The New Taste of Success
By the time the evening glow began to mingle with the flicker of streetlights, the front yard of a mansion in Westwood was already teeming with a crowd. It was the ‘Winter Mixer,’ hosted by the UCLA film students. While they claimed it was a gathering for film buffs to discuss cinema during the break, that was merely a pretext—it was, in essence, just a party.
On one side stood a tub overflowing with ice, from which the necks of RTD (Ready-to-Drink) cocktail bottles like Smirnoff Ice, Mike’s Hard Lemonade, and Bacardi Breezer poked out.
It was no different from any other college party. A DJ, wearing golden headphones, spun the turntables while blasting 50 Cent’s Candy Shop.
“How about a beer?”
Lisa winced at Clayton, a male student who had approached her with a beer can and a grin.
“Beer is... a bit too filling.”
Clayton noticed the Smirnoff in her hand and said, “I like Smirnoff, too. It’s like drinking soda.”
“Exactly. Vodka is too strong, and beer just isn’t my thing. This is perfect.”
At her words, Clayton quickly ran off and returned with another bottle of Smirnoff. Perhaps signaling that he wanted to drink the same thing, he popped the cap, clinked his bottle against hers with a sharp clink, and took a swig.
They continued to chat in a pleasant atmosphere for a while, until Clayton’s hand brushed against her thigh. Lisa flinched and immediately pushed his hand away.
“Don’t do that.”
“Oh, sorry... I didn’t mean to...”
“I know. I know you didn’t mean to. It’s just... I’m going to drink by myself.”
At her firm tone, Clayton wore a look of disappointment before drifting away. Lisa shook her head and was sipping her Smirnoff alone again when someone spoke up.
“Want to try something good?”
It was an Asian male student who looked like an international student. Lisa, who usually had no interest in Asian guys, shrugged.
“I’m not interested in drugs.”
“It’s not drugs. It’s the hottest drink these days.”
“Alcohol? I’ve already got this.”
She shook the Smirnoff in her hand, and the Asian student smirked.
“That’s too sweet. Everyone who likes RTDs like you is drinking this right now.”
The Asian student slid over a bottle from a brand she had never seen before.
“The One Peach Light Soju? I’ve heard of ‘The One’... but what’s soju?”
“Ah, you don’t need to know what that is. It’s an Asian-style vodka. People either love it or think it’s just okay. But this is different. It’s not like some forced Jungle Juice. It’s incredibly clean.”
“Really?”
If it had been a drink poured from some random container, she would have refused without a second thought, but since it was a brand-new, unopened bottle, her curiosity was piqued.
“Give it here.”
The Asian student opened the cap and handed it to her.
“Here.”
She hesitated for a moment before taking a sip straight from the bottle. Her eyes widened, and she looked back at the student.
“Mmm! This is actually good!”
She really liked it. She had always been wary of party drinks because people would mix all sorts of things into them, which felt unhygienic and sometimes even dangerous due to the risk of drugs. But this was different; it was clean and refreshing on its own.
“Right? If you want it fizzy, just add some sparkling water. It tastes like soda, but you don’t feel weighed down at all. Want me to make you one?”
“...Should we?”
“Just wait a second.”
The Asian student dashed off and quickly returned with a one-liter plastic container, a few bottles of sparkling water, and two empty cups. He poured the Peach Light Soju and the sparkling water into the container, gave it a light stir, and filled the cups.
“Try it.”
Lisa took a sip of the clear beverage and nodded with a satisfied smile.
“This is great.”
In fact, she hadn’t even finished half of the Smirnoff she had been holding. It was tasty, but the sweetness was too intense, and the alcohol content was so low that she had been pacing herself. But mixed with sparkling water and the fruit soju, the alcohol felt even lighter, and the subtle fruit aroma combined with the crispness of the carbonation made it feel exactly like a refreshing soda.
Even without the carbonation, she liked it so much that she held the bottle of the new fruit soju and stared at it for a long time.
“Right? I’m going to suggest to the company that they release a version with carbonation already in it.”
“That would be great... By the way, what’s your name?”
“Lucas. I came from Korea to study film.”
“Huh? Lucas? That name...?”
“Yeah. I named myself after George Lucas, the director who created Star Wars. My Korean name is complicated, so I’ll tell you in class later.”
“...Right.”
The two continued their conversation quietly amidst the noisy party. And scenes like this were unfolding all over the West and the Midwest.
January passed in the blink of an eye, and by February, Jacob took off his helmet in front of the new building behind the factory.
It was the newly constructed Golden Grain Soju House Factory No. 2. In the space where the scent of bricks mingled with the smell of metal, two stainless steel tanks delivered a few days ago were gleaming.
“The valve connections for that line are finished!”
At the worker’s shout, Jacob waved his hand.
“Yes, thank you for your hard work. I’ll run a test and make sure everything is working properly.”
The small brewery had grown in scale, and the workload had become too much for just one or two people to manage. Over ten workers were now running shifts, and hot steam was constantly billowing from the stills.
The interior of the factory was thick with the sweet scent of peaches, and at the end of the bottling line, the sounds of tick, tack, tack continued in a steady rhythm.
Jacob stood still for a moment, watching the scene.
Last spring, this small brewery was nothing more than a rural factory making soju from rice, but now it had become a base producing alcohol for the entire United States. Just then, the flip phone at his waist rang.
The name ‘Malcolm Lee’ appeared on the screen.
“Malcolm? What’s going on?”
“Jacob! It’s chaos right now!”
The voice coming through the phone was almost a scream.
