Cacophony of Sounds...An Early 19th Century International Story Part 3
- Photo/Story L.Valentin
- Feb 9, 2018
- 4 min read
Luis Angel missed his favorite Spanish dish, Olla Podrida, a Spanish midday stew made with legumes and potatoes, seasoned with cured pork products and fresh meat. Sturbridge was exciting and new, but he missed his everyday life in Spain. He loved this new adventure but Spain and Puerto Rico were always embracing his thoughts. He loved walking on hot summer days through the vineyards and letting his mind wander to distant adventures like the one he was presently on.
He was a free-spirited man, usually lead by his emotions and fueled by his constant dreaming. He was born on a very humble little village in Puerto Rico called Aguirre in the town of Salinas. where he was raised to value the simple things in life but also the importance of a good education. His mother always said:
"Don't let a day go by without learning something new" and "Always see the beauty in everything even if you don't understand it." Luis Angel remembers being a young boy thinking to himself " I know there is more to life than these four corners around me."
This is something that lived within him.... like a childhood scar, constantly reminding him that he was destined for something more. Luis Angel was a passionate man who was driven by the things he loved. His passions ranged from playing flamenco guitar, to writing and the art of rum making. Luis Angel was raised by his grandfather since his mother passed away when he was 12 years old from typhus.
When he was a boy his grandfather Juan Armaiz taught him how to make Pitorro, a homemade alcoholic drink made from sugarcane similar to American moonshine. These memories were the beginnings of a passion for distilling which he would carry on for the rest of his life.
Luis Angel was 14 years of age when he met Mr. San Miguel. The wealthy Spaniard was on a business trip to Puerto Rico where he first saw Luis Angel and his grandfather selling Pitorro at a private function.
He was fascinated by the boy's expertise and confidence as he demonstrated the delicious homemade spirits. "That's impressive, quite impressive", said Mr. San Miguel to himself as he watched the boy sell the products. He bought a case of Pitorro and invited Luis Angel and his grandfather Juan for dinner that night. Within three weeks Luis Angel had crossed the Atlantic Ocean and had become a resident of Aragón, Spain.
It was 2pm and Luis Angel was heading to the White farm a couple of miles west of the country store. Luis Angel had been spending time with Caleb White, a local farmer and master cooper he met one day at Judge Knight's home. Caleb had offered to teach Luis Angel the art of cooperage, or barrel making, in exchange for learning Luis Angel's family distilling secrets.
Luis Angel still dreamed of making his own rum and learning to be a tonelero (cooper) could be another way to get closer to his goal. He was happy to share his knowledge with his New England amigo. It seemed that these two young men from opposite part of the world were on their way to a long lasting friendship.
"Are you ready to continue our training? We have two months left to get you trained for the Two Men Massachusetts Cooper Competition!" said Caleb with this hopeful grin on his face.
Winning this competition would help Caleb complete the funds he needed in order to purchase the $2200 piece of land and farm equipment he was hoping to acquire. Caleb worked with his father Justin White at the farm and was saving money to buy his own farm and marry his beloved Isabel. Luis Angel and Caleb were spending their little free time training at the shop. It had been almost 6 months and Caleb's new apprentice was already feeling quite comfortable working at the shaving horse mastering coopering tools like the drawknife and the hollowing knife. He could already make milk buckets and was getting pretty good at beveling staves with an adze.
Caleb and his new apprentice were hard at work producing a beautiful cacophony of sounds from the shaving of the wood to the hammering of the rivets on the metal hoops. Luis Angel was shaving a piece of hard oak while focusing on improving his coopering techniques. His enthusiasm was the fuel for his determination.
"Luis Angel come.... come, you have a letter from Mr. San Miguel's assistant!" Emma came rushing in the barn with the letter at hand.
The letter was in Spanish but the word urgente was written outside of it. Luis Angel almost dropped his drawknife on the floor as he rushed to Emma and the letter. He knew right away that something was wrong, Mr. San Miguel always wrote to him but not through his assistant Magdalena.
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