The Birth of the Viennese Coffeehouse
Plus a quick look at where coffee originated, how it ended up in Europe (and the rest of the world), and what makes Austrian coffee so delicious
The best coffee in Europe is Vienna coffee, compared to which all other coffee is fluid poverty.”
— Mark Twain
After moving to Ireland from Austria four years ago, my husband, Gerhard, bought a fancy coffee machine. For each cup of coffee, he grinds the beans, tamps them down into a measuring cup, runs water through it, and lets the liquid drain into the coffee cup. At the end, he steams milk and pours it on top. The coffee is delicious, but the process is slow because it must be repeated for each cup of coffee.
When we make breakfast together, I set the table and prepare all of the food. If we’re lucky, our two cups of coffee are just about ready by the time I’ve completed all of the other tasks!
Gerhard’s desire for a perfect cup of coffee does not surprise me. He is, after all, Austrian. And Austrians just seem to be born with a passion for the stuff—not only in their famous coffeehouses, but also at home.
I had heard, of course, about Viennese coffeehouses long before moving to the city in September 2014. My curiosity already piqued, I eagerly began exploring them as soon as I arrived.
As an American who grew up drinking steaming hot mugs of (not great) coffee, frequently accompanied by unlimited refills, the whole coffeehouse experience was a revelation to me. Each precious cup of liquid is indeed delicious, but it costs five euros or more, the cups are not particularly large, and free refills are unheard of.
On the plus side, I can sip coffee, read a free newspaper or magazine, or talk with a friend for as long as I like—without a hint from the waiter that he would like me to pay up and leave so a new customer can take my place.
The coffeehouse is a place “in which time and space are consumed, but only the coffee is listed on the bill”.*
The tendency to linger is enhanced by the fact that many Viennese coffeehouses open early (7:00 am to 8:00 am) and close late (12:00 pm to 1:00 am). As a result, they often serve simple breakfasts, lunches and dinners. As well, of course, as a huge variety of delicious desserts.
My personal record in a Viennese coffeehouse is 7 hours. I met a friend at Café Landtmann at 2:00 p.m. once for coffee and an Apfelstrudel, and she and I talked so long and so enthusiastically that we ended up staying for dinner and a few glasses of wine, too!
After living in Austria for several years and also traveling to France, Italy and Germany, I have come to the conclusion—like Mark Twain before me—that Vienna really does have the best coffee in Europe.
To better understand why this might be so, I started thinking about coffee itself—how it is grown, where it comes from, and how it ended up in Europe. To be honest, these are all things I had never thought about before even though I have drunk coffee most of my life.
So I began to do a little research and discovered that coffee starts out as an evergreen shrub or small tree that grows in tropical and subtropical regions around the world. The coffee plant has glossy, dark green leaves and produces small, fragrant, white flowers that give way to the fruit, which is known as coffee cherries.
Each cherry typically contains two seeds, or coffee beans. After harvesting, the cherries are processed to remove the outer pulp and mucilage, revealing the seeds. The seeds are then dried, sorted and roasted to create the coffee beans used for brewing.
I also discovered that there are two primary species of coffee plants that produce the beans used for commercial coffee production: Coffea arabica (Arabica) and Coffea canephora (Robusta). Arabica beans have a smooth, mild flavor and are typically grown at higher altitudes. Robusta beans have a stronger, more bitter flavor and contain more caffeine than Arabica beans.
Roasting is a crucial step in the coffee-making process because it develops the beans’ flavor, aroma and color. Lighter roasts tend to preserve more of the original flavors, while darker roasts develop richer, bolder flavors with hints of caramelization.
A bit of history
I also discovered that the first coffee plants originated in Ethiopia. People began eating the raw cherries there—and experiencing their stimulating effects—around the 9th century CE. By the 15th century, coffee plants were being grown in Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula. (Yemen is just 26 kilometers across the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait from Eritrea, which was a part of Ethiopia until it gained its independence in 1993.)
It was the Arabs who first began roasting and grinding coffee beans, mixing the results with water, and creating the delicious drink we know today.
By the 16th century, the custom of drinking coffee had spread to Persia, Egypt, Syria and Turkey. Almost from the beginning, it drew people together in qahveh khaneh (coffee houses), where patrons engaged in conversation, exchanged news of the day, and undertook creative activities like writing poetry and playing music.
Not all people were happy about this. Officials in Mecca banned coffee in 1511 because it seemed to stimulate radical thinking and the gathering together of people.**
Coffee arrived in Europe in the 16th century via Venetian trade routes with North Africa and the Middle East. Here, too, the ruling class and clergy viewed it with suspicion, called it “the devil’s brew,” and made efforts to ban it.
The common people loved it, while those who ruled the common people began to view it as a threat: it seemed to be particularly dangerous when people consumed it in social settings. People who drank beer became drunk and happy and useless—but people who drank coffee had newfound energy and passion while remaining sober and vigilant; which, to the ruling class, made them a potential threat to overthrow the government.**
The story goes, however, that Pope Clement VIII (b. 1536, d. 1605) took a sip and decided that coffee was delicious.
