Chapter 70

Mrs. Qin was angry with Li Qi because she had yet to experience his good qualities.

As soon as she left, Li Qi immediately called over Chen Anan and his mother, telling them to pack their bags and move to the Qin residence with him.

This was a great honor for these servants. Chen Anan, being young, did not understand the significance, only knowing that wherever Li Qi went, he would follow. However, Chen Dama was so moved that she shed tears of gratitude, repeatedly thanking Li Qi for his kindness to her and her son.

Wu Xiaoliu, standing nearby, refused to be left out, insisting on going to the Qin residence with Li Qi, not for any other reason but for Xiao Tao.

Li Qi paid him no mind, kicking him back and telling him to practice his cooking skills, or he wouldn't even have a place to stay here.

As a result, when they left, Wu Xiaoliu stood at the door, tears in his eyes, watching them go, a truly pitiful sight!

Upon arriving at the Qin residence, Li Qi immediately took charge. The first thing he did was to kick Xiao Tao, who could only make a few simple dishes, out of the kitchen. Then he picked up the pots and pans and made several delicious home-style dishes.

While Li Qi was cooking, Wu Furong arrived at the Qin residence, bringing a distillation furnace and over ten jars of various fruit wines.

When he heard that Li Qi had moved into the Qin residence, he was both surprised and delighted.

During dinner, Li Qi treated himself as if he were part of the family, insisting that Xiao Tao and Chen Dama sit and eat with them. The more people, the more lively the meal, and besides, he had never considered them as servants.

Mrs. Qin did not mind this much, as she was a person who accepted things as they came.

As for Wu Furong, he was already used to it. At Zui Xian Ju, every meal was eaten with a group of people.

Unsurprisingly, Li Qi's five or six home-style dishes quickly won everyone's praise.

Although Mrs. Qin did not say much, she ate two bowls of rice today.

Xiao Tao, who had always taken care of her diet, was greatly surprised to see Mrs. Qin eat two bowls of rice. In the past, no matter what dishes were served or whether she was eating at her parents' house, Mrs. Qin always ate only one bowl of rice, very strictly. Today, she broke her routine and ate two bowls, a rare occurrence, which showed the charm of Li Qi's cooking.

After dinner, Li Qi told Wu Furong to go back and rest early, as he was quite old and had been running around all day, which must have been tiring.

After seeing Wu Furong off, Li Qi began his brewing project with Chen Anan.

Alcohol is a very important ingredient in cooking. As a chef, you don't have to drink, but you must understand alcohol. A chef who doesn't understand alcohol cannot be considered a qualified chef.

Li Qi, of course, was no exception. Two months before his wedding, he had just received his intermediate sommelier certification. With his abilities, obtaining a senior certification would not be difficult, but the senior certification had time restrictions.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, the government controlled the raw materials for making alcohol, such as official yeast and glutinous rice. Trying to cheat the system was almost impossible.

Therefore, to make a fortune from alcohol, one had to avoid these elements.

The only option left was fruit wine.

In the Song Dynasty, most fruit wines were low-alcohol beverages made through fermentation. There were many varieties, such as grape wine, pear wine, lychee wine, pomegranate wine, jujube wine, yellow citrus wine, sugarcane wine, and honey wine.

However, they never gained widespread acceptance.

Many people brewed fruit wine privately, and according to the law, most of them did not have the qualifications to do so. However, because fruit wine was not very popular, the government turned a blind eye. If you brewed yellow wine or red yeast rice wine privately, however, you would be in trouble.

The main reason fruit wine did not become popular was the brewing technique. The current fruit wines were cloudy and sticky, with a poor taste, far inferior to the fruit wines of Li Qi's time. The most famous among them was brandy, which could be made from grapes, apples, cherries, and other fruits.

However, the key point was that brandy did not require yeast.

Of course, Li Qi did not plan to make brandy. He did not have the recipe, and even if he did, the people here preferred low-alcohol drinks. Brandy, being a strong spirit, might not sell well.

However, he intended to borrow the distillation process used in brandy production. The most critical part of this process was distillation.

Distilled spirits have always been a controversial topic in Chinese history. Some say they existed in the Eastern Han Dynasty, others in the Tang Dynasty, and still others in the Song Dynasty.

