imicasschay (ih mih KAHZ chay)
Holopedia Galactica entry original draft, user-submitted, 12729:05:08 T
VNY's notes:
It did not take anything like "a reasonable amount of time" for me to be sneaking confused glances at the dregs of tea in the cup.
Gorgeous workmanship, don't get me wrong. Translucent, a ruddy pale brown in color with tiny sparkles in it that I can only really see when there's a darker fluid inside it. The teacup itself had about the wall thickness of three flimsiplasts stacked together, which is not a lot of space for all the fancy details engraved directly into the outer surface. Elegant curve to the main bowl, its ribbed handle, just. This must have taken someone with a wedge-shaped stick days.
This is nice stuff, is what I am saying. Classy. Dignified. Made me feel like sitting up straight and putting thought into my hand gestures. The Reena Province custom of Calorian Hearth Orientation may in theory be intended to suit the fancy and the plain, but no "smoked jasmine vorcristo" cross between a pastry and a sandwich is going to get served alongside a boring-looking teacup.
Which ... absolutely had six fluid ounces of steaming drink in it. Just a moment ago. I was confident of my observations there.
But I could not ask Bossman for independent verification nor guidance, because he was fully engaged in asking Dean Panos about the modern implications of his namesake grandfather's seminal dissertationGP on current efforts to restore the pre-Twilight route of the Giju Passage. I know what all those words mean individually, sure, except for the antique rocks which I had to look up later. I absosmurfly was not going to reach across the table to interject in any of those sentences though.
That left me with asking Trooper Burner Venn, seated to my right. Burner, who -- I was pretty certain of this! -- had taken a polite sip of his own tea. Turned his full attention to it, suddenly happy and intrigued. Thought for two breaths. Tossed his head back and chugged the contents of his cup like it was draluram gal and his breaktime chrono was ticking down. Muffled a sigh of contentment as he came back upright. Checked the sight lines of all the locals, then swapped his empty for the not-yet-touched cup at the upper right corner of my own place setting.
"Ba'gedet'ye, Al'verde," he muttered as he took a more reasonable-sized sip of the replacement cup.
Hunh. Can't argue after the code phrase. Not in front of the University folks, anyhow.
I should perhaps explain about the code phrase.
I dislike the taste of beers and ales.
This counts as an advantage in my prior career because I would go into a cantina somewhere, order whatever they had on tap -- "over ice" if that's an option -- and get a mug full of stuff that I mostly faked drinking. Sooner or later, I'd see an opportunity to "carelessly" swap my watered-down mug with the nearly empty mug of another patron who had a tolerance for the local brew. If I did it well, they figured the bartender had refilled them while they were distracted.
But the important thing was, I drifted from "unremarkable customer who follows universal cantina-visiting procedures" to "unremarkable customer who drank up with no tourist-type comments". I drew no attention. I achieved no actual intoxication. I offended no fundamental capitalistic principles. I got my chance to blend in, make observations or inquiries, evade potential hostilities, and wander away again.
It gets a little tougher at a gathering where the inebriants are served in cans or bottles. Principle's the same, it's just, there's no hydroxy ice to melt and dilute the contents. I have a shorter time limit in which my possession of a full container is notable.
Brutto, Razak, and Clea each independently spotted me within about four months. The Rebel Alliance did not tend to transport kegs or vats of recreational consumables. On Dendarii back in '721, we mostly got crates of compostable cans. I guess it did not make sense to those three, not at first: here's a "commander" who's entirely too far into physiological adulthood, pretending to participate in a leisure activity by a method not permitted to most of the "commanders" due to adolescent development, and yet she ... dislikes ale? Despite requesting one when offered a range of options, including more officer-appropriate liquors. Cannot be a religious restriction, we've all met Master Kenobi.
Brutto's the one who made Vinch quit offering to buy me a drink. I think Vinch was trying to figure out why I never had a dehydration headache. Clea and Razak, though, were the first people to swap their empty containers for mine; and they both used to murmur the Mando'a for "You're welcome" if they were doing it behind me, so I'd know it was happening.
