Coffee house

Coffee friends and sweet teeth will find their Dorado in Vienna. The Viennese coffee house culture is one in a kind, no wonder that the Viennese coffee house has become generally accepted as brand. What distinguishes the Viennese coffee house? First off all the coffee house serves as social and cultural meeting point. The Viennese come to chat or read their newspapers. One is served by the waiter and the cake ladies. their strickt dresscodes - the waiter serves in a black suit the cake girls in a black uniform with white point aprons, - are likewise part of the coffee house tradition like the extensive selection of current daily papers and magazines, which you will find in every cafe house.

The term Viennoiserie in the Haute Cuisine refers to the “Coffee House Culture” and is not so easy to understand. Particularly confusing for the Vienna tourist are the names of different coffee specialities usual to Vienna. Eine Melange, ein Einspänner, ein Verlängerter, ein Kleiner Brauner mit Schlag oder ein Häferlkaffee are to be found on the menu. It’s best to find out for yourself during your Vienna stay which one suits your taste buds.

A small dictionary of coffee terms:

Brauner: The large or small „Braune“ is a coffee with a splash of milk, the darkest of the Viennese milky coffees.

Einspänner: Black coffee topped with cream served in a glass.

Doppelspänner: Twice as strong as the“Einspanner“ accompanied by two obligatory glasses of water.

Doppelter: Double strong espresso made with 14 grams instead of 7 grams of coffee powder per cup.

Fiaker: Sweetened mocha served in a glass.

Goldener or Schale Gold: milky coffee, light gold, also mocha with milk.

Kaffee verkehrt: More milk than coffee.

Kaisermelange: Egg yolk whipped with sugar and cognac in black coffee, a little milk.

Kapuziner: Black or milk coffee with cream, topped with a little cocoa or cinnamon.

Konsul: Black coffee with a little poured cream.

Wiener Melange: Even parts of hot milk and coffee, sweetened with sugar or honey according to taste. Very often the milk is foamed like a cappuccino.

Schwarzer: Coffee without milk.

Verlängerter: Extra water added to a Schwarzer, Brauner oder Espresso.

Inseparable from the Viennese Coffee House are the numerous cakes and pastries. Sachertorte, Apfelstrudel, Topfenstrudel oder Guglhupf are the favourite accompaniments to tea or coffee. The pastries are usually freshly home made. If you have the opportunity you should definitely try the traditional specialities such as strudel, topfenknödel, (light creamed cheese dumplings) kaiserschmarrn (chunky pancakes chopped & topped with sugar, served with a compote or palatschinken (pancakes)

www.wiener-kaffeehaus.at