Feysum
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Feysum or Utlian coffee is a type of coffee native to Utlia that grows from feysum, a plant found semi-submerged in hot springs throughout Utlias mountain ranges.
Etymology
Feysum means "no fish" in Utyis, coming from explorer Neri Syepaka who first thought the beans of the feysum plant were a fish passing by them.
Cultivation & brewing
The feysum plant natively grows exclusively in hot springs in Mountange and Wynlia, where it is partially submerged. The beans of the plant used for coffee brewing grow in trios off of the leaves of the plant.
For mass cultivation feysum is grown in specialized greenhouses built to mimic the environment of a hotspring, when it is time for harvest the beans are cut with a sickle and put into a drying vat before being sold.
The Syepaka brewing company is the largest feysum brewer on mainland Utlia, founded in 957 TT by Ikner Suyer, it is one of the oldest organizations still active in Utlia. It is also one of the few grandfather companies on Utlia, allowed to exist without government control or interference as part of the Braia 2 PC Cultural Significant Economics bill.
History
Neri Syepaka is the first person to write about feysum and the first person proven to have made coffee, both his journal and his assistants journals corroborate that upon returning to their home of Kelna, they discovered that by grinding the beans down and brewing it with hot liquid, they could make an energizing and bitter drink. They brought this to the noble family in charge of Kelna, the Lowsie patriarch was impressed by the drink and ordered a second expedition to gather more of the plant, as well as study its properties. The second expedition, also headed by the Syepaka group returned during the Yenso of 960 TT. During the Myikirn of 960, Iers Lowsie had the beans brought to every shrine in the city and turned into feysum to give out to praying families. Free feysum would go on to be a common tradition during the Myikirn festival, especially in North Utlian culture. This incident was also the first time coffee had been brought to the public attention.
Feysum rush
After the initial discovery of Feysum, places near the hot springs of central Utlia saw a rush of immigrants, hoping to gather the plants for their own resturants and stands, the city of Balmor being the largest gainer, with an 11% increase in population from 958 TT to 949 TT. Many small scale operations began working on replicating the hot springs environment in a greenhouse, so that feysum could be mass produced. Two major coffee breweries opened during the rush Syepaka and Feypem, both created by wealthy men from outside of Wynlia, Syepaka being founded by Ikner Suyer, a citizen of Kelna-Ut, and Feypem being founded by Keryk and Ceryyen Utel from Unlaunen. Both of these companies had set their sights on large scale production of the plant in a controlled environment.
Coffee wars
On 9-3 956 TT the Utel brothers claimed to have found the method for large scale feysum production, telling various newspapers in Balmor about this. Suyer was outraged to have been beaten by his rival, the same night the story went out, the Feypem warehouse in mor port was firebombed and the headquarters of Feypem brewing was robbed, Suyer claimed that his men were not responsible for the firebombing but were responsible for the "inspection of claimed information" conducted in the headquarters. Suyer, acting as his assistant Lyre, wrote to the same newspapers as Feypem exposing them as frauds who had not discovered any methods of scaling for feysum. The expose came out on 10-3 and during an interview conducted by Provincial Courier, the Utel brothers claimed that the Syepaka company had lied, saying that Feypem cannot prove its innocence since they were robbed of their proof, Ceryyen Utel ended the interview by saying "Ikner will regret his transgressions against us."
On 5-4 956, the central city Syepaka cafe, the flagship store for the company, was robbed in broad daylight by a group bearing gang-affiliated tattoos, stealing at least 300 dolare from the back room and injuring the manager of the building. The story became front page news, as with all developments in the brewing feuds the media latched onto it as a once-in-a-lifetime event. When asked about what he will do to retaliate by Provincial Courier, Ikner claimed to be a law-abiding man who would not stoop to their level for "petty revenge."
On 8-4 an underfed Urla was released in the headquarters of Feypem brewing during the early hours of the morning, it would maul two people to death and injure one other. Ikner was on a work trip to Tinlea at the time, where he gained the favor of Vyme Liamia and the two became acquaintences, Vyme would have a Syepaka cafe opened in central Tinlea later in the year. Upon his return to Balmor, he was confronted by the younger Utel brother, Keryk, in response to the accusations levied against him, Ikner said "I would never send a feral beast into your offices, I have no idea how one wandered in, you have my deepest condolences." Keryk punched him in the face before storming off. This moment was witnessed by a group of journalists, the event would make the front page about coffee once again.
On 28-4, the Syepaka Brewing Company suddenly gained an influx of feysum shipments coming in, Feypem noticed, as they had spies watching their rivals supply lines. Nearly triple the amount of beans were being brought in, the Feypem spies followed the goods convoys back towards central Wynlia, only to find that the Syepaka company had devised a greenhouse setup capable of growing the difficult plants. As they got closer to the row of greenhouses, they were yelled at by watchmen, who threatened violence if they did not leave the area. The Utel brothers decided not to leak the information to the presses, as if they could figure out the trick, they could win the race in the eyes of the public. Feypem tried many different methods but the beans always came out wrong. On 12-6 956, the same gang members who robbed the coffee shop would destroy three of the Syepaka greenhouses in central Wynlia. The watchmen of the farms were able to incapacitate three of the six attackers in time for the local noble police to get there. One of the three caught admitted to being hired by Ceryyen Utel and confessed that their goal was to figure out the methods by which Syepaka was growing feysum on that scale, as a reward for his confession, he was released, the other two gangsters were executed by yekajyu. On 5-5 Ceryyen Utel was arrested for conspiracy and property damage, he was set to be imprisoned for five Uewen in the Ikersk-Ut Stable Prison. Once the events hit newspapers, Ikner was forced to give a speech announcing his companies success in scaled production of feysum. His speech, given to a cohort of various newspaper editors in the Syepaka headquarters in central Balmor, goes as follows:
After giving his speech, Ikner would visit Tinlea where he would hang around Vyme Liamia, during a dinner with the Utyr, Ikner claimed that he feared for his life once Ceryyen Utel was released, he then formally requested the mans sentence be changed to execution. The Utyr obliged and once Ikner left, Ceryyen was given execution via Yekyaju.
The Feypem brewing company would become the Feypem Florists, a Wynlia chain of flower shops that while never as successful as the brewing company, did manage to stay in business and within the Utel family until 532 TT.
Importance in culture
Feysum is drank by a majority of adults in Utlia, over 70% of people report having drank atleast one cup a day. It plays a part in many festivals, notably Myikirn and Mepu Serrek.