Ang Lee wanted to roast the freshly peeled coffee beans in preparation for the subsequent grinding. Naturally, there was no need for oil and salt. This was not a stir-fry.
"I just said that I want to roast it. How can I need oil and salt? Bring a few more iron spoons. Later, you guys take turns stirring. Don't let the coffee beans burn."
Ang Lee said.
Soon, the iron pot was set up and the firewood was lit. However, there was nothing in the iron pot. It was empty.
"Quickly put the peeled coffee beans in. You two stir-fry it back and forth until you smell the fragrance."
Ang Lee requested.
The iron pot was not big, and there were not many coffee beans, so it was very easy to stir-fry them. Yun'er and the beauty were completely capable of completing this task, and there was no need for a professional chef. Moreover, the two of them were more meticulous, so it was completely suitable for them to do this job.
Under the heating of the firewood, the iron pot quickly heated up. Under such circumstances, if the coffee beans in the pot were not stirred frequently, it was very likely that the coffee beans would burn.
Yun 'er and the beauty cooperated with each other. They kept stirring the coffee beans in the iron pot so that the coffee beans could be evenly heated and not burn.
After heating and stir-frying for a period of time, the coffee beans began to emit a rich smell. This smell was very special. It could be said to be bitter or fragrant. In short, it was a very uncommon smell.
"Alang, what is this thing? It smells so bad!"
Yun 'er used an iron spoon to stir the coffee beans while covering her nose.
"Alang, can this thing be eaten?"
The beauty also asked.
Ang Lee did not answer because he saw Li Xiaoyao walking over.
This was the palace of Polu Country. Ang Lee was roasting coffee beans in the palace, causing the entire palace to have a bitter smell. This naturally aroused Li Xiaoyao's curiosity. Therefore, he ran over to take a look to see what was going on.
"Brother!" "What are you busy with?" I can smell the bitterness even from across the courtyard. "
Li Xiaoyao asked straightforwardly.
He was very curious. When Ang Lee returned to the palace, he had heard about the wild fruit. It was the Polu person who had led the way who had reported it. At that time, he did not ask about it. After smelling the bitter smell, he could no longer suppress his curiosity and wanted to see what it was.
Ang Lee did not hide anything and said, "We are using wild fruits to make a drink. It is a very special drink. If we can really make it, it will bring endless wealth to your Po Lu Country."
As I said that, I looked at the people who were working with an intoxicated expression.
"Just this ordinary little wild fruit can bring great wealth to my Po Lu Country. Is this little fruit really that tasty? But it was clearly a bitter smell! Why would anyone like it? "
Li Xiaoyao didn't understand at all. He felt that this was just an ordinary small wild fruit. Moreover, this kind of wild fruit was very bitter and didn't look like it tasted good at all.
Ang Lee smiled and said, "It takes a long time to make the drinks. Big Brother Li, you should go back and wait patiently! After the drinks are made, I will definitely let Big Brother Li taste it. "
Roasting and grinding all needed time. It would be hard to make it in a short time. Moreover, it was getting late. It should be time for dinner.
"Brother, since the drinks will take a long time to prepare, let's go to the banquet first! After eating and drinking, the feeling of drinking tea isn't bad. "
Li Xiaoyao suggested.
Ang Lee thought for a moment and said, "Big Brother Li, you go first! I will be there in a while. Making the drinks requires a certain amount of skill. I need to stay here and teach these fellows. Once they learn it, I will go. "
It wasn't difficult to make the most basic coffee. However, this was only for those who knew how to make it. If one didn't know how to make it, they wouldn't be able to make coffee.
Li Xiaoyao nodded and went to prepare the banquet. Then, he left.
"Alang, this thing has already been fried to such an extent. Is it okay now?"
Yun 'er covered her nose and said.
Ang Lee shook his head and said, "No, it's not ready yet. It still needs to be fried for a while. Beauty, bring the millstone."
"Millstone? Is it the millstone for grinding soybeans?"
The beauty was confused.
