Putting the Coffee in Kaffeehaus
March 13th, 2009
Kleiner Brauner at Sluka
Vienna, Austria – Despite the lengthiness of my last post on Vienna’s coffeehouses, I failed to explain the different kinds of Viennese coffee. Before going further, I must confess I’m no serious coffee drinker. I may have been turned off to the stuff in high school when I worked in a local coffeehouse, The Thirsty Mind, by customers who were trying to “quit” and would order a half decaf/half regular and then return for 3 more cups. Even after using it as a study aid in college, I never developed at serious habit so once I started working I found that it would send my nerves into overdrive until the whole system crashed and I could barely keep my eyes open in the middle of the day. I wanted a nap and it made me feel like a crackhead. So I relegated it to a weekend treat when I could afford to take that siesta.
Anyway, as travel is like a very long weekend and coffee is a must in Vienna, I had one or three every day while there. Legend has it that coffee was introduced to Austria in the 1683 Turkish siege of the city, but it was actually an Armenian Johannes Diodato who opened the first coffeehouse in 1685. Coffee today is a highly developed ritual with a laundry list of coffee types and accompanying customs. In town, Austrian company Julius Meinl roasts its beans, many specifically for the kind of coffee for which they will be used. In the cafes, though not in necessarily in restaurants, coffee is typically served on a single silver tray with a spoon, two sugars and a glass of water. Here’s what you can put on that tray:
Kleiner Brauner – A single serving of coffee served with little milk on the side. This was my standard in Vienna. Simple, straight-forward with a built-in activity.
Grosser Brauner – A single serving of coffee served with little milk on the side. I accidently ordered this once confusing it with the Kleiner Brauner and was met with a larger-than-expected mug of the stuff, which I made sure not to finish at 4 in the afternoon.
Melange – Coffee and hot milk, similar to a latte. My other standby. My favorite was at Oberlaa, where they doll it up with drizzles of cream and chocolate on top.
Mokka – Black coffee. A bit too hardcore for me.
Maria Teresa – Black coffee with orange liquor named after Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa, the great Austrian matriach.
Einspanner – Black coffee topped with whipped cream and served in a tall glass.
Verlangerter – Coffee and hot water, similar to an Americano.
Melange at a smoky pub in the Naschmarkt, not Alt Wein Kaffee as the sugar packet may have you believe.
Capuccino in a Prague cafe, actually, but you know it was all part of the Austro-Hungarian empire at one point.
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