Chapter 16
“I’m embarrassed, but this is really good news.”
Chloe and Lady Fortnum were a perfect match. They talked well together, as Lady Fortnum had an interest in tea and asked Chloe many questions.
“I became interested in tea after being invited to Madame Battenberg’s tea party. I bought some tea leaves and tried brewing them, albeit with limited skill.”
“Oh my, I’m so glad you became interested in teas because of me!”
“But it wasn’t as good as your tea. Madame, what’s your secret to making your tea so good?”
“I’m not very good at it, but if you don’t mind… Water is extremely important when brewing tea. The brewing method changes depending on the quality of the water, and the taste of the tea changes depending on the temperature and the amount of air dissolved in the water. The ideal water temperature for brewing tea is…”
“Oh my, Madame Battenberg! I think this’ll be a great help.”
Eventually, the two decided to have some tea together after finishing their meal.
Viscount Fortnum looked on with pleasure as his wife chatted happily with the Duchess. No one would turn down the wonderful connections she made.
Meanwhile, Alphonse was thinking differently.
‘Her attitude has changed after all.’
This wasn’t the first time he had been involved in an event with Chloe.
It was rare for them to attend balls together or be invited to other people’s homes like today, but it happened. It wasn’t just a day or two since they got married.
He remembered how Chloe acted whenever that happened. She would always act like she wanted to disappear from the scene, or sometimes act so overly exaggerated and self-conscious that it made people laugh.
But this time it was different. She was talking to Lady Fortnum, who was her own age, as if she had never been like that before, with such ease and pleasure. Lady Fortnum, too, was looking at her not with pity or sympathy, but with genuine interest and respect.
‘When did she learn such sociability?’
Even things that would have been completely uninteresting to Alphonse before now interested him. He paid more attention to his wife than to Viscount Fortnum, who kept talking to him throughout the meal.
After dinner, Lady Fortnum brought out the tea leaves she had bought and showed them to Chloe. The golden tips (young leaves with golden margins) sparkled among the well-dried black leaves.
Chloe’s eyes became serious as she faced the tea leaves. She scooped up a leaf with a teaspoon and sniffed at the scent. It had a sweet, sweet scent and a rich malt aroma. It seemed to be a decent quality Assam black tea.
“Is this Assam from the Kingdom of Bharat?”
Lady Fortnum was startled when Chloe asked.
“Oh my! How did you know?”
“The strong malt aroma is a characteristic of Assam. Judging from the many golden tips and the delicate flavor, it seems like a good tea.”
“Indeed! Madame Battenberg is an expert on tea.”
Chloe smiled shyly. After she came here, she studied the teas here diligently. Most of the tea producing areas here were similar to the previous world, so it was easy to understand.
For example, the Kingdom of Bharat had similar characteristics to the previous world’s India, and Assam Tea had similar characteristics to the the one from Assam region in India.
“I don’t know much, so I just bought what the merchant recommended.”
“It’s a good recommendation. I also like Assam, which has a strong and savory flavor. The taste and flavor are easy for beginners to perceive.”
Chloe asked the maid for boiling water and a tea set. There were no proper tea cups in the master’s room. Instead, the maid brought a pot and cups for coffee.
Chloe preheated the kettle and coffee cups by pouring boiling water into them little by little.
“When brewing tea, it is very important to maintain the temperature. However, if you pour the water to brew tea directly into a cold teapot, even the boiling water will cool down quickly. So, to maintain the temperature of the tea, it is a good idea to preheat the teapot first.”
“Oh my! Is that so? I never thought of that.”
After the tea set was warmed up, the real tea ceremony began. Chloe measured out tea leaves with a tea spoon and put them in the teapot, then held the teapot filled with boiling water in her hand.
“This is where it gets important. First, carefully soak the tea leaves in hot water…”
Chloe, who had poured boiling water over the tea leaves, suddenly lifted the kettle high. Lady Fortnum could not help but be surprised again.
“Oh my! It looks like he’s doing some kind of stunt.”
“It’s about adding enough air to the tea and making sure that the tea leaves jump up enough during the steeping process.”
A thin but powerful stream of water was created in Chloe’s hands. Chloe, who skillfully created a smooth and beautiful stream of water, filled the teapot completely and closed the lid.
“It is important that there is enough air dissolved in the tea. The degree to which a tea is steeped and the taste are completely different for each one. Also, the tea leaves moving up and down due to the convection of the tea water is called jumping, and the secret to making this jumping happen well is also the secret to making the tea taste good.”
“Wow! Wow. You really know a lot. So, are we just waiting for it to finish?”
Chloe smiled and turned over the hourglass.
“Yes that’s right.”
“How many minutes would be appropriate for that?”
“It depends on your taste and the characteristics of the tea leaves. However, the general standard time is said to be 3 minutes. Steeping 3g of tea leaves in 300ml of water for 3 minutes is the most common method. Of course, it is not an absolute standard. First, try steeping it this way, and then adjust the time and amount of tea leaves according to your taste.”
After a brief chat, three minutes passed in an instant. Chloe strained the well-brewed black tea leaves through a strainer and poured them into another teapot.
“By going through this process of transferring to another teapot, the strength of the tea becomes even, and it prevents the tea leaves from remaining in the tea water, which can result in a bitter taste. Now, shall we have a taste?”
Chloe and Lady Fortnum headed to the drawing room where their husbands were waiting.
The two men seemed to be smoking cigarettes and talking about politics, and the conversation seemed to be going well, especially because Viscount Fortnum looked happy.
“Would you like to taste it?”
Chloe asked kindly, holding up a teacup. Viscount Fortnum quickly spit out his cigarette, tossed it into the ashtray, and greeted them cheerfully.
“Oh my, so this is it. It is an honor for the me to taste the tea of Duchess Battenberg myself. An honor!”
Chloe poured a cup of tea for each of the three people gathered and sat down. While Chloe poured tea into her own cup, Viscount Fortnum drank too quickly and almost burned his tongue.
“…Oh my goodness! It smells so rich! It’s so delicious.”
Lady Fortnum, who had been drinking her tea cautiously, said with a start.
Chloe smiled with delight.
“The malt aroma, similar to sweet potato or pumpkin, is a characteristic of Assam. Hmm, this tea really has a rich malt aroma.”
“Oh my, I thought all teas were the same, but it’s completely different from the one my wife gave me. The one my wife gave me was like a herbal medicine, bitter and black…”1Run, dear Viscount. You’re not gonna live past this sentence…
And tea culture continues to spread.