Li An nodded and said, "Yes, it's the millstone that we usually use to grind soybeans. When the coffee beans are done roasting, we'll use the millstone to grind them. Right, we have to grind them dry and don't add any water. The millstone also has to be completely wiped clean. It won't do if there are traces of water. Remember to wipe it clean with silk. "
"Yes, Alang. This slave understands."
The beauty responded and turned to prepare the millstone.
This time, Ang Lee only brought a few small millstones. Usually, there was one for grinding soybeans. There were also a few spare millstones. Although these idle millstones were sealed very well, it was difficult to guarantee that they would not be contaminated with dust. In order to be clean and hygienic, they had to be wiped with clean silk.
Everyone was busy. If they didn't finish this, Ang Lee wouldn't let them eat happily. However, with so many people working together, they wouldn't be busy for long. They should be able to finish the work soon.
"Yun'er, these coffee beans will be enough after stir-frying them for a while. After stir-frying them, you and the beauty will grind all these coffee beans into powder. Remember, it's dry powder. Then, you will bring this dry powder and the same amount of white sugar to the banquet to find me.
Ang Lee was very hungry and needed to eat. The rest of the work should be done by these people.
"Yes, Alang. This slave understands."
Yun 'er smiled gently and continued to fry the coffee beans.
Ang Lee was naturally very happy to find coffee beans in a remote place like the Polu Country. He had always thought that coffee beans grew in the distant Africa, but he didn't expect that the Polu Country would also have coffee beans. Moreover, it seemed that there were quite a few of them.
If he ate a big meal every day, it wouldn't have much meaning because he was already tired of it and wanted to change his taste.
Especially after eating too much greasy food, he had the urge to eat salted vegetables. Greasy food was a good thing for the poor because it could fill their stomachs, but for the rich, it was a very annoying thing because it would make people sick and affect their health.
"Alang, everything you want is ready. This is white sugar, and this is the ground powder."
Yun 'er walked in front of Ang Lee without any hindrance and brought the things that Ang Lee wanted.
"Hmm, not bad. You're quite fast!" "Come, sit down and eat together!"
Ang Lee was in a good mood and asked Yun 'er to stay and eat together with him.
As a servant, to be able to sit and eat with the master was a great gift. At least in this era, it showed that Ang Lee was very friendly to his servants.
Naturally, there was a use for Yun 'er to stay. He was about to make the coffee. This kind of work naturally had to be done by Yun' er, or by the two of them.
"Little brother, this is the drink you want to make?"
Li Xiaoyao wasn't stupid. He had already smelled the coffee powder. The other high officials of the Polu Country also smelled it. Everyone smelled a bitter smell. Therefore, they really couldn't understand the value of this bitter thing.
Although bitter medicine was good for the disease, it referred to taking medicine. If they ate and drank it like taking medicine, it would be too painful. No one was willing to suffer this.
Ang Lee nodded and said softly, "That's right, this is the drink I was talking about. However, to make this drink, you need hot water and porcelain bowls. Bring more over and let me try it out so that I can make the drink with the best taste."
Li Xiaoyao didn't think too much about it. He immediately asked someone to prepare hot water and a large number of porcelain bowls so that Ang Lee could demonstrate the steps of making the drink on the spot.
Since the coffee beans had already been roasted and ground, and the white sugar and hot water had also been prepared, it wasn't difficult to make the drink. The only problem now was the ratio of white sugar and coffee powder. Only by grasping the ratio could he make the coffee drink with the best taste.
If too much sugar was added, the unique taste of the coffee wouldn't be reflected. If too little sugar was added, it wouldn't be able to suppress the unique bitterness of the coffee, making it difficult to swallow. The balance between the two was difficult to grasp. It had to be tasted personally to be sure. Of course, as long as it was often made, a suitable balance would be found. As long as the requirements weren't too high, the problem wouldn't be too big.
