Bitterness of Liberica

Garland followed by Eugene entered the kitchen and, immediately, the boy was impressed by the design which was not as neatly done as the café interior, yet the care and love put into just the kitchen Eugene felt thoroughly. It was a total opposite of the bland but very practical design that was chosen by Arnold for his place. Moreover, it was decorated with not only 1 but 2 espresso machines! Something their "Monso Rooster" lacked until recently.

"This place is spectacular!" murmured Eugene in awe, which made Garland smile, "I am quite proud of the kitchen myself, although it was quite pricy to set everything in."

"I wonder why Arnold does not take an example from you? I would surely go to work with more enthusiasm if our kitchen had at least 1% of the beauty of our café's interior."

At Eugene's complaint, Garland scratched the back of his head and sighed, "No idea from my side. Arnold sure is a stingy man, and this is not like he lacks the funds."

The two came closer to the table and Eugene saw the equipment used at the place. It was not as impressive, but still refreshing due to slight differences in comparison to the ones at "Monso Rooster". He took the glass jar which was half filled with coffee beans, opened it and inhaled the aroma coming out of them. Garland hummed and Eugene stayed in confusion, such scent was not familiar to the man at all.

"What is this sort? I can't quite recognize it."

"You have a good nose, we got this roast from an American supplier. This coffee sort is called Liberica."

Even the aroma of the strongest roast of Arabica pales in comparison to this sort. It more resembled Robusta, but just slightly. It was hard to imagine the taste of this coffee, thus Eugene was already eager to prepear a cup or two of this coffee. Garland felt the enthusiasm along with the spark coming from the boy's eyes, and thus he said, "Why do not we have a little competition?"

"Oh, not again!" suddenly cried out Eugene, which took Garland by surprise. The boy noticed his confusion and explained, "I just had not very pleasant experience tomorrow… but you know what? I should let it go from my head, so let's do it!"

"That's sure is a change of attitude, but what happened to you, boy? Did Arnold teach you a lesson?" giggled Garland, but Eugene only grimly looked at him.

"I wish it would have been Arnold."

There were not any fancy rules nor time limitation, just a friendly duel with the main goal being a preparation of cappuccino as was recommended by Garland himself. Eugene could not quite understand why he insisted on preparing this type of coffee and not just all the naked coffee. But all the explanation were left in the shadow by the phrase, "You will get it once you taste it."

And so the 2 began their preparations, since they are making a cappuccino and without using the espresso machine to make the experience more "fun", Eugene took more coffee beans than usual. Coffee was fine grounded and set into the pan along with a small amount of water. Immediately, when the mixture started boiling from both their pans, the room was filled with nutty and wooden aroma of this roast. And after mere seconds, the coffee was separated from the cake with French press. Afterwards, Eugene poured in stirred milk and drew well familiar rooster head. But before he could finish his work, another cup was already set besides him, which was decorated with an art of a coffee bean.

"You sure are fast!" exclaimed Eugene and Garland grinned, "I have been making coffee when you were knee-high to a grasshopper."

And right after Garlands mocking words, Eugene set his own cup of coffee besides Garland's. Now they both were ready to taste their creations. Garland smile was quite peculiar, which Eugene felt suspicious about, and right after his tongue was enveloped in the rich and strong flavour of the coffee he understood what the man was referring to.

"What the hell, why is it so bitter!?"

Garland burst out laughing and exclaimed, "That was Arnold's exact reaction! Guess an apple does not fall far from the tree!"

"This is disgusting." sulked Eugene and placed the cup back on a plate, "Guess I will have to give it to Douglas."

Liberica was indeed too bitter for his liking and the nutty along with woody aroma that he felt while boiling the coffee, was multiplied in a cup. Garland explained that this coffee is a hit or miss for a lot of people, and unfortunately his customers were too welcoming of this innovation.

Thereon the friendly duel ended with both participant being quite disappointed in the taste of coffee. Garland was not a fun of its flavour either, even his cup, which appeared to be smoother than the one done by still green youth, contained quite a strong flavour. The two cleaned the room a little and soon after departed from the kitchen to the café itself. Eugene still held on to his cup of coffee, since he was curious whether Douglas would enjoy it or not.

But when they came back to their table, it was occupied not only by Douglas but with another young man. He was neatly dressed, just like professors, who already departed from the café, wore a tie and glasses. The man and Douglas were talking about bicycles or perhaps cars, but when Eugene appeared in his sight, the man immediately glanced over him and said, "Good afternoon, sir. I guess you are Eugene this gentleman has told me about?"

"Y-yeah…" Eugene was taken aback, put the cup of coffee down and asked, "How do you know my name?"

This man's face was shining with friendliness, though Eugene could feel an eerie vibe coming from his eyes. As if he was observing the whole café and not just the trinity located around him. But the one who spoke instead of this man was Douglas, who energetically declared, "This is Alan Bloomberg, he is a professor from the US! Sorry, I already told him about you."

A professor at such young age!? - thought Eugene, and once again looked straight into Alan's eyes. He was surely older than both Eugene and Douglas, but not quite as old as the professors who were arguing in the corner earlier.

"I see, you have great French."

"Why, thank you! I used to work in Quebec, that is a great ground for practising this spectacular language."

Despite being fluent in French, Alan still had a slight accent and not really an American one. Unfortunately, Eugene did not travel much or had extensive conversations with tourists or immigrants to learn of the specifics of accents, so he could not tell for sure.

"Oh, this smell!" all of a sudden exclaimed Alan, "That's a good roast you have here, this flavour hits back home. I really enjoyed drinking it back in the US."

He outstretched his hand towards the cup and glanced over Eugene's eyes, as if beginning to have a sip. And Eugene subconsciously nodded at this silent request. And at that, Alan drank coffee while complementing Eugene's craftsmanship.

"That was a great cup, thank you very much, monsieur!" he modestly bowed slightly and shook Eugene's hand, "Alas, I have to go. It was nice to meet you, Douglas, Eugene and manager. Hopefully we will meet each other one day."

And immediately after, he disappeared in the crowd that was marching through the boulevard outside the café. Douglas was smiling at him as well as Eugene, who had more of a forced smile. Then he suddenly realized, "Oh, I was actually meant to give this coffee to you, Douglas." then he turned to Garland, "Is it fine, if he did not pay?"

"You are the one who him the cup either way, so I do not really mind it." shrugged Garland and came closer to the window, "But he sure is an interesting lad, I saw him having a debate earlier with another professor."

After meeting with an American professor, Douglas and Eugene prepared for departure. Their plans were yet to be set up, but Douglas received a map from Alan earlier, which will make it easier to orient in the city.

"Alright, Eugene, it was really nice to meet you again. You have grown a lot, I am sure your parents would be proud of you." said Garland in a gentle tone which made Eugene smile lightly, but immediately after Garland added, "And say to your brother that the accident was not his fault. I hope he does not beat himself too much."

Eugene raised his head with eyes overwhelmed with confusion, "What do you mean?"

"The accident in the hospital, did not your brother kill a patient during the operation?"