Iris Coffee - Extra Sugar and Cream

Nemisis had become a bit of a regular at Hops’ establishment. Between visits from Angora and the fluffles of other buns that come and go, the bar was never hurting for business. The waths of people came and went, as did pleasant conversation and small talk that helped Nem get more comfortable with the general public. His and Hops’ relationship wasn’t exactly defined, but most would consider them at least friends. Nemisis had made it a habit of coming around to play games at the bar without any drinks, while Hops tended to keep him company when it got slow. 

“Have you ever tried making a drink before?”

The question caught Nemisis off guard, the silence broken by the short string of words. “I, eh- not particularly, no,” he stammered through, saving his game before powering down and slipping it into his pocket. He crossed his arms on the bartop in front of him, giving Hops his full attention. 

“Well, there’s not many people here right now… Angora usually gives me a pass if we’re just a little over on the alcohol use,” Hops offered with a grin and a little wink. It didn’t fail to give him a little smile.

“If you’re sure it’ll be okay… sure, why not,” Nem shrugged, trying to play it off but, as always, he was both flattered and a bit honored to be getting such honest attention and seemingly friendship. He still didn’t trust it- why should he, anyway?- but it was getting through to him more and more every day that passed.

“Come back here, then!” She bounced up onto her toes excitedly, beaming at Nem as she pulled him from the stool and around. A bit of a chuckle bubbled out of Nem’s throat as he shook his head, allowing himself to be dragged along. “Okay! We’ll start simple! Pick your poison.”

 Nem glanced at the menu behind them, before looking at all the brands of liquor beside him. As he nibbled his lip, a thought formed. “I’ve been interested in the Iris Coffee… I’ll admit, I can’t help but love anything coffee or mocha. How’s it go?”

“Great choice!” She grabbed a couple items - cream liqueur from the shelves, a bag of freshly roasted coffee beans, a grinder, and she flicked the brewer on to pre-heat. “First, we need to grind and brew the coffee. How strong do you like it?” 

“I like it pretty strong,” he offered, watching as she added a few small scoops of beans to the grinder. The noise it made was unpleasant to say the least, but it was okay. 

“Make sure you don’t grind them too fine, otherwise you’ll get a bad bitter taste,” she advised, transferring the ground beans - a medium grind - to a liner within the coffee machine. “I always go for the ‘strong’ setting so it lets the beans soak a little extra. While that’s going- it’ll be a bit loud- we can prepare our glasses.”

Nem gave a little nod, quickly grabbing two of the glass coffee cups that Hops had custom-made for this drink. He wiped them down to remove any dust for fingerprints before placing them in front of Hops, who was taking off the cap to the liquor. “I like to layer everything for presentation, then allow the customer to stir it in if they look like the type. If not, the layers don’t matter to anyone but myself.”

She carefully poured a layer of the alcohol at the bottom of her glass, adding far more than she knew Nemisis would. When she handed it over, she turned to grab some additional cream and sugar. She knew that Nem, despite his facade, really preferred the sweet stuff. Nemisis took the bottle, being a bit too overly cautious as he poured the creamy liquid. It pooled at the bottom, filling the bottom 6th of the glass. 

“Cream and sugar?” Hops asked, passing them over. Nemisis grabbed both, adding sugar first to the alcohol and giving a careful stir before adding the cream on top. It sank down through, much to his disappointment, but the layers still came out relatively well. 

“How long til the coffee’s done?” Nem asked, glancing over at Hops. He didn’t notice it, but he was smiling. The smell was heavenly, and something he’d really come to enjoy. Alcohol could smell pretty good when full of syrup and fruit, but coffee would always win in his book. 

“Right about-” the machine sputtered out, the stream slowing to a stop, “now! Just add coffee to fill the glass now.” Hops filled her’s first, the dark liquid only slightly disturbing the layer beneath. Once done, steam rose off of it and Hops smiled a bit more.

Nemisis took the container of coffee (he didn’t remember the name), pouring it with similar care. His began to mix a bit, much to his dismay, but it still looked pretty enough. 

“You did an awesome job!” Hops announced with much joy, beginning to stir her drink. “You’ll get the hang of this in no time!”

Nem laughed a bit, stirring his as well before taking a small sip. “Am I expected to know how to make more?”

“There’s always time!”

The bun laughed again, but had a feeling that he would be forced behind the bar more in the future. Alas… he wasn’t too bothered by the idea. At least there was good company.