Episode 4
It wasn’t a very pleasant feeling to have all the kitchen maids’ eyes on her. Chloe, in her previous 28 years of life, had never enjoyed the attention of others. But when she thought of it as being the same as giving a presentation, she could bear it somehow by putting on an iron mask on her face.
Although nobles were not supposed to frequent kitchens, Chloe still had a 21st-century mentality. Besides, judging by the usual attitude of the servants here, if she asked someone to bring her some hot water because she wanted to make tea, she would most likely be ignored.
Since she was in this situation, she wanted to try making tea herself in a way she was familiar with. This was the reason why she went to the kitchen herself.
One of the kitchen maids, unable to resist her curiosity, asked.
“Madam, what brought your grace here…”
Chloe exchanged a glance with Ellie and smiled.
“I came to make tea. You can just go on with work without worrying about me.”
“Tea… are you talking about that tea?”
The kitchen maid asked in a strange tone.
It was understandable. Here, in the empire, tea was not a widely spread culture. Coffee was more widely known than tea, even though Coffee was completely imported, tea drinkers were rare. It was still like a foreign backwater that was not well known.
‘I don’t know why.’
Chloe nodded to the kitchen maid and motioned to Ellie to put the tea down.
Ellie carefully put down the luxurious tea caddy engraved with a peony pattern.
She was so nervous doing so because it was a luxury imported goods which she was touching for the first time in her life. It was something that a commoner, especially a maid who lived off of helping others, would normally never be able to touch, let alone taste, in her entire life.
Chloe asked the kitchen maid to bring her what she needed.
“Would you please bring out a kettle to boil water?”
The kitchen maid looked blank for a moment, then took a kettle out of the shelf. It was a thick iron kettle.
“Do you have a kettle made of copper?”
“Huh? A copper kettle?”
The kitchen maid made a face of bewilderment. Her reaction was saying something like, ‘The water boils the same anyway, so why does the material of the kettle matter?’
Of course, if Chloe had been an ordinary duchess, the kitchen maid would not have reacted so blatantly and impertinently. But Chloe still spoke with an indifferent expression.
“If you have a copper kettle, bring it to me.”
“Can’t you just use a metal kettle? We’re a little busy right now.”
She said that even though it was obvious that she wasn’t busy at all. Chloe shook her head.
“No, I can’t. It’s important to boil the tea quickly so that there’s a lot of air left in it, but an iron kettle has poor heat conductivity and boils too slowly. Bring me a copper kettle.”
Only then did the kitchen maid bring out a copper kettle. It looked like it would hold just the right amount of 500ml, and Chloe liked it very much.
After asking Ellie to boil some water for her, Chloe went looking for a ceramic tea set that would be useful. However there were no teapots or tea cups, only coffee pots and coffee cups.
Strictly speaking, coffeeware and teaware were different items, but Chloe decided to be satisfied with this for now.
After warming the coffee pot with hot water, she put the tea leaves in the coffee pot and poured in the freshly boiled water.
Chloe thought as she turned the hourglass over.
‘Now all we have to do is wait for the time to pass.’
After a while, the last of the sand in the hourglass finally ran out. Chloe strained the tea into a cup.
The scent was quite good. It had a moderate weight and a warm, comfortable aroma typical of black tea.
It was a meaningful first cup in this world. Chloe brought the cup to her lips with a sense of anticipation.
“Ugh!”
Chloe grimaced, making Ellie, who had been standing next to her, come over in surprise.
“Madam, are you okay?!”
The lady frowned as soon as she tasted the drink! Isn’t that an incredibly suspicious scene?
Countless historical incidents of poisoning using drinks began to flash through Ellie’s mind.
Chloe shook her head. “No, the tea was just steeped incorrectly.”
As she said that, she began to worry. The tea was too strong. It was so bitter and sour that it was hard to drink. She had brewed tea more than once in her previous life, and it was not like her skills would go away just because she came here.
Why? There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with the tea leaves, and the tea set was clean. So the problem was most likely with the water.
Since water makes up 99% of the ingredients in tea, water has a big impact on the taste of tea. Chloe asked the kitchen maid.
“Where do you get the water you use in the mansion?”
No nobleman would have wondered where the water for his household came from. That was the servants’ job…
The kitchen maid thought so and answered with a dumbfounded expression.
“Every morning the servants draw water from the well.”
Well water drawn in the morning. There was nothing wrong with it. No, it was actually good water.
‘It is often said that well water drawn in the morning is the best water to use for making tea.’
It was a kind of common sense among tea drinkers, but modern Koreans would not have many opportunities to drink well water. In her previous life, Chloe also always drank tap water or mineral water.
‘Could that be the problem?’
Chloe turned to Ellie and said.
“Ellie, can you bring me a glass of water?”
“Y-yes!”
Ellie brought a glass of water. The water was very clear and clean, as if it had come from the well that morning. Chloe took the glass and drank it.
