Mixology 101

Andi hadn’t been planning on ever learning how to make drinks.  Learning things was just…  Ugh.  Some of it required thinking, an unfamiliar activity to the fluffy Sloth bun.

Hops had been advertising a class, though, and Kaili had slept through standard bar hours for a few weeks now, so she was deficient in Salty Grogs…  So Andi had paid her for the lessons and shown up to the Rabbit Hole well before opening to do her best with the uncomfortable task of learning.

“Hi Andi!”  Hops pretty much always sounded happy, as far as Andi knew.  She’d seen her not as happy - or well… happy in a different way…? - when she’d spotted her at a distance on Angora’s lap, but that was about the only different behavior that Andi had ever noticed.

“Hey Hops~”  She awkwardly followed her behind the bar counter.  It wasn’t as weird as that time she had helped out, at least - probably the lack of heels made it easier and made everything seem… not quite so far away.

“I assume you’re mostly interested in learning to mix Kaili’s usual?” she asked, leaning back against the counter.

Andi nodded and grinned.  “Yup!”  Hypothetically she supposed she ought to learn her own usual too, but…  Kaili’s was more important, because then she’d be able to make her girlfriend happy with her favorite drink at whatever hours she wanted it!

Hops nodded.  “I figured.  So to start, let’s pick out our main ingredients and our glassware.  Well, in your case, a to-go cup, so you can bring it back to your girlfriend, but I’ll give you the name of the glassware type you’ll want to get for at home.”  As carefully as she could, she picked out each liquid that went into a Salty Grog off of the shelf, naming each one to Andi as she went and pretending to ignore the way Andi wrote each brand name down into her phone.  After a bit, she asked, “Got all those?”

Andi nodded eagerly.  It seemed a bit less daunting now - although she was surprised stores carried a branded “My Secret Ingredient”.  She didn’t pay that much attention to branding but that seemed like a weird one.

“Alright, so for our next step, we’re going to mix them into our glass.  Now I know Kaili prefers the proportions like so…”  Hops rattled off some numbers easily.

“Wow, do you remember that for every customer?”  Andi did her best to copy the numbers down, showing it to Hops to double-check.

“Oh um…  Well, not always…  Just…  For y’know, the most memorable customers, or the really picky ones, or the really frequent visitors, I guess?”  Hops seemed flustered by the question, though Andi couldn’t understand why.

“Oh, I guess that makes sense.”  Andi nodded quietly, trying to give Hops a moment to get over the flusteredness.  “So once it’s mixed, what then…?”

“Then we just whip up this little foam from these ingredients here,” Hops said, pointing to a few she had reserved out of the set she had pulled.  She waited patiently, again, for Andi to type it out into her phone.  “As for the mixing of the foam, I bet you’ll be really good at it with your arms.  I usually use a little electric whisk, but-”

Andi immediately perked up, grabbing a whisk off the counter and immediately applying her strength to the task of whisking.  Anything that used her muscles was the best, in her books!

Hops watched for a while, making sure to helpfully touch Andi’s arm to slow her pace down so she wouldn’t spill any of the drink until she pronounced it ready.  “And now you’ve got it perfect,” she proclaimed.  “Would you like to learn how to make your usual too?”

Andi wasn’t sure what to say.  Kaili had just told her to learn hers.  Then again, if Hops was offering, that was as good as telling her to do it, right?  “Oh, yeah, I can do that too,” she agreed.

“Alright, then we’ll put this aside,” Hops said, doing just that, “And start getting the ingredients for the Angora Sour…”

Andi opened a new note, and began to take notes on the new drink as well.  Once they were done, she could swing by the kitchen store on her way home and get the new glassware they would need, she supposed.  Maybe learning to make stuff more complex than basic food wasn’t actually that bad!  Or maybe other Sloth buns were just way better at making things make sense than cookbooks…  Hmm, maybe she needed to see if she could find a Sloth chef to befriend so she could make fancier foods for Kaili…  It was something to contemplate on her way home - and maybe to look out for at the kitchen supplies store!