Chapter 97 The Beginning of Sake Brewing(ask)
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
In order to get the dwarves to spit out a good amount of wages, I decided to develop new menus for the restaurant that the dwarves would be using.
Of course, the new menu must include alcohol, and appetizers that are essential for alcohol.
So, I gave Narsht-san some ideas for the appetizers, and together with Mei, I proceeded to make sake.
”Well, let’s get started!”
”Yeah…”
”What’s wrong, Mei? You usually come to me excitedly about what we’re going to do.”
”You already know why I’m not in the mood.”
Well, it’s impossible to go back to normal after what happened.
I’m consciously trying to behave as usual, but I feel very awkward inwardly.
However, I can’t keep dragging it out, and I think it’s best not to mention it any more and to gradually get used to it, so I talk about it to distract myself.
”Have you ever made alcohol before, Mei?”
”No, I haven’t. Does Neil have experience with that?”
”I’m afraid I don’t either.”
”…And yet you say let’s make alcohol?”
Mei says this with a look of exasperation on her face, but I pay no attention to her words and take out the object I want from a wooden box in the corner of the laboratory.
A brown bottle filled with a colorless liquid, I move it to the desk where the distiller is placed.
”Is that medicinal alcohol?”
”Yeah, we’re going to make alcohol with this.”
Medicinal wine, like pure vodka in my previous world, is an extremely pure liquor with almost no aroma other than ethanol, and is treated as a medicine in this world.
It is said to be effective as a medicine even as it is, but it is usually mixed with medicinal herbs to make it more effective as a medicine.
I explain to Mei, who tilts her head, wondering if she doesn’t quite understand the meaning of my words about making sake as a luxury item out of medicine.
”In order to increase the medicinal effect, medicinal herbs are mixed with it, right? But what do you think would happen if we use spices or fruits instead of herbs?”
”…I see, you mean that the spices and fruits would give the alcohol a flavor and aroma.”
Yes, what I’m trying to make is what you might call liqueurs or fruit wines as mixed drinks.
Unfortunately, I do not have the knowledge of traditional alcohol brewing, but with this method, as long as we consider the types of ingredients or even combinations of spices, we could make countless varieties of alcohol.
Even with our amateur brewing skills, we may be able to make enough sake to convince the dwarves with this method.
”But, when it comes to that, I might not be of much help.”
”What? Why?”
”From what I’ve heard, the process itself is no different from making medicinal wine, isn’t it? If there is no room for me to interfere in the technical aspects, then there is no need for me. Plus, my imagination isn’t good enough to come up with the right ingredients to make a delicious drink.”
”No, no, that’s not true! I want to hear your ideas, Mei!”
As I knew liqueur and fruit wine, I already had some combinations in my mind.
However, because of my knowledge of liqueurs and fruit wine, I was restricted by existing liquors and could not think freely, and only ordinary ideas came to my mind.
What is needed in this kind of new development is a new point of view and new ideas, and I wanted Mei’s idea because I thought that she has the potential to come up with something that I could not come up with because she does not know liqueurs.
”Please, Mei! The more perspectives, the better! Give me your point of view as a researcher!”
”…Well, if you insist, I’ll do it.”
”Thank you, Mei! So, let me ask you, what would you mix in it if you wanted to sell it as a drink?”
”Wow, that’s sudden… Hmm, let’s see, how about grapes then? Since there’s already wine, maybe it would go well with it.”
”So we’re using grapes in a mixed drink rather than a fermented one. That’s a good idea.”
”Mixed drink?”
”Oh, sorry, I mean, even though the production method is similar to making medicinal alcohol, since it’s not medicinal, we need a different name, right?”
”So it’s a mixed drink because it’s mixed, I see. Hey, come to think of it, isn’t this alcohol production?”
”Yeah? Yes, it is.”
I tilted my head, not understanding Mei’s intention in asking me this very new question, and she confronted me with an important fact.
”Then don’t you need permission from the lord?”
”…ah.”
Yes, even in this world, it is illegal to brew alcohol without permission, and the permission of the lord of the land is required to do so.
Although this is a new settlement under my control, it is still under the jurisdiction of Count Atmiras, so I needed the permission of my father to make alcohol.
”It looks like making alcohol will have to wait for a while.”
”It’s frustrating… But we need to hurry up and get permission from your father.”
”In the meantime, what are we going to do?”
”We’ll gather the ingredients to make the blend and come up with a plan.”
So I sent a letter to my father and asked Mei to come up with a list of possible ingredients to be mixed into the mixed drink, and the brewing process was stalled before it could even begin.
I had hoped to somehow complete the alcohol before the dwarves arrived, but our plans came to a halt when the dwarves arrived five days later.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.