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Along with tasting notes, our coffees come with memory notes – a mouthful of words to contextualize what you’re drinking.

Alchemy of Ambition

Dropping anchor with the twin spires of Citadel Montjuïc in sight, Tomas touched the carved stone in his pocket. Goddess Aqualia had spared the crew. Setting off without a fitting sacrifice to the pantheon had been foolish, and Tomas preferred not to dwell on his alternate fate – one knotted too tightly to the sacrilegious Captain and his silly little plum cloak.

To the alchemist, this port meant one thing: a chance to source a powerful, exotic component. His latest concoction, a cherry tonic, stunned Pashtan with its ability to grant its drinker power of levitation, and he had promised a new batch on the return journey, but this time she wanted permanent flight. 

Tomas tucked a sprig of rosemary into his breast pocket – the streets of the citadel would smell foul. He disembarked and navigated through the dockside chaos, making way for the Upper Market. Spell-fruit traders from the Floating Archipelago were rumoured to arrive with the moonrise, and he had no time to lose.

A turbaned merchant hissed out, ‘Signor to come this way please! I bring mango from the Shimmering Lands.’ Kumquat, zucchini, broccolini. As a purveyor of ingredients with singular qualities that served his alchemy, Tomas’ botanical knowledge was encyclopedic. This jewel of a fleshy fruit, however, was something new – maybe even the key to Pashtan’s tonic.  

‘Mango, you say,’ said Tomas, trying not to betray his intrigue.

‘Yes, signor! Where man go, mango follows,’ the merchant quipped. Smiling, Tomas approached. The fruit glowed gold. Surely, a tonic brewed with this would soar.