I fell into the world of cyberpunk games

『Americano』

“In a cafe, you should drink the least offensive of the musical-comedy drinks with alcohol.

And Bond always drank the same—Americano—a cocktail of Campari bitters, Cinzano, a large slice of lemon peel and sparkling water.”

-007, From a View to a Kill.

Aperitif, refined taste, bitter and refreshing.

Variations: Ice Americano, Negroni, Bulbodie

It wasn’t that I had a bad memory from the beginning.

When I was in middle and high school, when my head was spinning, there was a time when I memorized all 100 words from the English test at the academy in 10 minutes.

It was a memory ability that was focused on for a very short period of time, but after a day, I used to forget everything.

But recently, it seems that my memory has improved dramatically. Is it because I studied Japanese hard or studied recipes hard?

Even if it’s not the perfect memory ability that you can’t forget anything once you see it, it feels like the things you chew and memorize are not easily erased.

So was the cocktail Americano.

How did I memorize this… okay.

Bond always drank the same thing, an Americano, Campari bitters.

Campari. Red Italian liqueur.

Replaced with artificial herbal flavoring. Pigment capsules are added to bring out the unique flavor, taste and color.

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My head thought while my hands moved.

The cup is… Old fashioned glass.

The same cocktail that President Dragon drank next to me on the first day of work, the glass used for Old Fashioned.

A round wine glass with a pattern, a size that would fit just right with a large square ice cube.

Add ice according to the size, and pour the herbal fragrance into the glass after adjusting the amount with a jigger, an hourglass-shaped measuring tool.

1 oz, about 30ml… good night. Open the capsule and put it in.

After Campari, Cinzano.

A flavored fortified wine called sweet vermouth. It is likewise replaced with synthetic wine and powder.

Pour a certain amount and sprinkle the powder according to the amount.

Finally… One large slice of lemon peel and sparkling water.

Let’s start with carbonated water. The recipe said it was the right amount.

If you add too much, it will be neutralized and the taste will be soft and soft, and if you add too little, it will be thicker and heavier.

Guest in front of you… He glanced at Sei and followed him only slightly, until he heard a squeaky sound.

Then, lightly stir with a bar spoon, and dip one side of the glass fondant of the chilled lemon flavoring compound.

It was the very similar lemon that I bit out of curiosity at the last Dusk Ice Tea and regretted it. Just add this as a garnish and you’re done.

I brewed two cups in this way and put them out on the table.

Americano. A characteristic sweet red color like pomegranate and cherry glistens through the glass and ice.

Under the same red dark light lighting, two glasses of cocktails glimmering like a spotlight at sunset.

It was made through the same process, but if there was a slight difference, the height and color were slightly different.

One had more volume and the other was softer.

Because of the difference in the amount of carbonated water.

One was pouring carbonated water, and the other was pouring carbonated water.

It almost reached the end of the cup, almost full-up.

Other than that, everything else was the same.

Two cups of Americano, that’s how it’s done.

While I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead with my arm, Sei bowed her head and looked intently at the finished cocktail.

It’s a tense moment. I don’t think it was that bad if you did.

It took me a long time as I stuttered a bit to find the capsules and perfume in the middle, but it was still my first time making Americano.

For the first time, maybe this is decent enough.

“There is a lot of ice. If you’re going to use it a lot, it would have been better to use a tumbler glass. Little by little increase the amount of other ingredients.”

But that was my idea.

From the start, the feedback is strongly entrenched in Myungchi.

That’s right, I nod my head. Now that I think about it, it was a bit too much.

Looking at the Americano I made again, it looks pretty messy with the ice and lemon compound floating too much on the surface of the cocktail.

It looked close to perfection until recently, but now that I see it, there are a lot of clumsy things.

Whether I squat and nod my head.

Sei said in a more terrifying voice, expressionless and emotionless.

“The two glasses of soda water are noticeably different.”

“ah. Yes. I did it on purpose… .”

“Which one is mine?”

In response to the straight-forward question, I pointed to the cup that was closer to the side of Say.

It was an Americano with sparkling water.

“I added a very small amount of soda water.”

