Chapter 102: A New Flavor (1)
TL: Hanguk
Strike while the iron is hot, as they say, so the moment I decided to get myself another set of wheels instead of that old pickup truck whose model year I couldn't even guess, I started looking into dealerships right away. But the surprising thing was that before I'd even found the time to head over to Fairfield, Dad rolled up in a brand-new car.
"What do you think?"
There was a pride beyond words written all over Dad's face as he showed off the brand-new Mercedes S-Class he'd just bought. He looked like he'd won a gold medal or something.
"It's awesome, isn't it?"
"Right?"
But the fact that the S-Class looked amazing was undeniable. Before my regression I'd seen the even more luxurious designs of later years, but those had never been our car. This was the 2006 design, sure, but it was ours, and that made it look better than anything.
"Wow... a fly would slip right off this thing. The shine..."
Mom came out too and made a huge fuss over the new car Dad had bought.
"Oh my, isn't this car way too expensive? But it's nice... you can really tell the difference with something pricey."
"Mom, the exterior design alone is enough to win you over already?"
"Well, it's already bought, isn't it. Can't return it now. But it seems like they actually had one in stock. You brought it home right away?"
"The dealer asked what I did for a living, and the second I said I run a winery in Napa Valley, he got me one faster than anyone. Says he's going to send me a catalog every month from now on too."
"Ah..."
I guess being a salesman really isn't for just anyone. The moment they figure out a customer's rich, they jump straight into customer management.
There are plenty of real-estate and IT tycoons in LA or San Francisco, but out here in the countryside, the winery owners of Napa Valley could fairly be called the richest people around. Even farm owners with hundreds of acres of land couldn't hold a candle to a winery owner.
"This much is fine, right?"
And then he snuck a glance at me, like he was wondering, "Did I buy something too expensive?"
"Of course. It's fine."
What was the point of earning money just to tuck it away like a treasure? People earn it so everyone can be happy, and having made this much, I figured it was good to splurge a little once in a while.
Of course, me too...
"Ahem, what were you planning to buy...?"
"I'm still thinking it over. I was going to swing by a dealership tomorrow."
"Where?"
"BMW."
"Oh... BMW's good. We could swap cars now and then, too."
"Exactly."
That's what I said, but I had no intention of driving the S-Class. If I drove it around, I'd look like a chauffeur.
The next day, in order to get to Fairfield, which is about thirty minutes from Napa Valley by car, I had to drive a full two hours to Deer Ridge Country Club. The moment I mentioned I was buying a car, Chloe had screamed and made a huge scene insisting she come along.
I couldn't understand for the life of me why she was the one getting so excited, but in any case, by the time I'd picked her up and set off, lunchtime was already creeping up on us.
"To think I don't have to ride in that beat-up pickup truck anymore..."
"You didn't like my trusty steed?"
"Honestly, even the car the hired hands at our farm drive around in was better than that."
That was another undeniable fact.
"...... And what about you, then?"
"I could drive a nice enough car too if I put my mind to it. But you know how my hands shake when I drive. Mom would've bought me a car when I was nineteen if I'd actually gotten my license. What did your dad buy?"
"An S-Class."
"My dad's got one of those too."
Then again, for a family like hers, an S-Class wasn't all that impressive a car. And it didn't seem like they only had one, either.
"How many cars does Mr. Frederick have?"
"Hmm... three? Not that many. Some of Dad's friends have more than five, and you know that grumpy William Hartford from the Cherry Growers Cooperative? That guy even has his own private plane."
"Ah..."
America really is a different scale, all right. Of course, I'd grown into a small business pulling in six million dollars a year now myself, so I wasn't all that envious anymore.
By the time I'd picked her up and finally arrived at the BMW dealership in Fairfield, more than three hours had passed since I'd left the house.
"Which model would you like to look at?"
The instant we walked in, a salesman rushed right over with a friendly smile.
"Nothing decided yet. We'll just browse slowly."