All of which means, if Burner Venn is doing sleight of hand swapsies with this imicasschay stuff, he has some reason to think I ought not be drinking it. Is it alcohol? Brain-frying levels of spicy?
I don't have a clue.
Couldn't ask him during the culturally significant meal.
Can't ask him about it now, either. As soon as the signs said we visitors had been properly inducted into Reena Province Amateur Naturalist Society -- which, in Reena Province, has nothing to do with Dathomirian garb and everything to do with being a competently independent adult -- Burner got ushered away to lecture on the difference between a "rotary blaster cannon" versus a "beam laser cannon" in terms of maintenance investment, reliability, and effective arc of stoppage when faced with a hostile tide of vermin. We have gotten reports of Reaver attacks in all sorts of odd locations, maybe he is helping with that?
- database entry updated Satunda
8 Nelona
12729
8 Nelona
12729
Holopedia Galactica entry:
Imicasschay is an infused beverage, traditionally served and consumed at a temperature no more than one standard minute shy of reaching its boiling point at a standard heating rate. It is created from purified water, a specific ratio of cut material from the nuts of the imicasie plant, oils from the fruit pod of the Jogu Tree, and grated cardamom.
Manufacturing process
Shelled imicasie nuts must be sorted for weight, ripeness, and color. These factors determine the correct ratios of pressure, roaster temperature, and grinding blade used to dry the nutmeat while reducing it to an even granular powder.
The product may be flash-frozen in a lightproof vacuum chamber if it is to be stored for shipping. Fresher grinds are, of course, considered to be of higher quality. Some certified chefs prefer that their grinds be flash-frozen for ten minutes under even the best circumstance, to reduce the acidity of the infusion in subsequent steps.
The grinds should be laid evenly across the bottom of a specially made pot. Do not press into place.
Meanwhile, water and the sweetening agent (if any) are mixed together until fully dissolved; the water is poured gently onto the layer of grinds, being careful to not dislodge the base layer.
Once the water mixture fully soaks into the grinds, more water is added until the mixture resembles a watery paste.
Begin heating slowly. Gradually increase the rate of heating until the fluid is steaming, not quite at a full simmer.
Add Jogu oil and grated cardamom.
Prepare teacups: Rinse with hot filtered water. Fill and cover. Let sit for five minutes.
Stir imicasschay vigorously with a pastry brush, spiraling inward then outward. Repeat as necessary until all components are fully blended.
Prepare teacups: Empty and pat dry quickly. Optional: lightly dust with one-tenth ounce grated cardamom.
Dip filtration mesh in a shallow warming dish of clarified jogu oil. Shake mesh gently to remove excess.
Pour imicasschay through filtration mesh into teacup.
Remember to swish the mesh through clean water, then dip again in clarified oil before pouring into next teacup.
Serve promptly.
Item type
Consumable, Food / Drink
Current Location
Rarity
- rare within Reena Province
- vanishingly rare outside Reena Province except:
- guaranteed within pantry for House Vorreena Embassy on Estalle Island, Procopia, Procopia System, Tapani Sector.
Base Price
2500 marks per 0.15 liter bottle
Raw materials & Components
- Shelled imicasie nuts
- Filtered water
- Debated: sweetening agent, often some form of liquified fructose
- Jogu oil, unfiltered
- Jogu oil, clarified
- Grated cardamom
Tools
- Simultaneous grinding + drying equipment
- Debated: lightproof vacuum chamber for flash-freezing foodstuff in dry storage
- Specially designed cookware: pots, pastry brush, filtration mesh with long handle
- Volume-based measuring equipment for wet and dry ingredients
- Lint-free highly absorbent drying cloth
- Teacups, saucers, insulated lids
GP
Panos, G. D. Hyperspace transit effects on electrostriction in mytag crystals as a method of reversing data corruption. 12689:03:27 T. Reena Univerity, Reena, Reena Province, Tapani Sector.
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