What are the classic Viennese coffees? What does the cappuccino have to do with the Capuchin monks? What is special about Maria Theresa coffee? How did the one-horse carriage get its name?
In total, a good 40 different types of coffee can be distinguished in Vienna.
The most popular and well-known is the Viennese Melange, which was first offered around 1830. It is an espresso in a small cup, infused with hot foamed milk . The milk foam cap is the finishing touch. This mixture (melange) gave rise to the name. In some cases, the melange is also served with a whipped topping . Be careful when ordering a Wiener Melange in the Netherlands, where they like to add sugared egg yolk.
Popular and often ordered is also the small and the large brown . This is an aromatic black espresso with coffee cream , which is served in a small pot . In the past, the “brown” was also called a bowl of gold.
The large and small mocha mean a pure espresso. Sometimes the large mocha is called double mocha. Ristretto is a short espresso.
Capuchin is an espresso mixed with a few drops of cream until it has the color of the robe of a Capuchin monk . It is also sprinkled with grated chocolate or cocoa . Later, the capuchin became the Italian cappuccino. There are many legends about it. It is known that Capuchin translates as “Cappucio” in Italian. However, today’s cappuccino has little in common with the original form of the capuchin.
The Maria-Theresia(ner) coffee is a sweetened espresso with orange liqueur and whipped topping
and is one of the more expensive coffees. Sometimes it is also garnished with colorful sugar sprinkles.
In Vienna, Einspänner stands for half a pair of sausages, a Fiaker with only one horse and coffee with whipped cream served in a glass with a handle. The name comes from the Viennese hackney carriages, which, due to the lack of food after the 1st World War, were only equipped with one horse, the
“single carriage” could lead.
With one hand the hackney carriage driver held the horse and with the other hand the coffee, which was served in a glass with a handle. Both the glass and the coffee is called Einspänner. In it, the espresso is mixed with a little sugar and decorated with a whipped topping.
You can quickly turn the Einspänner into a Fiaker coffee by adding a shot of kirsch to the coffee.
Time Travel Tip: Vienna has its own coffee tours and its own coffee museum takes you into the history of coffee in Vienna.
More info: Vienna Coffee Museum | Kaffeemuseum Wien
