I've been possessed by a culinary genius, and I've turned Shaxian snacks into a rip-off!

After witnessing the magical color change, Li Zhibai grabbed another handful of green plums and processed them again following the previous steps—crushing them, removing the pits, blanching them with coarse salt, marinating them with rock sugar, and finally putting them in the refrigerator to accelerate the permeation process.

Once it was almost marinated, he added about half a cup of tap water from the shop to dilute it, and then added some sugar.

One spoonful, two spoonfuls... a total of eight spoonfuls of sugar were added, then poured into a shaker, the lid was put on, and it was shaken wildly.

Splash~ Splash~

After shaking, he poured the liquid into a glass for observation.

The color is lighter than the first time, but it's still a bluish-green, somewhat like the color of jade.

The sweetness clearly overpowers the sourness, giving it a taste somewhat like sugar water.

"This should be about right." Li Zhibai picked up his cup, took a small sip, and frowned again.

sweet!

It is too sweet!

Li Zhibai poured in the brewed oolong tea, added ice, and shook it again.

Splash~ Splash~

After shaking it well, he took another bite.

It's still not working quite right.

It's a mix of sweet and bitter, bitter with a hint of sour, and sour with a touch of sweetness. The flavors are chaotic and mixed, and they don't blend together well at all.

Time passed little by little.

Li Zhibai kept making adjustments and experiments, but the number of failures increased.

Once, twice, three times... I failed five times in a row.

He tried all sorts of flavors—sour, sweet, bitter, astringent—but each time the results were less than satisfactory.

Looking at the cups of failed products on the worktable, Li Zhibai's fighting spirit was completely ignited.

"I refuse to believe it!"

"I can make a braised pork dish that's indistinguishable from the real thing, so why can't I make a simple cup of plum tea?"

"Again!"

The sixth time.

This time, he learned from his previous mistakes, reduced the amount of plum juice, added only four spoonfuls of sugar, steeped the oolong tea for three minutes and then filtered the tea, finally added half a cup of tap water, ice, and shook it.

Splash~ Splash~

After shaking, pour it into a glass.

Li Zhibai picked it up and examined the color closely. The proportions seemed to be right this time, but the color was a light brownish hue. The aroma of tea and fruit blended together quite harmoniously, somewhat like the scent of summer.

He took another small sip.

"Hmm...not bad!"

It's a perfect blend of sour and sweet, with a hint of bitterness from the tea leaves and a distinct fruity aroma. The various flavors are almost perfectly combined. While not particularly amazing, it's much better than the previous ones.

The color is a bit off; it doesn't have that dreamy gradient anymore, and it looks more like ordinary iced tea.

Li Zhibai then began to study how to stabilize the color-changing effect. After several adjustments, the liquid in the cup finally showed a light pink color.

He took another sip.

The taste is alright, with a good balance of sweet and sour, a delicate tea aroma, and a fairly strong fruity fragrance. However, there is still a problem: as the ice in the glass melts, the tea flavor becomes diluted, and the taste becomes very weak, like diluted fruit juice, bland and tasteless.

That won't do. The kind of drink he wants is one where the taste changes even when the ice melts, instead of just turning into tasteless ice water.

I made several more adjustments, trying it up to the 11th time.

This one tastes better than the previous ones. The balance of sweet and sour is just right, and the aroma of tea and fruit blends very harmoniously. It's refreshing on the palate and leaves a clean aftertaste.

But that's not enough! Far from enough!

While the taste surpasses 99% of the tea drinks on the market, it doesn't reach the divine quality worthy of being on the menu of Shaxian County.

Li Zhibai either doesn't do anything, or he does it to the extreme. How could an ordinary cup of plum oolong iced tea be worthy of his identity as an assassin from Shaxian?

How can it be worthy of its price tag of 88... no, at least 188?

He's a man with ambition.

Continue the research!

Li Zhibai went through the entire recipe in his mind again, trying to figure out what was missing.

The green plums are sour enough, but they lack that refreshing and impactful flavor.

The aroma of oolong tea is present, but it lacks richness and complexity.

It has a sweetness, but it's not smooth enough, and it can get cloying if you drink too much of it.

Overall, it has all the flavors, but none of them are quite perfect.

In addition to adjusting the formula, the proportions also need to be controlled.

For example, the amount of plum juice, oolong tea, honey, lemon, rock sugar, ice cubes... each ingredient must be in the perfect ratio; even a slight difference will prevent you from achieving the divine level.

"Again!"

This time, Li Zhibai did it more meticulously than ever before.

The plum juice was filtered three times to obtain the purest part. The tea soup was made by brewing top-grade oolong tea leaves with water that had been boiled and then cooled to 92 degrees Celsius, with a timer set for 160 seconds. The tea soup was filtered out immediately after the time was up, not even for a second longer.

Next, I slowly simmered a rock sugar syrup over low heat. The ratio of rock sugar to water was two to one. I simmered it until the syrup turned slightly yellow and could be clung to a spoon. Then I let it cool and set it aside.

