If you ever have been to Vienna you may have realized that there is a great amount of cafes which offer the typical ‘Wiener Melange’ as well as further coffee specialties. But what is so interesting about coffee in Vienna? Thereis a long history behind it.
We all know that the employment of coffee came from Africa. From there it was brought to Arabia, where it was known at about five hundred AD. When the Turks dominated most of Eastern Europe under the Othman Empire, they made the employment of coffee known in those areas. Still, there had been a clear line of distinction between oriental and occidental cultures, and the utilization of coffee was one item. Till 1683.
At that time the Turks had come to Vienna and encircled the town. They nearly succeeded in their malign quest, but eventually an army came along from Poland and fought the attackers off.
Now, legend tells us that the Turks fled so hurriedly, that they forgot to take their coffee with them. The people from Vienna didn’t recognize it, thinking it was dung of the camels - animals similarly unknown to them. Only a certain Kolschitzky is said to have known, what coffee beans were used for, so he collected each one of them and opened the first coffee bar in Vienna.
The truth is subtly different. Where there had been a person called Kolschitzky, who was an Austrian scout of Polish origin, during the battle versus the Turks, and even if he also was allowed to open a coffee shop 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 named Johannes Diodato ( Owanes Astouatzatur ). Being born in Constantinopel he allegedly knew coffee and how to use it. But Kolschitzky is alleged to have invented the filtering of the coffee and to mix it with milk.
However, there is not any skepticism the Austrians came to grasp coffee through the Turks - and when the cultural border well was crossed, coffee made its victory procession thru western Europe also. In the following century the Dutch used their colonies to cultivate coffee there, thus getting enough deliver to the Old World.
Nowadays there are an enormous amount of coffee beans, every one of them tasting subtley different. There are numerous ways to treat the beans, before you sip the final product. Roasting is only 1 method ( the lighter roasted, the’grainier’, more acid, the taste of your coffee will be ), you can grind it more or less, and eventually you can heat it, brew it or make an Espresso-style of coffee.
Here we want to give you an impression of what sort of coffee you can get in a Viennese’Kaffeehaus’.
Only one word about the history of making coffee :
‘Turkish coffee’ : employing a copper-pot, you decant the well ground coffee, sugar and water into it, stir it while boiling and serve the blend in a ( little ) mug. You’ve got to hang on a minute, till the coffee powder has sunk, it’ll then remain at the bottom of the mug. This technique is still utilized in south-eastern Europe.
Boiling coffee is also often used these days in northern Sweden, not at least by the aboriginal folks of the North, the Lapps. This is usuallysince it is the easiest way to make coffee over an open fire.
Boiling the coffee was the only alternative till the coffee filter was invented, by a German girl. Her name was Melitta, and the Melitta-filter is still a classic brand name. Since that point we have got the likelihood to brew coffee as well. Finally Espresso-machines began to be used, and nowadays almost all coffee you order in cafes is of Espresso-style.
At this point you may need to try the coffee in a real Viennese Kaffeehaus. So do not hesitate and reserve your city tour to vienna. In the centre you ‘ll find many Ferienwohnungen Wien. When you choose a Ferienwohnung Wien as accommodation you’ll have the perfect place to begin to discover the town with all its cafes.