“LA, San Francisco, Chicago—everything is sold out! Clubs, pubs, grocery stores, all of them! We have less than 200 cases left in stock. Can we increase production?”
Jacob paused for a moment and looked toward the tanks.
“No. I’d love to do it right away, but the federal and state permits haven’t been approved yet. They said they’d be out soon... but it’ll probably take another week or two, right?”
“Damn... that’s too late!”
“I know, but we can’t run the additional factory without government approval. We have to make do with the existing brewery facilities for now.”
In the U.S., a distillery is a licensed production facility, so when expanding or adding new equipment, one must report the changes (Amendment) to both the TTB (federal) and the state liquor board (ABC). Violating this and adding equipment recklessly would inevitably lead to legal punishment.
Thanks to Brian’s advice, they had hired an expert to draw up the blueprints and file the reports immediately, which had significantly shortened the time it took to bring in the equipment. If they had operated the factory without any expectations, they might have been in a total mental breakdown by now.
“We need to ride this momentum and really light the fire...”
“The fire is already lit at the brewery. Do you know how much I’m paying the workers in labor costs already...”
“That just shows how explosive the sales are. Don’t worry too much.”
Even though he sighed at the labor costs, Jacob’s face was bright.
“I know. I’m starting to think we might consume all of last year’s rice harvest in less than half a year...”
Last year’s harvest had been excellent, but this time, instead of selling the rice as it was, they had stacked it all in the warehouse. Since selling it raw wouldn’t bring in much money, he had decided to stockpile it just in case, and he felt it had been a truly great decision.
“So, when can we start running it?”
“It shouldn’t be that late, so I think we can start in two weeks at the latest.”
“Okay, got it. Then I’ll assume we’ll have all the grocery stores restocked in a month. And let’s double our target for this quarter. I’ll send two trucks from Unity in two weeks. The club kids are going crazy. They keep asking, ‘When is that peach drink coming in?’”
“Is it really that popular?”
“It’s cool! Oh, and this Peach Light Soju is clear—could we change that?”
“How?”
“Make it have a subtle pink hue.”
Jacob tilted his head, then answered immediately.
“I think that’s possible. But we’d need to add food coloring... though the younger crowd would probably love that.”
He hadn’t thought of that at first, but once he remembered it was a ‘party drink,’ he wondered why he hadn’t thought of Malcolm’s suggestion sooner.
His friends would sometimes mix things like juice just to add color, and feeling like he had been oblivious to something so obvious made him feel a bit pathetic.
“Good. Then once the expansion is complete, let’s add approved food coloring to give it a light pink tint. It’ll look much more delicious.”
“Got it.”
“And when are you planning to release other flavors?”
“I don’t have the capacity to release anything other than the peach flavor right now.”
“Ah, right... What about after the expansion is done?”
“Then...”
“How about lemon?”
Since Americans enjoyed lemon, Jacob had no reason to dislike the idea of a lemon soju.
“That’s good. It’s not hard to source lemon concentrate, and this time, I’ll add yellow coloring from the start.”
“Great. It’ll be tough, but think of it as money and keep pushing.”
“Yes, I understand.”
After hanging up, Jacob went straight back into the brewery. He had to lend a hand himself to produce even one more bottle.
At that moment, I was heading toward Brentwood with Chloe in my newly purchased Z4.
“How did things change so fast? Jacob was the one I was most worried about, but now he seems to be doing the best.”
Seeing her pout, a smile spread across my face before I could stop it.
“Why? Are you jealous?”
“Hmm... no. Honestly, I was a tiny bit jealous, but I’m trying not to be.”
“Don’t you think you’ll be jealous later if he does even better?”
Chloe tilted her head and then spoke honestly.
“I think I might be a little jealous if he does really well, but you’re going to make us successful too, right? It’s fine. That’s why we’re going to the farm now.”
As she said, our destination was the almond farm we had recently acquired. Mr. Frederick, who had purchased the massive farm spanning over 200 acres, had established a company with his son Brandon, splitting the shares, and was now studying almond farming in earnest.
Since Brandon had taken out a loan of over $500,000 to establish this company, he clearly wasn’t planning to just rely on Mr. Frederick. Rather, since he had staked all the assets he inherited to secure the loan, his resolve was surely no less than Chloe’s.
“Yeah, someone among us might earn more money, but let’s just congratulate each other. We’re all making at least middle-class money, aren’t we?”
“I know. That’s why I want Armando to do well, too.”
“Oh—I didn’t know you felt that way about Armando?”
“Of course I do. As long as he keeps that pathetic, greasy expression and tone away from me.”
“Hahaha...”
Armando used to come to our department every day saying he wanted to talk to Sienna, but now that it was break and he couldn’t see her, he had been a bit down.
Currently, while focusing on winter work for next year’s farming, he was also occasionally coming to Redwood Winery to learn about wine.
“We’re all going to do well. Armando will, and so will you. Almonds are a crop that’s bound to succeed. The same goes for cherries and pears.”
“But there is that... Jacob’s side has fast changes and fast results. But farming isn’t like that...”
“That’s true. Farming has parts where the results aren’t immediately visible.”
Chloe looked at me quietly.
“You understand how I feel, right?”
“Yeah. But life moves at different speeds for everyone. Chloe’s prime hasn’t come yet.”
“Ooh—so when is my prime?”
“Three years from now. I promise. Just try for three years. Then I’ll make you the Cherry Queen of Brentwood.”
“Heehee. Good. I’ll wait.”
Her mood instantly improved, and Chloe smiled as she looked out the window.