Luxury Cafe Owner - Chapter 30 A Hard Lesson

Alan went and began to grind coffee beans for the espresso. The coffee, after being ground, appeared like granulated sugar. Then he carefully divvied out about 14 grams of the now ground coffee. Technically such an amount was considered a “double shot” of espresso. However, it was essentially one serving of espresso. Then he carefully applied pressure to it with the portafilter, tamping the ground coffee evenly so it had an even, polished appearance.

Taking the portafilter with the coffee in it he put it in the coffee machine. He put a small glass that looked almost like a shot glass just below it. Then he activated the machine. Hot pressurized water went through the portafilter, forcing out a small stream of golden brown coffee that fell into the shot glass just below.

10 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds passed in total. After 30 seconds, a golden brown coffee with a trace of foam on the surface sat in the shot glass. He pulled out some crema and mixed in a small amount; the foam on top took the cream and pulled it in creating a golden foamy mixture on top of the coffee, more lightly flavored than the dark, rich coffee beneath it.

Though his cafe had become famous for the froth art he made on the cappuccino, Alan still thought that true art lay in brewing a perfect cup of coffee.

The condensed nature of the espresso made it so that the drink was essentially coffee in its simplest, purest form. As a result, when appreciating the beauty of it, Alan felt he was appreciating the beauty of coffee itself, of its most intrinsic qualities. The shot glass was filled with that rich, dark brown coffee topped with the golden crema foam. He sat back for a second, admiring it as he waited for it to cool just slightly so he could carry it out.

Walking back out he put it in front of Tom.

Tom eyed the espresso closely before nodding in satisfaction. “As expected, anything you make is perfect Alan.”

Alan smiled slightly and then went back to clean up the kitchen. The difference between today and yesterday was apparent to Alan; yesterday he’d had a line throughout the entirety of his business hours. Today, it had clearly tapered off.

He realized why the mission had appeared so simple. The reality was that most of the people who had come to try the coffee didn’t want to come every day. After all, it was so expensive. The coffee was excellent and had a good effect, but most people wouldn’t be able to fit it into their budget. Especially the average people who had come to try it.

He had to switch back to his previous mindset of attracting rich, elite customers.

As he thought this the bell on the door to the cafe rang as someone opened it and walked inside. Alan looked up to find a familiar face staring at him.

Zachary Taylor stood there looking sheepish.

Alan was somewhat surprised but went over to him. “Good morning. Can I help you with something?”

Zachary shifted his weight slightly to his other foot, then back, before saying, “Yes, well, I’d like to order a coffee. I want to give your cafe a proper review.”

Alan didn’t find this surprising. In order to fix his reputation Zachary needed to properly try the coffee and review it. Only then would people begin to trust him again.

However, he was out of luck today.

Alan nodded his head and said, “I see. Unfortunately I cannot serve you coffee.”

Zachary’s face paled. “Look, if this is about the tweet, I’m sorry. I was just trying to stir up things on Twitter and get some new followers. You can understand that, can’t you?”

Alan nodded again. “I understand. Unfortunately I still cannot serve you coffee.” He pointed to the chalk board with the menu and rules on it. “As you can see, one of the rules of the cafe is that you cannot waste coffee. You have to finish what you order. Yesterday, you didn’t finish your cappuccino. Thus, I cannot serve you as you have been blacklisted by the cafe.”

Zachary looked taken aback, but then grew angry. “What sort of rule is that? Look, let me talk to the owner. I’m sure we can come to some sort of agreement.”

Alan shook his head. “I am the owner. I’m afraid the rules are non-negotiable. You have to finish your coffee in order to continue to come here.”

Zachary stared at him helplessly. At the end of the day he was practically a kid, and it showed as he grew slightly teary eyed. He was getting scolded on Twitter left and right, even his friends were giving him looks. He hadn’t really considered the consequences of his actions; not how they would affect Alan, nor how they could affect him.

Alan looked at him and felt some sympathy. He opened his mouth. “Well, hold on a second. There really might be a solution.”

Zachary suddenly looked at him with hope in his eyes.

Alan went back into the kitchen. When he came back out he was carrying a cup. It was filled with cappuccino.

Tom chimed in at this point. “I thought you don’t serve cappuccino in the morning.”

Alan nodded. “I don’t. This is the cappuccino I served him yesterday. I anticipated that something like this might happen.”

Zachary’s eyes widened as he realized he’d been seen through by Alan from the beginning. Then his expression darkened as he realized where this was going. “You don’t mean”

Alan nodded at Zachary. “If you drink this then you will have finished your drink and I won’t have to blacklist you. Well, it’s up to you if you want to drink it.”

Zachary stared at the cold coffee that had presumably been sitting out since yesterday. He looked desolately at Alan who stared back at him uncompromisingly. Taking a deep breath, he reached out and grabbed the cappuccino and chugged it down.

He smacked the cup back onto the counter, his face turning pale as the now ruined taste of cappuccino hit him. The cream had turned slightly sour too, and he fought to keep the drink down.

Alan nodded.

The system’s voice rang out. “Zachary Taylor has finished his cappuccino and is therefore no longer blacklisted from the cafe.”

“I can serve you coffee now.” Alan said.

Zachary waved him off, clutching his stomach. “I’ll be back in the afternoon.” He gasped out before running outside. Some unlucky street cleaner would have to clean up some vomit in an alley later no doubt.

Tom eyed Alan. “That was pretty hardcore. He was just a kid, you could have let him off.”

Alan shook his head. “He’s not that young. He should know better than to hurt someone’s livelihood like that. And going forward he will.”

Tom barked out a laugh. “That’s for sure. Today’s lesson isn’t one he’s likely to forget anytime soon.”

Tom had been sipping on his espresso this whole time, enjoying the flavor. However, now he felt it had cooled enough, so he reached out and downed the remainder like a shot.

He hummed in satisfaction at the warmth that filled his stomach and seemed to radiate to the rest of his body.

“Well, I’ll be back in the afternoon for a cappuccino. Until then.” Tom nodded at Alan before leaving.

Alan picked up the empty shot glass and cup, took them back into the kitchen, and put them in the dishwasher.

Then he came back out, took a rag and wiped the counter, waiting for his next customer to come in.