However, it was not until the Yuan Dynasty that there were clear records of distilled spirits.

Li Qi was not sure if distilled spirits existed in this era, but at least the government did not use distillation to make alcohol, and he had never tasted high-proof spirits. However, this did not matter, as there was no concept of patents in this era. You could brew your own, and he could brew his own, each relying on their own skills.

To make distilled spirits, a distillation apparatus was necessary.

However, there were no distillation apparatuses for sale in this era.

Li Qi originally planned to have Wu Furong find someone to make a distillation apparatus according to his specifications, but when Wu Furong heard this, he thought the distillation apparatus resembled a Taoist alchemy furnace.

This reminded Li Qi of some historical records he had read about alchemy furnaces, and he decided to give it a try.

So, he asked Wu Furong to find an alchemy furnace.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, Taoism was prevalent, and there were more Taoist temples than outhouses. Finding an alchemy furnace was no problem.

Money was not an issue in this era.

When Li Qi saw the alchemy furnace Wu Furong bought, he was very satisfied. It was almost a prototype of a distillation apparatus, requiring only minor modifications, such as adding a few pipes. The other equipment was already available.

With the distillation apparatus ready, the next step was to prepare the raw materials.

Since this was still the experimental stage and time was tight, Li Qi did not want to waste time waiting for fruits to ferment. He asked Wu Furong to buy ready-made fruit wines, specifically those that had been brewed for about thirty days, with grape wine being the main focus.

With everything prepared, Li Qi began his distillation experiment.

He was very familiar with this process. In his time, distillation was common in rural areas, so it did not take long for the first batch of distilled grape wine to be produced.

"Li—Brother Li, what kind of wine is this?"

Chen Anan stared at the clear, transparent liquid and swallowed hard.

"I haven't decided on a name yet, but since it's a new type of wine, it should have a catchy name."

Li Qi frowned in thought, then his eyes lit up. "How about 'Unmatched in the World'?"

"Unmatched in the World?"

Chen Anan licked his dry lips and stared at the "Unmatched in the World" wine.

Seeing Chen Anan's eager look, Li Qi smiled and scooped out a small cup, handing it to Chen Anan. "Want to try it?"

"Can I really drink it?" Chen Anan asked, surprised.

"Of course, go ahead."

Li Qi's eyes twinkled with mischief as he said this.

Chen Anan took a deep breath, grabbed the cup, and drank it in one gulp.

"Phew!"

In less than a second, Chen Anan spat out the wine he had just drunk.

"Too spicy, too spicy...!"

Chen Anan jumped around, fanning his mouth with his hands.

Li Qi wiped the mixture of wine and saliva from his face, feeling frustrated. This was truly a case of hurting both himself and others.

The grape wine was just distilled, with an alcohol content of at least fifty degrees and a very spicy taste. Li Qi had only intended to tease Chen Anan, but he did not expect him to drink it all in one go, and now he had a face full of the stuff.

Actually, this was only a semi-finished product, as it had not yet been blended. Blending is a crucial and indispensable step in the production of distilled spirits.

Famous international distilled spirits, such as Wuliangye, whisky, brandy, gin, and rum, are all made by blending high-quality base spirits.

Freshly distilled spirits need to be blended to unify the taste, remove impurities, and harmonize the aroma. Blending is not simply adding water to the spirits but involves combining different base spirits and adjusting the flavors to balance the spirit and maintain its unique style.

After a series of experiments, Li Qi finally developed a blending formula.

With the experiment successful, Li Qi began large-scale production of "Unmatched in the World" wine, which included not only grape wine but also apple wine, sugarcane wine, pear wine, and others.

Li Qi instructed Wu Furong to collect fruit wines while also purchasing large quantities of fruits, the raw materials for "Unmatched in the World." Collecting fruit wines was only a temporary solution; producing the raw materials himself was the key.

Additionally, Li Qi asked Wu Furong to borrow some yeast from the brewing yard. With the current financial strain, borrowing was a good option. It would show the government that he was following the rules, and with the yeast, he could produce other types of distilled spirits, such as whisky, without any issues.