We strolled through the showroom at a leisurely pace. On one side stood the hefty sedans of the 5 Series, and on the other the aggressive curves of the M3 caught my eye. I ran my fingertips over a body panel and murmured.
"Nice...? Nice."
Before my regression I'd never once bought a new car; my whole life had been spent alongside used ones. Yet just coming here to buy a brand-new car set my heart racing.
Then, all of a sudden, one car in front of the glass wall caught my eye. A low-slung body, a long hood, two leather seats...
A silver color with a living gleam to it. A 2006 BMW Z4 Roadster.
When I stopped in front of the car, the salesman spoke as though he'd been waiting for it.
"Drive this car and you'll feel like the lead in a drama, won't you? Would you like to see the top come down?"
How could anyone refuse that?
"Sure."
"Then why don't you get in and start the engine first?"
I opened the door, sat down, and pressed the start button. The engine drew a deep breath and woke.
"Sounds great."
Chloe said, patting the dashboard with her palm. When I lowered the top the way the salesman had shown me, the feeling was incredible all over again. Even if I couldn't keep it down for long because of the dust, this feeling right now was hard to put into words.
"A clean, no-frills silver metallic Z4. The 3.0i with a manual transmission is a work of art for the driver in its own right."
At the salesman's pitch, I smiled and said,
"I'll take this one."
"An excellent choice. You're in luck, sir, this vehicle happens to be left in our showroom. Which means we can deliver it immediately. We'll transport the car you drove in here all the way to your home. On the house, of course. We'll fit it with a temporary plate, so the two of you can enjoy a wonderful drive on your way back."
Chloe, who'd come prepared, pulled a pair of sunglasses from her bag, slipped them on, and grinned.
"Let's pay up and get going."
Today was going to be a day to remember, I could tell.
No matter how much I focused on winery production, the fact that I was a student didn't change. So on days with classes, driving over an hour to commute was just par for the course. But today wasn't a commute for class.
We'd pushed a few desks together in front of the department building on the UC Davis campus, hung up a banner that read "Liquor Tasting Event," and were shouting at the top of our lungs.
"Come have a taste!"
"It's Eastern-style soju. Give it a try!"
"You must be twenty-one or older."
Calling out to passersby, Chloe, Armando, Jacob, and I worked nonstop to draw a crowd.
"Um... what is this?"
"It's a traditional Korean liquor, but we've reinvented it American-style. Just give it a taste, then fill out an evaluation form for us."
Chloe explained eagerly to a student who'd asked.
"The aroma's unusual."
"Is there a liquor like this?"
Compared to the various drinks Westerners typically drank, the impression of Eastern-style soju was certainly different. Maybe that's why the students hesitated at first, but nobody turns down something free, so one by one they took their turn tasting it, filled out an evaluation form, and dropped it into the white box we'd prepared in advance.
"The reaction seems pretty good, doesn't it?"
"Hard to say."
Seeing the satisfied looks on the faces of the people who'd tasted it, Armando spoke optimistically, but Jacob still wasn't convinced.
What Jacob had prepared this time was a Korean-style premium soju, distilled mainly with a pot still so that the rich aroma of the grain remained. For me it was deeply familiar, and since it was a drink I'd liked even more than wine before my regression, I could appreciate it, but from the standpoint of someone who has to sell a product, it had to suit the public's taste.
That's why, depending on the reaction to this premium soju, the first batch made from this year's rice harvest, we'd decide whether to release it, or to stick with the currently popular "The One" vodka line.
"One thing's for sure, though, the professors love it."
Chloe gestured with her eyes toward the back of a professor who'd just walked off after giving a thumbs-up, and I furrowed my brow.
"Ah... if only the middle-aged and elderly crowd likes it, we're sunk..."
Sure, it was a good thing to have a buyer base that definitely liked it, but in my experience, people in that age range don't easily switch from the products they prefer. Plenty of them even avoid the latest music, let alone changing up the liquor they habitually drink to buy something new.
Why else had people loved seeing vodka served in clubs and featured in Blender Magazine? Because young people follow trends fast and tend to embrace new things easily. So if it doesn't match the tastes Americans already have, then targeting the young crowd is absolutely the way to go.
