A Beautiful Model In My Class Comes To The Coffee Shop Where I Work Part-time Only When I'm On Shift - Chapter 20

Episode 20: Tasting Session

The tasting session at Café Mellow began with examining the aroma of the beans.

“…They all have a nice scent.”

I sniffed each of the five containers.

I didn’t have a refined enough sense to identify the varieties based on aroma alone. I could vaguely tell the differences, but my impressions weren’t much different from Shizuku’s.

“Shall we brew them all and taste them?”

Utahara-san used the beans in front of us to make iced coffee.

“In fact, naming coffee is very difficult.”

“How so?”

“Do you know Blue Mountain or Kilimanjaro?”

“Yes, I’ve heard of the names.”

“To explain a bit further, Blue Mountain refers to the rare beans grown in the Blue Mountain range in Jamaica.”

“Then… what about other beans from Jamaica?”

“They don’t have special names, they’re often just called Jamaican coffee.”

“I see!”

Blue Mountain and Kilimanjaro are essentially brand names.

Without meeting certain criteria through fair assessment, these beans cannot bear these brand names.

“Unnamed coffee beans are often named by combining the country name, region name, or farm name. But that’s a bit cumbersome, so most cafes give them original names.”

At Café Mellow, beans are often blended to suit the customers, so the menu lists “Mellow Blend.”

Coffee is a flagship menu item for each café.

Especially blends, which reflect the café’s personality, are like its face.

In Café Mellow’s blend, Utahara-san’s dedication is reflected, and it’s quite popular.

I felt proud of that above all.

“The five beans here are carefully selected for iced coffee. They are all deep roasted. By the way, Shizuku-chan, do you remember what deep roasting means?”

“Deep roasting… um, I think it’s when the roasting time is long, and it brings out a strong bitterness.”

“That’s right. I’m glad you remembered.”

Seeing Utahara-san’s blooming smile, Shizuku also scratched her cheek happily.

“By the way, there are three main stages of roasting, but did you know that it can be further divided?”

Light Roast

Cinnamon Roast

Medium Roast

High Roast

City Roast

Full City Roast

French Roast

Italian Roast

A total of eight stages.

This is the degree of roasting for coffee.

“Oh, there are quite a few…”

“You don’t need to remember them all~. Only those running a café need to remember.”

Once again, we each took a sip of the iced coffee.

All of them had a strong bitterness and richness, perfect for iced coffee.

“…Sorry, but I feel like they all taste the same up to this point.”

As Shizuku took a sip of the fourth cup, she frowned apologetically.

“It’s okay. Even after a year of training, I still can’t clearly distinguish the differences.”

“That’s right. What’s important is how close it is to your own preference.”

As Utahara-san said, the most important thing is which beans match your palate.

Among these five, I already knew which one I preferred.

“…Ah, but this one is delicious.”

As Shizuku took a sip of the fifth coffee, she murmured.

Interestingly, that was the bean I thought suited me best.

“Shizuku, do you also like that one?”

“Yeah. It’s bitter, but it’s easy to drink… This is my favorite.”

“I feel the same. How about you, Master?”

When I asked, Utahara-san nodded vigorously.

“Yeah, I also think this one is delicious. …Well, it’s Mandheling, so it’s undoubtedly outstanding.”

“I see… That’s why it tasted good.”

Seeing both me and Utahara-san let out a sigh, Shizuku tilted her head.

“Mandheling… is that the name? So, it’s a branded bean?”

“Yeah… that’s what it means.”

“Does that mean… branded beans are expensive?”

“……”

I nodded silently.

Beans with brand names are generally expensive.

Since they are produced only in limited areas, it’s only natural.

If we were to use them directly, offering coffee at the current price would become quite difficult.

“But, there’s no doubt that this one tastes good…”

Utahara-san looked quite troubled.

The taste difference, evident even to Shizuku, was not something to ignore.

Utahara-san always said she wouldn’t compromise on coffee.

Not using Mandheling here would go against her policy.

“…Thank you, both of you. I’ll try something bold.”

Saying that, Utahara-san stood tall in front of us.