Chapter 120
Translator 8uhl
Chapter 120
Chapter Title Cafe Menu Practice
After filling our stomachs with a simple lunch, we headed to a cooking class near the agency.
A spacious room welcomed us with neatly prepared baking equipment, mixers, and beverage ingredients.
Hello! Im Won Hyunseo, and Ill be helping you prepare for Celests cafe. Nice to meet you!
Nice to meet you, teacher!
Nice to meet you!
The owner of the cafe wed be using as our reality show filming location greeted us warmly.
After brief introductions, we dove right into the main event.
Lets see... According to the info I got in advance... Six of you are on drinks, and one on dessert, right?
Yes!
The fact that he was the only one on dessert was emphasized again, and Ji Yooncheol, standing next to me, lowered his eyes slightly.
Ever since debuting, Ji Yooncheols expressions had become more varied.
Yes, then could Karis come over here first? Ive prepped the ingredients for the menu you chose, so head to your spot and take a look around.
I went to the first station and stared at the coffee beans and electric grinder in front of me.
Id picked Americano thinking it was the simplest cafe menu.
But there were more complicatedlooking machines than Id expected, leaving me a bit flustered.
Shouldve researched and picked the menu in advance.
It didnt help that Kang Siyoon was right behind me.
His menu was peach iced tea.
No grinding or anythingjust mix some storebought iced tea powder with water, and done.
Kang Siyoon clearly knew hed chosen an easy one, already humming a tune.
First, shall we learn how to use the mixers and grinders?
Id only ever thought about drinking beverages when visiting cafes, never imagined Id be making them myself.
I swallowed hard at the instruction to use the grinder once and rinse it immediately with water.
No time to rest at all.
First, Ill hand out the recipes for your menus.
I closely read the paper titled How to Make Delicious Americano.
There were tons of unfamiliar terms.
Tamping, portafilter, group head.
Without the teachers detailed explanation, I couldnt even dream of making it alone.
Who knew what disastrous result might emerge.
My staff and I will go around giving detailed guidance. If you get stuck or have questions, just raise your hand right away!
I got the teachers attention immediately.
She explained that after grinding the beans in the grinder, fix the portafilter in the rubber holder, then tamp.
But here, its not about pressing down as hard as you can. The pressure should be just enough to shift your weight slightly, flattening the grounds into a level surface.
Flatten it into a level surface...
Hahaha, it sounds tricky when I say it, but youll get the feel right away once you try.
The next step after tamping was pretty tough.
You had to insert the portafilter with grounds into the group head at the right anglethat was the tricky part.
In my head, it seemed like just slot it into the groove.
But in practice, it wouldnt lock in securely, giving me trouble.
Youll need to twist and adjust the angle until it clicks into place.
Its surprisingly difficult.
Americano is simple, but firsttimers always struggle. Keep at it, and the sensation will come to your hands! Fighting!
Her overflowing positive energy somehow filled me with baseless confidence.
As a final tip, she said to pour the espresso into water, not water into espresso, then moved on to help Song Hyeongbin.
I practiced grinding and tamping the beans.
As shed said, too much pressure kept the grounds from flattening evenly.
Stumbling this early is pretty embarrassing.
Still, I somehow finished tamping and moved to inserting the portafilter into the group head.
Finding the right angle took another five minutes.
Finally, I pulled the espresso shot and wiped the sweat beading on my forehead.
Every Americano requires cleaning the portafilter. If three people order at once...
If I wasted time on tamping and securing like this, fans ordering my menu would wait forever.
That absolutely couldnt happen.
As I repositioned to make another Americano.
TTeacher. Is it supposed to drip like this, drop by drop?
No, thats not right.
Yoo Minha, making espresso, urgently called for help.
A glance over showed coffee dribbling out in pathetic drops.
Usually, that happens from tamping too hard. Did you press down really firmly?
I put my all into it, trying to infuse my passion, hehe.
Press too hard, and extraction wont flow right, like now. Adjust to moderate pressure.
Got it!
Yoo Minha started over from step one and made espresso.