"Is it a bad sign?"
"Let's just see it through to the end."
Patting the shoulder of a Jacob who was about to sulk and giving him a little pep, we kept the tasting event going.
The friends who had classes vanished for a bit, then came back when they were done to pick the tasting back up, and it wasn't until past five that we gathered in the second-floor conference room of the student union, our little hideout.
"Good work, everybody."
"Haah... my throat hurts."
Chloe slumped face-down onto the desk, while Armando, who still had energy to spare, was the first to crack open the white box.
"I bet the reaction's good, right?"
The hulking Jacob watched the sight of Armando opening the box with palpable tension.
"Let's see... 'Hard to compare it to a single malt, but it's got a strong character. It'd come alive better poured into a chilled glass...' Judging by the tone, this one's definitely a faculty member or a professor. This one... 'The smell is way too weird.' Well... there are people whose tastes don't match wherever you go. This one... 'Surely they're not actually trying to sell this for money?' Hmm... rude little punks really do exist everywhere, I tell you."
As Armando's face grew gloomier and gloomier, Chloe couldn't take it anymore and cut in.
"I'll read one. 'The aroma has real class. I like it.' See? There's a perfectly good reaction right there."
"I guarantee you, that's old-man talk from the tone alone. I bet it's Professor Clayton, the one who gave Jacob a thumbs-up earlier."
Armando's sharp observation. As Chloe kept reading on, her expression grew steadily darker. There were certainly evaluations praising the Eastern-style premium soju, but a fair number showed aversion to the unfamiliar, overly intense grain aroma.
"That's strange, isn't it? The vodka definitely had a certain amount of grain aroma too, didn't it?"
To Armando's baffled reaction, I answered.
"Because that was just a hint of aroma. Basically you take colorless, odorless vodka, add a touch of grain aroma, and you get a vodka with a novel feel. But this one's got a deep, lingering aroma packed in, so it feels too different from the liquor they're used to drinking."
Jacob nodded.
"I suppose this really does need to be designed to target the middle-aged and older crowd. Cutting out the young crowd entirely and making it appeal to the elderly. And there's no need to lower the price, either."
"That's true, but..."
I agreed with what Jacob said, yet something was nagging at me. Seeing the look on my face, Chloe asked cautiously.
"What is it?"
"It just feels like a missed opportunity. Releasing it as a Korean-style premium traditional soju isn't a problem in itself, but I don't think we can expect much in the way of sales."
"But if the middle-aged and older crowd is clearly going to like it, can't we just market it that way? Their buying power's high, so if we get them to recognize the brand properly the first time, I'd think that's actually a good thing."
"That's true too. I don't think you're wrong... but I'm no marketing expert. And it's not like Jacob's got deep pockets, so we can't muscle our way through with sheer volume... It could definitely become a powerful weapon for Golden Grain Soju House, but I just wonder whether it can really pack a big punch right now..."
"Then it can pack one later, that's all."
At Chloe's tidy way of wrapping things up, Jacob nodded.
"Yeah, I agree with Chloe. There's no rush anyway. 'The One' is selling well, so we're not desperate for money right now, and the distillery isn't losing anything either. Everything's going great."
It was a little disappointing, but with things going well right now, Jacob's attempt to rein in his greed was definitely a positive.
"Right, well, that attitude isn't bad either, but how about this?"
"Hm?"
Under the sparkling gazes of my three friends, I spoke carefully.
"We mix syrup into the soju."
"What did you say?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Mix in what?"
To my friends, who stared at me wide-eyed in surprise, I began to explain slowly.
"Syrup's just an easy way of putting it; to be precise, think of it as a natural flavoring extract, an aroma extracted and distilled from fruit. It dissolves well in alcohol and water. Do this, and you get a fruit-flavored soju."
At my explanation, Jacob made a face like he couldn't comprehend it at all.
"You want to make liquor fruit-flavored? Liquor?"
"Yeah."
"......"
*****
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