collected with interest, was very enthusiastic about the smell during roasting and was immersed in emotion.

And she also showed a very excited and happy expression, like Mr. Spencer’s twins.

‘Hmm···.’

Juba, who seemed to have a special sense of taste and smell, certainly seemed to have a different dimension of senses.

In particular, she seemed to have a special ability to imagine the taste by imagining the smell.

‘Maybe the scent or taste that Juba imagines is what the real coffee beans will smell and taste like in three days.’

Theo and the ordinary people around him could not find anything special just from the current smell, but Mr. Spencer’s family and Juba may have recognized that specialness in advance.

‘Mr. Spencer doesn’t trust others easily and is particularly proud of his work. The fact that he brought Harold and Margaret here himself must mean that he trusts the twins more than his own judgment when it comes to the taste and aroma of coffee beans.

If Juba is showing such an attitude on top of that… then, it’s too early to be disappointed yet.’

Theo was regaining his composure and trying to have expectations again.

◈ 3 days later, Theo Coffee Plantation.

Three days had passed since the green beans were roasted and made into coffee beans.

Inside the green bean processing plant, there were many people bustling about, including Mr. Spencer’s twin siblings, the plantation laborers, as well as Lord Butler and Miss Elisa Butler, and even Lord Leonard Evans.

Mr. Spencer had deliberately invited Lord Butler and Lord Leonard Evans to the plantation.

At Mr. Spencer’s request to see objective evaluations and reactions, he specially invited them, who were coffee enthusiasts, to the first tasting session.

Theo greeted Lord Butler, Elisa, and Leonard, whom he had not seen for a long time since the engagement ceremony, with pleasure.

However, seeing them, the burden and anxiety resurfaced.

‘Mr. Spencer wouldn’t do this unless he had unusual confidence… Can there really be any dramatic changes in just three days?’

Theo trusted Mr. Spencer, but on the other hand, he also worried that his confidence might only be valid among experts.

Whether this tasting session is successful or not, Theo will have to return to London soon.

If it fails here, there was a possibility that serious problems could arise in the coffee plantation’s existence itself.

That was something that could have a significant impact on the lives of the black laborers here.

‘The die has already been cast, and now all I can do is pray that it goes well, I guess.’

The inside of the processing plant had been transformed into a stylish little cafe-like atmosphere.

It had been noisy and clattering for several days, leading to a wonderful transformation.

It was the result of Samson’s excellent craftsmanship and Peter’s ingenuity combined, and with Theo’s modern cafe ideas added to it, a fairly plausible cafe was created in just three short days.

It would look clumsy to people from the 21st century, but everyone seemed to find the appearance of the modern cafe, which they were seeing for the first time, quite novel.

Oil lamps and candles were hung in various places to create a cozy atmosphere, and screens were installed, and tables and chairs were matched as a set.

Elisa exclaimed at the sight of such a cafe.

“It was so hard to come all the way up here, but I feel really rewarded. Oh, it’s so cute and pretty.”

As expected, women, who care about the atmosphere, seemed to react more sensitively.

At the large table in the front of the cafe, Mr. Spencer and the twins were busy preparing to make coffee.

Step. Step.

Mr. Spencer, having roughly finished the preparations, came to the front of the table and stood in front of the people.

He opened his mouth with a somewhat emotional voice.

“First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to all the plantation members who have worked hard and diligently followed me for the past six months of difficult coffee farming.

In particular, Mr. Sanderson, the owner of Theo Coffee Plantation! You even postponed going to London and reawakened my passion for coffee, which I had given up on. And I would like to express my deep gratitude for ultimately helping me make today’s coffee.”

Mr. Spencer exchanged eye contact with Theo and then looked at Lord Butler this time.

“And Lord Butler. When I was forced out of Saint-Domingue [Haiti] and didn’t know what to do here, you helped me without asking or questioning, without any conditions. I will never forget that.

I have been trying to repay that favor even a little bit, but I have not been able to do it properly due to my lack of ability, and I thought that would be the case in the future as well. But I am very happy today that I can finally show you the fruits of that labor, even if it is late.”

Lord Butler responded to Mr. Spencer’s words of gratitude with great applause.

“Now, let’s put aside this old man’s grand talk and show you our results.”

Mr. Spencer gestured to Noah, who was at the door, and Noah quickly closed the door of the warehouse.

It seemed to be in order to maximize the coffee aroma even more.

Noah, who closed the door, brought out the coffee beans.

They were beans that had been well-roasted in advance and stored for several days.

“Put the beans up here.”

Noah placed the sack of beans on the table.

Chwareureu-

Mr. Spencer poured the brown coffee beans into the prepared cast iron mortar and began to grind them diligently.

쿵- 쿵- 쿵-

In modern times, they would have used an automatically operated coffee grinder, but there was no such thing in this era.

Samson and Peter were said to be working hard to make a machine that manually grinds the beans, but they had not yet completed it.

Mr. Spencer began to grind the beans that he had chopped by pounding them in a mortar.

Geureureuk- Geureureuk-

After grinding for a while, the sound inside the mortar became smoother. It seemed to be grinding well.

And soon, the aroma of the coffee beans began to spread out intensely.