Episode 40. Idea (1)
Kang Dae-oh carefully observed the heart pattern engraved on the warm vanilla latte he had ordered.
It wasn’t just a typical heart shape.
There was a detail, as if Cupid’s arrow was pierced through the center of the heart.
It was a relatively elaborate expression.
This technique, called Latte Art, is a skill that uses steamed milk and espresso to draw various patterns, designs, and pictures on coffee.
Rather than just serving coffee in a mug, expressing latte art, even in a small way like this, and handing it to customers can visually lead to a quite high level of satisfaction.
However, not all cafe staff can perform latte art.
Even though it looks simple, it’s a much more difficult technique than one might think.
The thought, ‘Was there an employee at the main branch who knew how to do latte art?’ crossed Kang Dae-oh’s mind.
“Seo-jun.”
“Yes, CEO.”
Unable to contain his curiosity, Kang Dae-oh eventually called Seo-jun.
Pondering various things by himself would only be a waste of time.
If there’s something he doesn’t know, asking immediately is the most efficient way to save time.
“This, surely you didn’t do this, did you?”
“That? No way.”
Seo-jun shook his head, indicating that he didn’t do it.
“Then?”
“There’s a new full-time employee we hired recently. That person said they were learning latte art as a hobby. So I asked them to try it, and since they were surprisingly good, I had them express latte art on the drink you ordered, CEO. How is it? They’re good, right?”
Kang Dae-oh nodded and praised that the detail was well-expressed.
‘Latte art, huh······.’
As he thought about it quietly, he remembered that the Rest time cafe, where they had filmed before, also had heart-patterned latte art.
‘When was the next recording schedule?’
Kang Dae-oh took out his smartphone and busily checked his schedule.
Then, Seo-jun tilted his head and asked.
“Why are you doing that, CEO?”
Kang Dae-oh replied to Seo-jun, who was still completely unaware of the broadcast content.
“Because a very good solution seems to have come to mind.”
Although he asked several times what the solution was, Kang Dae-oh did not answer.
It was because it could be a spoiler.
The second recording day of the new season of Yolatta dawned.
As before, the production team visited Rest time, the neighborhood cafe operated by CEO Shim Gyu-han.
Today was the day to check the homework that Kang Dae-oh and Do Sang-ho had given CEO Shim Gyu-han last time.
“I’ve prepared a Rainbow Latte.”
Various colors were vibrantly incorporated.
Visually, it certainly looks good.
But what’s important is the taste.
Slurp.
Do Sang-ho, who took a short sip, nodded his head several times as if to say, ‘I see.’
CEO Shim Gyu-han couldn’t immediately grasp Do Sang-ho’s true intentions for showing such a reaction.
There was a reason why Do Sang-ho showed this reaction.
“It’s ordinary. And decent.”
“Oh, is that so? Is it······ a compliment?”
Was it praise? Or criticism? CEO Shim Gyu-han wanted to ask which way he should interpret it.
CEO Do Sang-ho’s opinion on this was also divided into two directions.
“It can be interpreted positively or negatively. The former means ‘there are no rough edges, it satisfies people’s basic taste preferences.’ The latter means ‘it’s neither here nor there, it lacks individuality.’”
If that’s the case.
Ultimately, when viewed as a result, it is indeed a criticism.
This was because the direction of the solution proposed by Kang Dae-oh and Do Sang-ho was to reveal and appeal Rest time’s unique color to customers in order to survive against numerous franchise branches.
Considering this special situation, lacking distinctiveness meant failure.
However, it wasn’t a complete failure.
“Still, you’ve expressed the unique colors of the Rainbow Latte very well. It wouldn’t be easy to create such distinct layers for each color using milk foam.”
At this moment, Kang Yera recalled the content of the first episode’s filming and spoke.
“You drew a heart on the coffee cup last time, right? That was really cute.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
CEO Shim Gyu-han scratched his head with a shy expression.
Kang Dae-oh asked CEO Shim Gyu-han with a hopeful thought.
“CEO. Are you interested in latte art?”
“Latte art?”
“Yes.”
“Well······ I didn’t mention it on purpose because it felt like bragging, but I actually won several times in latte art competitions before.”
It was so obvious that the PD and production team were surprised by this unknown information, even from behind the camera.
When information not in the script came out, Kang Yeyoung slightly raised her voice and questioned CEO Shim Gyu-han as if cross-examining him.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Because I didn’t think latte art significantly improved the taste of coffee. I believed that taste was paramount, so I deliberately didn’t talk about it.”
He didn’t think it would be a big help for the solution. This was CEO Shim Gyu-han’s thought.
However, Kang Dae-oh and Do Sang-ho’s thoughts were completely different.
“We can use this as a weapon.”
“Pardon?”
CEO Shim Gyu-han wore a bewildered expression at their words.
Kang Dae-oh immediately gave CEO Shim Gyu-han additional homework.
“CEO. Could you show us the work you created when you won the latte art competition?”
