Feysum

Feysum or Utlian coffee is a type of coffee native to Utlia that grows from feysum, a plant found originally only 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

Singular stalk of feysum as illustrated by botanist Urye Nek during the second Syepaka expedition

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.

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,

Importance in culture

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