Eyes filled with utter disbelief.
"Yeah, I know how macho America is. Women will like it, right? What about you?"
Chloe, with all eyes on her, shrugged.
"Well... wouldn't it be okay?"
"It'll definitely sell to women, at least bit by bit."
Jacob spoke as though there was no way it would get a good reaction.
"If you want something sweet, you buy juice. Why would you drink fruit liquor? Look at wine too—if it's too sweet, it gets treated as cheap."
"But strong, sweet alcohols sell well too."
"That's... true, but..."
Jacob faltered, seeming to realize it was a valid point. I leaned forward and explained slowly.
"Listen. Women obviously want a drink that's tastier than hard liquor, something they can sip on and get drunk without even realizing it. Don't ask me why. That's just how it is."
"Re...ally?"
"I'm telling you. But do men really hate it?"
"They don't?"
"There are roughly two reasons people drink. One is to enjoy the flavor of the alcohol itself—whether it's pairing with food or enjoying the inherent flavor of the beverage. And the other is simply to get drunk."
"...Right."
"Good. Whether it's food pairing or enjoying the inherent flavor, people who truly appreciate alcohol probably won't go for fruit soju. But if those were the only people out there, would flavorless vodkas sell so well?"
"......"
Jacob became absorbed in my explanation, as if spellbound.
"Alright. Let's assume a significant number of people drink alcohol as a means to get drunk. Then, between a harsh, strong-smelling, disgusting liquor and something that goes down smooth like juice, which would they choose?"
"...But wouldn't men still not choose fruit soju?"
American culture is more macho than you'd think—if men show even a slightly weak side, they're treated as if they're gay. From clothing choices to using umbrellas, to even listening to certain music, American men are conscious of their surroundings.
Those men drinking fruit soju? It was unimaginable for Jacob.
"If you're drinking alone, you might think that way. But what if it's a pick-up drink?"
"Huh? If that's the case..."
Only then did Jacob nod, as if convinced even if not entirely certain.
"Right? What's the representative pick-up drink for young Americans right now?"
Chloe answered.
"Cocktails."
"Exactly. But to drink cocktails, you have to go to a cocktail bar. Are you going to drive to a cocktail bar after working so hard to set the mood? It costs a lot of money too. But what if you buy fruit soju at the supermarket?"
"Ooh~ is that all you think about?"
"Why did the topic suddenly jump there?"
Armando, who didn't want to hear it, snorted.
"Hmph! Hey, she's like that because you won't buy her cocktails. Hurry up and buy her some. Or make this fruit soju and get her drunk already."
"That's not it?"
Armando didn't even bother with Chloe, who was talking back aggressively.
"Funny. Anyway, I'm in favor. There are people I want to try this fruit soju on."
Seeing Armando swagger with his shoulders puffed up, I felt a sudden fear and cautiously asked. A sense of dread washed over me—what if I saw that awful scene at school again?
"Is it someone I happen to know?"
"Hey, hey, why are you trying to butt in? You have a partner already."
"Crazy bastard, so it was true. Can't you tell just by looking? She has an incredible temper. If you make the wrong move, you'll get a slap to the face right away."
"Well, I can take a hit or two."
To think he'd be willing to take a slap or two—this was the first time Armando looked cool to me.
"Ooh~ pretty cool?"
"Now you know? So let's make it quickly. How do we do it?"
"It's late today, so let's meet up at Jacob's Golden Grain Soju House. I need to prepare some things too."
If this were Korea, I'd go as comfortably as visiting a friend's house after school, but this is America. It usually takes an hour just to get home from school, so dropping by somewhere and running errands before heading home late at night was burdensome.
Because unlike Korea, it's a place where you can't wander around carefreely even late at night.
"Prepare?"
"I need distillates. I can whip them up roughly at the school lab. Let's make a few things there and meet on the weekend."
"Alright..."
And so we left the meeting room, got into our respective cars, and dispersed to our homes.
The next day, I distilled and extracted a few fruit flavors at the Pilot Winery located at school, then headed to Jacob's farm on the weekend.
"Is everyone here?"
"You're late. Hurry up."
Armando and Chloe, who had arrived early, were eating corn that a lady had prepared as a snack. The yellow, well-cooked kernels looked delicious.
"Want one?"
In Chloe's hand, which she thrust forward quickly, was a half-cut cob of well-cooked corn. I laughed with a pssh and waved my hand.
"I'm good. I ate breakfast, so I'm not hungry."
Inside the brewery was filled with the sweet scent of grain and the warm heat of distillation. Stainless steel tanks lined up next to a small still, and I clinked transparent glass bottles down onto the workbench.
"What are these?"
When Chloe asked, I opened a lid and showed her.
"Peach, yuzu, and raspberry. I distilled and extracted only the fruit aromas."
"Mmm~ but can't you make this with cherry too?"
"Of course. If I'd just needed syrup, I would have asked you to bring cherries, but since distillation was necessary, I took care of it myself this time. Syrup loses its aroma in alcohol, so it can't be helped."
"Ah... so this is how you keep the aroma from dying in alcohol."
"Yeah."
I poured soju base into a beaker and dropped a few droplets of peach distillate with a pipette.
In an instant, the scent of peach exploded in the air.
"Wow... the smell is insane."
"Good, right? It's not just the smell that's insane."
They didn't know, but since I was aware that fruit soju had made a huge impact in America before my regression, I was far more confident in this than in American-style Andong soju.
Jacob took a sip from the glass brimming with peach aroma, then opened his eyes wide.