The honey used is top-grade acacia honey, which is light yellow in color and has a faint acacia flower aroma.

Finally, there were the ice cubes, whose sizes were adjusted.

Once everything was ready again, Li Zhibai immediately began to prepare the ingredients.

50 ml of plum juice.

Dong Ding Oolong Tea, 150 ml.

Rock sugar syrup, 20 ml.

Acacia honey, 10 ml.

30 ml of tap water.

Lemon juice, 3 drops...

Pour all ingredients into the shaker in order, put on the lid, and start shaking.

Splash~ Splash~

The rhythm of shaking also needs to be well controlled, so that each flavor can be fully integrated and the desired gradient effect can be brought out.

Twenty seconds later, he poured the tea from the shaker into a clean glass.

The color gradually turned into a very beautiful, very clear turquoise.

Finally, he added two ice cubes and stirred it gently with a spoon.

A miraculous thing happened again.

As ice is added and the temperature in the glass decreases, the liquid in the glass begins to slowly change color from the bottom.

The bluish-green color gradually disappears from the edges, while the pale pink color spreads outwards from the center, like a flower slowly blooming.

Blue, green, pink, yellow, orange, red... the colors transition layer by layer, like a rainbow slowly melting in a cup.

After the complete transformation, the tea had turned a ruby ​​red, shimmering with iridescent light.

It's absolutely amazing! It's incredibly clear! It's absolutely beautiful!

It was so beautiful that he almost didn't want to drink it.

Li Zhibai admired the newly made drink, and he could already imagine how powerful it would be to women.

If I could open a bubble tea shop... well, that's just a dream for now.

After admiring it for a while, he finally picked it up and took a sip.

The moment it enters your mouth, the tartness of the green plum is like a summer breeze, carrying a refreshing fruity aroma that wafts towards you.

Then, the rich aroma of oolong tea gradually unfolds in the mouth, directly supporting the previous flavors. Next, the sweetness of honey and rock sugar slowly emerges, neutralizing the tartness of the fruit and tea sugar, along with the subtle lemon aroma... finally connecting the overall flavors completely.

The various flavors appear in layers, like a pair of lovers who have been separated for a long time finally embracing tightly and becoming inseparable again.

Li Zhibai couldn't resist taking a few more big gulps, and only after finishing the whole cup did he lick his lips with a lingering sense of satisfaction.

"This plum oolong tea is so delicious!"

"I think it can no longer be called a beverage; it should be called liquid gold! It's the nectar bestowed upon the most wretched souls by this master chef!"

"With this drink, all those other brands like Starbucks, Tea, and Snow Beer are just amateurs!"

"How can those mass-produced milk teas from industrial assembly lines compare to my handmade, freshly mixed plum oolong tea that changes color and has soul!"

Ding!

The familiar system notification sound finally rang in my mind.

[Host detected to have completed the development of an original, god-tier beverage—Plum Oolong Iced Tea.]

[Congratulations, host, you have successfully obtained your 5th Gourmet Heart.]

[This foodie's note: Childhood sweethearts, innocent and pure, the biggest regret isn't not loving each other, but loving without saying it. Those unspoken words eventually become the taste of a cup of plum tea—bitterness for youth, sweetness for memories, tea for the years, and bitterness for regret.]

[Food rating: Divine.]

[The Shaxian cuisine menu has been updated, with a new dish added: Silent Plum (Plum Oolong Iced Tea) - The Only One.]

[Because this dish is made using off-season fresh green plums reconstituted using an ingredient restorer, coupled with a unique color-changing effect and complex seasoning process, the system has determined that this dish is a special limited edition, and there is no distinction between a regular version and a deluxe version.]

[Pricing as follows: "Silent Green Plum (Green Plum Oolong Iced Tea) - Only One," 298 RMB/cup * 100ml.]

298 for a cup?

Good heavens! A drink costs 298 yuan and only contains 100ml. That's almost the same as a bottle of Moutai liquor, isn't it?

So what? Is he selling tea drinks?

No! He's selling his youth, his first love!

Is 298 yuan a cup expensive?

It's not expensive at all!

Those trendy milk tea shops sell a cup of milk tea for fifty or sixty yuan, and they use non-dairy creamer and other high-tech ingredients. Drinking them will not only make you fat, but also cause acne.

His plum oolong tea is made with high-quality ingredients, handcrafted, and even changes color, yet it only costs 298 yuan a cup. It's practically charity!

"System, I'm very satisfied with this pricing."

The reward followed immediately.

[Congratulations, host, you have acquired a new special skill: Overcharging Aura.]

[Effect: When activated, the spending desire of designated customers increases by 200%.]

[Duration: Can be used only once per day.]

Li Zhibai's eyes lit up when he saw the reward.

Wow! The system has returned to its original purpose!

This is the kind of system I want!