“Yes······ I understand.”
CEO Shim Gyu-han, with a reluctant expression, moved to fulfill the new request.
Indeed. Kang Dae-oh was convinced that his prediction was correct.
10 minutes later.
CEO Shim Gyu-han returned, holding a mug filled with cafe latte.
“This was it.”
“Wow······!”
Kang Yera and Kang Yeyoung’s eyes sparkled.
The image of a puppy, cutely extending its front paws as if entering the small mug like a bathtub.
What’s more, it wasn’t just one.
“The left and right puppies are the mom and dad. And this small puppy in the middle is the baby.”
“They’re so cute!”
Kang Yera, as if having forgotten about the filming, took out her smartphone and started taking multiple pictures of the puppy family that CEO Shim Gyu-han had created on the spot.
Kang Yeyoung was the same.
At the sight of the cute latte art that instantly captured women’s hearts, Do Sang-ho unknowingly let out an exclamation of admiration.
“It’s just as Yeyoung said. Why didn’t you tell us you had such skills? What should I say? I feel wronged on your behalf.”
CEO Shim Gyu-han unknowingly uttered, ‘I’m sorry.’
While the taste of the drinks provided at Rest time is generally acceptable.
The latte art was by no means ordinary.
What looks good, tastes good.
This saying also applies to coffee.
Kang Dae-oh made an additional request to CEO Shim Gyu-han.
“Could you briefly demonstrate how to do latte art, even if it’s just a simple one?”
“Yes, of course. I thought you might, so I prepared another cup in advance.”
Kang Dae-oh nodded with a satisfied smile at the meticulous preparedness of the young CEO.
There’s an important tip when making latte art.
It is.
“The espresso and crema must be well-formed. Especially for steamed milk, maintaining a temperature of about 60 to 65 degrees Celsius allows for good texture expression.”
At some point, everyone lent their eyes and ears to CEO Shim Gyu-han’s explanation.
“Patterns like hearts or tulips can be easily created just by the motion of pouring steamed milk. However, if you want to create more complex patterns, an etching process is required.”
Kang Yera asked, a question mark floating in her mind.
“What is etching?”
“It refers to the method of adding detailed designs using a toothpick, a stick, or a dedicated latte art pen. With these tools, you can freely draw complex pictures or characters. For example······.”
CEO Shim Gyu-han took out his frequently used latte art pen.
Swish, swish.
As he made a few gestures, a familiar character’s face appeared on the mug.
Kang Yeyoung was the first to speak.
“I, I know what this is. It’s Duck-gun, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
At some point, a quiz show unfolded.
Duck-gun, a character shaped like a duck, was quite popular among young women.
“We have some regular customers who have been coming to our cafe for a long time. They like Duck-gun, so I’ve drawn it for them a few times.”
“You should rather sell coffee with this······ Oh, no, you can’t do that. There would be copyright issues.”
Kang Yeyoung quickly retracted her words.
Selling drinks is good. But anything that could cause legal problems should be avoided if possible.
Nevertheless, just knowing that Shim Gyu-han possessed high-level latte art skills was a huge gain for Kang Dae-oh and Do Sang-ho, who were in charge of the solution.
“Since you said you can draw other characters anyway. Then let’s go with this as the sales strategy. What do you think, CEO Kang?”
Do Sang-ho asked Kang Dae-oh for his opinion.
As the person who first saw the potential in CEO Shim Gyu-han’s latte art, Kang Dae-oh also expressed his agreement.
“I also think that’s good. But······ it would be good to prepare one more way to appeal, besides latte art.”
It would take quite a long time to let people know that this place is a latte art hotspot.
A method is needed to make customers, who are already used to using franchise branches, turn their attention towards Rest time, even if just for a brief moment.
It felt a bit insufficient to attract attention with latte art alone.
At this moment.
Kang Yera snapped her fingers and said.
“I have a good idea.”
Kang Yeyoung glared at her older sister.
“You didn’t come up with another strange idea, did you?”
“Whenever I say something, you call it strange. Just listen and try not to be surprised.”
“Well, that won’t happen. But I’ll listen for now.”
Perhaps annoyed by her youngest sister’s attitude, Kang Yera slightly puffed out her cheeks.
It’s a habitual action that often occurs when the eldest daughter gets sulky.
Kang Dae-oh thought this side of Kang Yera was cute too.
But since they were currently filming, he couldn’t leave the sisters’ bickering to continue any longer.
“What kind of good idea is it? Tell me.”
Kang Dae-oh started gently coaxing Kang Yera, lending an ear to her words.
Was it because her dad showed interest?
Compared to before, Kang Yera’s expression brightened a little.
“There’s a very good means right here that can instantly capture the attention of people around us.”
“Here?”
“Yes!”
Saying that, Kang Yera pointed at something. No, ‘someone’.
The identity of that someone was none other than.
Kang Yera herself and Kang Yeyoung.