"Mmm! Uh... this... it's delicious?"
It had to be delicious. Fruit juice and fruit soju felt completely different. It wasn't just the cloyingly sweet taste that fruit juice had; the aroma and texture of the alcohol mingled with the fruit's unique fragrance, becoming a special beverage in its own right.
"Told you it was good, didn't I?"
When I spoke as if to say "See?", Jacob frowned slightly and tasted it again. After sipping a few times, Jacob downed the rest in one swift moment and stared at the empty glass with wide eyes.
"This... is dangerous. It makes you want to keep drinking?"
"Now do you understand why I called it a pick-up drink?"
"Yeah, it's definitely..."
The impatient Armando urged me.
"Make me one quickly."
I mixed soju base with peach distillate again, and Armando immediately gulped it down, then opened his eyes wide.
"Hey, this is incredible?"
"Why do you look anxious?"
"Don't be anxious. From what I see, you have genius-level talent."
"That's not what I meant by anxious."
"Hmph! I'm telling you not to be jealous of my talent."
"You call that talent. That's terrifying, really..."
Listening to Armando's antics, I made one for Chloe too, and after one sip, she burst out laughing.
"Hahaha! What is this! Hahaha!"
"Good, right?"
"It's funny, you know? This will definitely sell well. Then how about we do another tasting with this? I think we absolutely have to sell this centered around college areas. That's why we need to do a tasting at the university."
At her words, Jacob nodded.
"Nothing wrong with that. But we'll need a decent amount, right? I don't think one bottle would be enough to make a tasting batch?"
He gestured at the small glass bottle I'd brought with his chin. I pondered briefly and said:
"I made it this simply to create tasting samples to show you guys. To be exact, the aroma of this essence doesn't last long, so it's difficult to make it commercially viable."
"Then?"
"It was to show you the concept; to make it properly, we need beverage-level blending and stabilization processes."
"Ah... it's not easy?"
"It's not easy. We can't just adjust the distillation ratio and bottle it up like 'The One.' We'll need flavorings (Flavor) like the ones I made, plus actual fruit juice, sweeteners, acidity regulators, and probably antioxidants."
Jacob's mouth fell open at the more complex-than-expected composition.
"Wow... this is really factory-level?"
"Right. But no need to worry too much. We just need to set up a beverage-type blending system. Haven't you become financially comfortable selling 'The One'?"
"Oh, right. I'm quite well-off now."
This time, Jacob had sold a whopping 7,000 cases of 'The One.' With this, Jacob's net profit exceeded $700,000—a level that had already surpassed expectations by recovering the initial investment in the first year of brewing.
Of this, I received a bit over $200,000 as my 30%, and Jacob had earned $500,000, using more than half of it to repay loans. Having become this comfortable, Jacob had been thinking that he could go either way with premium soju this year.
"Roughly... it won't even cost $100,000. Blending tanks, coolers, large refrigerators? We'll need filtration filters and various tools... Ah! We'll need to renovate the warehouse for low-temperature storage. If we budget generously, it's $100,000, and if we do it cheaply, we might be able to do it for $50,000."
"Really? That's not burdensome at all."
"If we tried to produce the juice concentrates and essences ourselves, it'd be a bigger headache, so let's just buy those."
"Ah...! If we can do that, there's nothing to worry about!"
"Then... let's plan to hold a tasting around next Tuesday, and purchase enough flavor extracts for that. We'll need a decent amount, so rather than me making them, let's just place an order. If the reaction is good, we bring in the equipment right away—how about that?"
"Great! Let's do it!"
Having decided thus, we sobered up by having lunch at Jacob's house, hung out for a while, and then returned home.
The following week, after obtaining three flavors—peach, apple, and pineapple—from a company called Givaudan, we got permission from the school right away and started the tasting.
"Have a taste!"
"Would you like to try an alcohol with a fruit aroma?"
Perhaps because it was a school with enough interest in alcohol to have an enology department, students approached with curiosity at the words "fruit-flavored alcohol." And they showed completely different reactions from when they had tasted the grain-flavored premium soju before.
"Ooh! Wow!"
"This is totally delicious?"
"If you sell this, I think I'd buy it."
Unlike with the premium soju, the students' eyes went wide with admiration after tasting the fruit-flavored soju, while the middle-aged professors and staff, on the other hand, made strange expressions.
"What in the world..."
"This doesn't suit me."
The reactions were so polarized that we didn't even need to check the evaluation forms in the box.
"We got it!"
Jacob clenched his fist tight even amid the bustling tasting. Having already gained confidence selling 'The One,' he was now convinced that once produced, it would sell out unconditionally.
"You think it'll work?"
When I asked quietly, Jacob grabbed my shoulder and spoke seriously.
"This is definitely going to work. We distribute it centered around college bars, or clubs. And I think regular retail stores would work too. It's so easy to drink."
"True. It is easy to drink. I wonder how far this will go...?"
Once people got a taste for it, they'd surely seek it out consistently, but there was no way to know how fast it would spread.
"This is definitely going to be a hit. Thanks."
"Don't mention it. Let's file a patent before the release."
"A patent?"
"Yeah, wine has such diverse production methods and accumulated know-how that there's no need for a patent, but this is different. A single alcohol can dominate the market, so we need a patent."
"Ah... you're right."
"For now, let's patent the concept of blending a soju base—which is essentially rice vodka—with light fruit flavors and juice. That way we can prepare for any unforeseen circumstances."
Jacob nodded hurriedly at my words. A vague yet strong sense of anticipation was spreading through his eyes.