Chapter 7

The two weeks of the construction holidays were coming along and Mélanie was busier than ever. Every evening, the public room (Sean preferred that name to the American equivalent ‘Bar’) was full. There were not only the regular customers; the villagers of Sherwin’s Falls who came for their nightly drink and usually more, there were also quite a few overnight residents of the campground and sometimes even the occasional connoisseur who braved the long drive from Montreal, or even further afield, and the inn’s dress code for a glass, or more, of Sean’s specialty beers and ales. The mood in the pub was warm, friendly and noisy. However, no matter how noisy or well lubricated, there was never any time when someone had to be brought home in a wheelbarrow as it used to happen, regularly, when the inn was called The Sherwin’s Falls Arms Hotel.

Mélanie was under the counter, changing a keg, when she heard a customer order a ‘Mélanie’s melody’. She was surprised – the pub always carried a bottle or two of that in-house brandy but it was not a customer favourite. Most preferred the more common tipples like whiskey or gin.

While continuing to struggle with the keg of Alan’s Ambrosia, one of Sherwin’s original specialty beers, her memory flashed back to when Sean had first created it ... One of Sean’s hobbies was to make up different brandies and other tipples with the small still he kept in the malting room near the falls. When he thought he had something that had some potential, he used to come around to all the staff and have them taste it prior to offering for sale. One day, about six months after Mélanie had joined the team, Sean had done the rounds with a little flask.

It was the first time she’d seen this little game being played out and she was curious; so, as the flask was going around, she sneaked in between the gardener and the cook. When Sean handed her the shooter, she looked at it suspiciously; it resembled white wine but was more viscous. She saw the others starting to smell and to sip the drink, so she tried it as well. There was a moment of silence as Sean studied everyone for their impressions.

“ ... Hmmm,” said one.

« Yeah, not bad. Pretty good, even,” said another.

“I think this one is your best yet, dear,” said Megan. “What is it?”

“Different fruits ... about 50% Macintosh, 25% Lobo, 10% Russet and 15% pear.”

After everyone else had given their opinion, Megan spoke up. “It needs more bite!” she said. While everyone stared at her in surprise, she continued. “It’s good but there’s no character. It needs something, something that will give it a kick in the ass. I dunno, some mint, maybe ... no, not that, Peppermint! That’s it! It lacks a hint of peppermint.”