‘It’s light on the palate and has a clean taste…so familiar.’
Chloe thought.
‘That’s right. The water here is not hard water, but soft water.’
In her previous life, when she was Park Ha-jeong, she was lucky enough to participate in a short-term language study program in Europe sponsored by a large company while she was a college student.
The country she went to was England. At that time, she had a hard time because the water was unfamiliar. Not only did the water not suit her taste, but every time she washed her hair or took a shower, her hair and skin would become dry.
Every time she drank, the texture of the water on her tongue felt heavy.
When she tried to brew tea, the tea did not brew well.
Her roommate, who was British, explained that the water in Europe was hard, with lots of minerals.
‘It’s because there’s lime in the water. We like to let the tea steep for 3 to 4 minutes.’
It was an unfamiliar experience for her, who was used to Korean soft water, which was relatively clear and low in minerals.
Here, it was obvious that the imperial culture and lifestyle were similar to Europe. So Chloe thoughtlessly assumed that the water here would be hard water, and brewed tea as she had done in England.
However, the water here had almost no minerals, especially calcium carbonate (lime). This was evidence that the water here was soft water, and that tea had to be brewed in a short period of time, just like she did in Korea.
Realizing this, Chloe began to brew tea again. She threw away the failed tea, boiled water in the kettle, and measured out the tea leaves again. She steeped the tea for a short time to suit her taste, and tasted it carefully.
‘Delicious!’
Her face lit up as if a switch had been turned on. She poured Ellie some tea and offered it to her too.
“It’s called black tea. When you drink it, you’ll feel a rich and nutty malt flavor. Since this is your first time drinking it, it’s okay to drink it with sugar.”
Chloe picked up the sugar cube with tongs.
Ellie was so embarrassed that her mistress had prepared this expensive drink for her with such care. She took a sip, almost not knowing whether the tea was going down her nose or her mouth.
‘Ah…!’
A unique fragrance that she had never felt before rose from her mouth and filled her nasal cavity. Unlike the water, she felt a smooth texture like silk wrapping around her tongue. The warm heat warmed her stomach.
The sweet taste from the sugar and the original sweet aroma of black tea blended together, and although it was her first time drinking it, she felt somehow comfortable. Ellie felt as if her heart was being stolen.
Chloe asked cautiously.
“Does it taste good?”
Ellie answered, her eyes moist with admiration beneath her glasses.
“Oh, it’s delicious… ! The aroma and the taste are so sweet!”
Only then did Chloe smile in relief.
Meanwhile, a warm and sweet scent filled the kitchen, and without warning, the maids glanced at them. Some of them swallowed their saliva or smacked their lips at the unfamiliar scent, but Chloe and Ellie did not notice.
“Then, should we move to a more comfortable place?”
Chloe said, pointing in the direction of the reception room.
Ellie nodded, holding up the tray with the ‘tea set’. A gentle anticipation appeared on the girl’s face as she tasted tea for the first time.
***
Chloe was sitting by the window of her room, admiring the view of the garden in early summer.
What Chloe realized during the last tea time was not only that the water here was soft water. The reason tea was an unfamiliar culture here was also connected to water.
The Earth she lived in in her previous life, especially Europe, had a very developed beverage culture. For example, in England, people drank beer and tea on a daily basis, and in France, they drank wine and coffee, and they almost never drank water.
The reason was the water quality in Europe. The water in Europe was hard and contained a lot of limestone, which was tasteless and unhealthy. So instead of tasteless water, people drank delicious liquor and tea on a daily basis.
‘In contrast, the water here is very clean.’
In an empire with clear water, water was sufficient for everyday consumption, so there was no need for a tea culture to develop to that extent.
I heard that there were some countries around here that enjoyed drinking tea, but most of them were treated as barbarian countries by the arrogant empire. In an empire where alcohol and coffee, which had already been introduced early, were already established as beverages as a luxury food, tea was a lowly drink that only barbarians drank.
Chloe was bitter about the fact, but it wasn’t hopeless. Even Ellie had enjoyed drinking black tea so much.
It was then that she smiled like a mother, recalling Ellie drinking her tea deliciously.
Knock Knock.
Chloe tilted her head at the sudden knock. At this hour, at this time, no one should be visiting her. She told the person behind the door to come in.
The person who pushed open her door was truly an unexpected person.
“Lady Miller?”
Lady Miller, wearing an apron with a wrinkled appearance, had a stiff expression on her face.
To anyone who saw it, it seemed rude to look at the Duchess, her superior, that way but Chloe didn’t pay much attention.
“I have come to tell you something, your grace.”
“What?”
“I hope you don’t bring my workers with you in the future.”
Chloe’s eyes widened. Lady Miller continued speaking in an unfriendly tone.
“It’s interfering with our work, so I punished Ellie.”
Anyone felt like having black tea while reading this chapter? 🤣
