If you ever have been to Vienna you might have spotted that there is a great amount of cafes which offer the typical ‘Wiener Melange’ in addition to further coffee specialties. But what is so important about coffee in Vienna? There’s a long history behind it.

We all understand that the utilization of coffee came from Africa. From there it was brought to Arabia, where it was known atroughly 500 AD. When the Turks conquered the majority of Eastern Europe under the Othman Kingdom, they made the employment of coffee known in those areas. Still, there was a clear line of distinction between oriental and occidental cultures, and the employment of coffee was one item. Till 1683.

At that point the Turks had come to Vienna and trapped the city. They almost succeeded in their menacing search, but ultimately a host came along from Poland and fought the invaders off.
Now, legend tells us the Turks left so quickly, that they didn’t remember to take their coffee with them. The citizens from Vienna didn’t realize it, thinking it was compost of the camels – animals equally unknown to them. Only a individual Kolschitzky is alleged to have known, what coffee beans were used for, so he collected all of them and founded the first coffee bar in Vienna.

The reality is subtly different. Whereas there was a man called Kolschitzky, who was an Austrian scout of Polish origin, during the struggle against the Turks, and even if he also was permitted to open a cafe in’Domgasse’ in Vienna in 1686, he was not the first one. The first Viennese coffee bar was founded a year before by an Armenian called Johannes Diodato ( Owanes Astouatzatur ). Being born in Constantinopel he presumably knew coffee and the way to use it. But Kolschitzky is said to have invented the filtering of the coffee and to mix it with milk.

However, thereis no doubt that the Austrians came to understand coffee through the Turks – and when the cultural border line well was crossed, coffee made its triumph procession through western Europe too. In the following century the Dutch used their colonies to cultivate coffee there, thus getting sufficient deliver to the Old World.

At present there are a massive number of coffee beans, all of them tasting slightly different. There are many methods to treat the beans, before you drink the final product. Roasting is only 1 procedure ( the lighter roasted, the’grainier’, more acid, the flavour of your coffee will be ), you can grind it roughly, and finally you can boil it, brew it or make an Espresso-type of coffee.

Here we wish to give you an impression of what type of coffee you can get in a Viennese’Kaffeehaus’.

Only 1 word about the description of making coffee :
‘Turkish coffee’ : employing a copper-pot, you decant the well ground coffee, sugar and water into it, mix it while boiling and give out the blend in a ( small ) cup. You have to hang on a minute, until the coffee powder has sunk, it will then stay at the base of the cup. This strategy is still utilized in south-eastern Europe.

Boiling coffee is also frequently used these days in northerly Sweden, not at least by the native folks of the North, the Lapps. This is mainly because it’s the easiest way to cook coffee over an open fire.

Boiling the coffee was the only alternative until the coffee filter was invented, by a German woman. Her first name was Melitta, and the Melitta-filter is still a usual trade mark. Since that point we have the probability to brew coffee also. Eventually Espresso-machines came into use, and these days almost all coffee you order in cafes is of Espresso-type.

Now you might need to experience the coffee in a genuine Viennese Kaffeehaus. So do not hesitate and book your city journey to the austrian capital. In the centre you may find numerous Ferienwohnungen Wien. When you select a Ferienwohnung Wien as accommodation youwill have the perfect place to begin to discover the city with all its cafes.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!