Ang Lee let Yun 'er help him. He personally made the coffee drink. First, he took a clean porcelain bowl, put in a small amount of coffee, and mixed it with boiling water. After mixing it evenly, he put in a small amount of white sugar and continued to mix it evenly.
After mixing it evenly, Ang Lee smelled it. Then, he used a small spoon to take a sip. Immediately, his mouth was filled with a bitter taste. It was completely different from the coffee he had drunk in his previous life.
This meant that too little white sugar was added. He needed to continue adding white sugar to suppress the bitter taste of the coffee.
According to his own feelings, Ang Lee added another spoonful of sugar to the brewed coffee and mixed it evenly. After mixing it evenly, he tasted it again with a spoon.
There was still a bitter taste in his mouth, but it was much better than before. It wasn't very bitter anymore. In fact, it was close to the standard of coffee. However, considering that the people of this era weren't used to bitter tastes, the taste needed to be sweeter to completely suppress the bitter taste.
Ang Lee added white sugar for the third time. After mixing it evenly and drinking a spoonful, he felt that the taste was quite good. It had the fragrance of coffee, and at the same time, he didn't feel the bitter taste. This was a very good taste that could be promoted.
"Yun 'er, make more according to this ratio. Let everyone here taste it."
After Ang Lee was satisfied, he let Yun 'er make more preparations. Let Li Xiaoyao and the big shots of Polu Country taste the new coffee drink.
Yun'er had already memorized the approximate ratio and quickly concocted a sufficient amount of coffee and handed it over to Li An.
"Yun 'er, bring this coffee to everyone and let them have a taste."
Ang Lee requested.
The purpose of making so much coffee was to let everyone taste it. Moreover, the coffee was still warm. It was just right to drink.
"Oh, is this really good? Let me try it."
Li Xiaoyao curiously picked up the coffee and gently tasted it.
When he tasted it just now, he didn't feel much. However, after tasting it for a while, Li Xiaoyao's mouth revealed a smile. Obviously, he was very satisfied with the taste of the coffee.
"Eh, the taste is really good. It has a different flavor!"
Li Xiaoyao praised and continued to taste it.
After a few high ranking officials of Polu Country drank it, they were also surprised. They had already known about Ang Lee collecting coffee beans. They had seen these very common wild fruits before. However, these wild fruits that they had seen for decades could be made into a drink. Moreover, the taste was very good. This greatly exceeded their expectations.
"The taste is not bad. It's really not bad!"
"I didn't expect that these small wild fruits that we usually see could be made into such a delicious drink."
"That's not right. What I smelled just now was bitter. Why can't I taste the bitterness? There's something white in it. What is that? "
The high ranking officials of Polu Country all recovered.
Li Xiaoyao couldn't suppress the curiosity in his heart and asked, "Brother! We have already seen your drink. Can you tell us what the white thing you just added was? "
Although they didn't know the steps of making coffee, they knew the general steps. It was just roasting and grinding the coffee seeds. It wasn't too difficult. They just needed to test the heat a few times.
As for the white sugar, they had never seen it before. In this era, white sugar was a rare thing. Other than the advanced Tang dynasty, which had white sugar, the small countries overseas couldn't eat white sugar. Therefore, these people didn't understand what the white thing Ang Lee brought was.
Ang Lee didn't hide it and said, "This white thing is white sugar. It's very sweet, much sweeter than the caramel candy you eat. Only the Tang dynasty can produce white sugar. However, the environment of Polu Country is good. You can grow sugar cane to make white sugar. You will definitely have a good yield."
The production of white sugar required a certain level of skill. The backward Polu Country did not have the ability to produce white sugar. Unless they opened the country's door and let the Tang Empire's merchants with advanced technology enter, they could only import from the Tang Empire.
"Sweet white sugar. It's good stuff!"
"When sweet and bitter are put together, the sweetness and bitterness are gone. Only the fragrance is left. It's amazing."
"No, there's still too little white sugar. There's still a faint bitter taste."
"Yes, there's still a bit of bitterness. However, the taste is still very good. It's delicious."
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