This time, properly tamped, the coffee flowed nicely.
Done! Teacher, can I taste this right away?
Of course.
With her okay, Yoo Minha beamed and brought his first espresso shot to his lips.
He blew on the steam, then boldly took a sip.
Uweeeek!
An explosive reaction followed immediately.
The members, deep in focus, all whipped their heads around at his loud retch.
IIs it supposed to be this bitter...?
Espressos meant to be bitter.
I stared at Yoo Minha, who clung to the table making a miserable face.
Minha.
Yeah?
Didnt you pick espresso as your commemorative cafe menu because its what you usually drink? Then you should know its supposed to be bitter.
WWell, actually...
Caught by my sharp point, Yoo Minha grinned sheepishly.
This is my first time drinking espresso.
What?
For real?
But when picking the menu, you said all boldly, A real man drinks espresso.
I thought itd sound super cool, so I went for the bold challenge without thinking.
Is this for real?
After Yoo Minhas espresso swept through the kitchen like a storm, we all buckled down to bond with our menus again.
I pulled a few more Americanos, gradually getting the hang of tamping and portafilter securing.
But cleaning the portafilter every time was way more tedious than expected.
We have to wash this every single time, right?
Hyung, well burn all our time just on this.
Chae Eungyu and Heo Yubin had to thoroughly clean the blender interior after every batch.
Strawberry smoothie and mint choco frappe were low difficulty.
But the endless dishwashing was annoying.
Wow, everyones working hard.
Siyoon hyung, I might actually hit you today!
Oh, Yubin hitting me? What planet is this, like the tenth Earth?
Meanwhile, smartlypicked peach iced tea Kang Siyoon was utterly relaxed.
No blender or grinderjust mix powder perfectly. Super easy.
So he spent the time teasing the other members.
While the drinkmakers struggled with their woes.
...Is it just keep stirring like this?
Yes, that speeds good.
At the back of the classroom, Ji Yooncheol was trapped in endless whipping.
We took a break to watch him diligently make mousse cream.
Never seen Yooncheol frown like that before.
Yeah.
Must be tough.
After laboriously making the mousse cream, Ji Yooncheol laid genoise in the mousse mold per the teachers guidance.
Then carefully poured premade coffee syrup on top.
Done. Now fill it densely with mousse, and chill in the fridge for 35 hours.
...That long?
It needs to set.
...Maybe I should switch menus.
Making it was hard enough, and completion took ages.
Drenched in sweat, Ji Yooncheol sighed faintly as he put the cake in the fridge.
Watching, the teacher nodded to the reality crew and spoke.
Yooncheol?
Yes.
Baking cakes on opening day would be too hassle and exhausting, so lets make the tiramisu ahead the day before and freeze it. Sound good?
...Thatd be way easier.
On the day, just thaw, dust cocoa on top, simple piping for deco, and pop on some dragées. Ill teach deco later!
Fortunately, Ji Yooncheols tiramisu found a workaround.
Prep the night before, and itd be smoother.
After two more hours of practice, the class wrapped up.
Good work! Keep repeating, and youll all make drinks swiftly soon.
Thank you!
Tiring, but fun, right?
Gotta make it perfect for the fans.
Juggling debut song prep with cafe practice in spare moments.
Busy schedule ahead, but smiles never left the members faces.
Oh, right! Lets take pics and post.
Pics?
Manager hyung said our official accounts coming soon. Gotta stock up shots to post right at launch.
Sounds good!
At Song Hyeongbins suggestion, we huddled together.
Group photo in aprons screamed Celests prepping something.
Fansll be shocked.
Theyll wonder if were entering a cooking battle?
Hahaha!
Chae Eungyu burst into hearty laughter.
Cant wait to see the fans.
Some time passed since Celests official account launched and group photos steadily posted.
The members faithful survival signals were praiseworthy from the former national managers, but everyone craved more updates.
Amid those hopes day by day.
CELEST LIVE BROADCAST SCHEDULED!! May 11th, 600 PM
The announcement for the first live stream went up.