A word spoken while holding a glass upwards and looking at it from below.

Are you dissatisfied? A long finger tapped the table as if in thought.

Did you just add a little? Was it useless fuss?

He bit his lip and said quickly.

“Yes. I think I like that part more.”

“why?”

He flinched at the low voice. What a terrifying thing to ask.

Because, yes.

“I heard from the boss. Say likes strong and strong cocktails, and Tony likes light and refreshing ones.”

Could it be said that it is thanks to the fact that I go to work with the president of Dragon every day?

Sasha Dragon is a very talkative person, so I was able to get a lot of information about the bartenders at Dragon’s Rare who I work with whenever I get home from work.

For example, Tony has a flamboyant female history, and he’s still a virgin because he doesn’t actually have sex with the subject of seducing all kinds of women.

There is one nickname that Sei hates, and if you put it in your mouth in front of you, you might end up in a situation where you will never be able to speak again.

It was roughly this kind of cheesy stuff.

I heard the story about the bartenders’ cocktail tastes on the way home from work yesterday.

Our Dragon boss said that Tony is not manly, and that there is a reason why Sei is the chief from his drinking taste, and as always, he excites Tony’s backstory.

That’s why I poured only a small amount of carbonated water on purpose for a strong taste.

I think Sei would like the taste of Americano without being neutralized.

It’s a taste I really can’t understand.

I felt it from the moment he recommended green tea cola to me, but I must have been someone with a slightly different taste circuit.

“I see. The captain told me.”

He nodded as if he understood my explanation.

The gray eyes that fluttered wildly as if looking at the stormy sky calmed down again.

Sei spoke again with a blunt tone, as if when he had released a bloody energy.

“Then why did you put so much in the other cup? It seems to be far from the standard Americano.”

“I’m not familiar with classic cocktails yet. It’s hard to feel the strong flavor from the beginning, so I tried to soften it first. Did I put too much in?”

“… So, it’s up to you, Nakamura.”

“yes.”

Slowly blink your eyes and ask.

“I ordered, why did you mix the alcohol to your liking?”

“I think it’s my drink. Maybe not?”

“Why did you think so?”

do i have to say this These are obvious things to say for a reason.

Thinking like that, I automatically moved my mouth.

“Yeah, it’s just the two of us here. But Mr. Say ordered two identical cocktails, and it doesn’t seem like he would take both by himself and take turns drinking it, so maybe he would tell me to drink it… I made a guess.”

“… .”

“And again, now I’m learning how to make cocktails.”

At the added words, wondering if this alone might not be enough, Sei frowned.

“Why?”

I wondered what I said wrong, so I shrink back and say it again.

No interviews or exams.

“To learn properly, you have to at least know what I made. To do that, I’ll have to drink the cocktail I’ve mixed myself with.

You can’t know a cocktail without drinking it. So I thought Sei-san made another drink for me too. I want to teach you.”

“And while you’re making the first cocktail you’re trying to mix, two glasses at once, I deliberately adjusted the amount of soda water in both the glasses I drink and the glasses you drink, considering not only my taste from the captain, but also that.”

“Yes. It was.”

After answering that, there was silence for a while.

Say’s expression suddenly seemed to be in deep thought, and I… .

Am I just saying something wrong, or am I just passing on other people’s thoughts too arbitrarily?

Wasn’t it like that at all, maybe I just flirted with my legs and pretended to be nice.

Did I just do it according to the recipe? I was too presumptuous

I was thinking like that.

Sei suddenly snorted.

“He said he never worked at a bar.”

“yes.”

“I didn’t like alcohol, and I didn’t know anything about cocktails until I started working here.”

“Yes.”

“I’ve never bought and downloaded anything like a shochu recipe memory.”

“Yes. None.”

“And today… It’s been five days since I started learning cocktails.”

I first started learning how to make it on Tuesday, the day after my first job, and Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Today is Saturday, so five days.

When I nodded, the head bartender at Dragon’s Rare responded in a succinct manner.

“I can see why the captain took you as an employee.”

“… ?”

And then no more talking. That seems to be enough of an explanation.

For me, I was stunned.

So what does that mean?

is that a compliment?

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