“This Satan’s drink is so delicious,” he is reported to have said, “It would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it. We should cheat the devil by baptizing it.”**
The first European coffeehouse opened in Rome about 1645—fifty years after the Pope had baptized coffee. From there, coffeehouses began to spread throughout Europe.
The growing of coffee trees also began to spread around the world. In the late 17th century, the Dutch began to develop coffee plantations in Indonesia. In the early 18th century, the French created coffee plantations in the Caribbean, including in Haiti and Martinique. And in the late 18th century, Francisco de Melo Palheta, a Brazilian military official, created the first coffee plantation in Brazil.
Today, the ten largest producers of coffee beans in the world (in order of output) are: 1. Brazil, 2. Vietnam, 3. Colombia, 4. Indonesia, 5. Honduras, 6. Ethiopia, 7. Peru, 8. India, 9. Guatemala and 10. Uganda.***
Back to Austria
The person who opened the first coffeehouse in Vienna is somewhat clouded in legend. For years a Polish nobleman, diplomat and spy named Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycki was credited with the honor. More recent research, however, has concluded that an Armenian tradesman named Johannes Theodat actually opened the first coffeehouse in 1685.
The time period was significant because the Ottoman Empire was continually trying to expand into Europe throughout the 17th century. On 14 July 1683, the Ottoman army laid siege to Vienna, cutting all means of food supply to the city.
The Viennese and their Habsburg army defenders refused to surrender, however, and the fighting dragged on. Starving and exhausted, the Viennese were rescued at the last minute by the arrival of the Polish army under the leadership of King John III Sobieski.
The Battle of Vienna took place on 12 September 1683, and the Europeans won. The victory gave rise to the Habsburgs, increased Polish influence in Central and Eastern Europe, and permanently halted the Ottoman Empire's advance into Europe.
The story goes that while the Ottomans were retreating from the gates of Vienna, they left bags of dry, dark, brown beans behind them. Unaware of their purpose or value, King Sobieski gave the sacks of beans to Kulczycki. (During the siege of Vienna, Kulczycki had managed to sneak out of the city and bring back help, so he was a hero to the Viennese.)
Kulczycki was well aware of just how valuable the beans were because he had learned about coffee during time spent in Turkey. He may not have been the first person to open a coffeehouse, but he is still credited with adding milk and sugar to the strong, bitter Turkish version to adapt it to European taste.
An intangible cultural heritage
As the Hapsburg Empire flourished, particularly in the 19th century, Vienna developed a coffee culture that is so unique it is listed as a source of “intangible cultural heritage” by UNESCO.
In their decor, Viennese coffee houses sought to emulate the ideal European home. The rooms were large, the seats were upholstered in red velvet, the tables were covered in marble, and magnificent chandeliers were hung from the ceiling.
Waiters dressed in black suits and crisp white shirts served cups of coffee on silver trays accompanied by a glass of water. To further accommodate their guests, cafes also started serving warm meals and alcohol.
While savoring their delicious drink, patrons had a huge variety of free newspapers they could read to stay current on local and world events.
Famous artists, musicians, writers and intellectuals—such as Gustav Klimt, Sigmund Freud, Leon Trotsky, Egon Schiele, Johann Strauss, Mozart and Beethoven—became regular patrons of specific coffeehouses and often spent hours in animated conversation with other patrons. Some even wrote entire novels in their chosen local.
In his memoir about the Hapsburg Empire, published in 1942, Austrian author Stefan Zweig explained the unique culture and influence of Vienna’s coffeehouses:
But the coffeehouse was still the best place to keep up with everything new.
In order to understand this, it must be said that the Viennese coffeehouse is a particular institution which is not comparable to any other in the world. As a matter of fact, it is a sort of democratic club to which admission costs the small price of a cup of coffee. Upon payment of this mite every guest can sit for hours on end, discuss, write, play cards, receive his mail, and, above all, can go through an unlimited number of newspapers and magazines.
Perhaps nothing has contributed as much to the intellectual mobility and the international orientation of the Austrian as that he could keep abreast of all world events in the coffeehouse, and at the same time discuss them in the circle of his friends. For, thanks to the collectivity of our interests, we followed the orbis pictus of artistic events not with two, but with twenty and forty eyes.”****
A conclusion
So after all this research, what is my unscientific conclusion about why Austrian coffee is so delicious?
First, Austrians are passionate about their coffee and pay close attention to its quality. Second, the coffeehouses (and simple cafes and elegant restaurants) choose high quality beans and ensure they are roasted to perfection. Third, each cup of coffee is freshly made and does not sit brewing on a heating element for hours on end. And fourth, the water in Vienna comes directly from the mountains and is absolutely delicious. (That is a story for another day.)
The results of such a process are one of the joys of visiting Austria!
Styles of coffee
Viennese coffeehouses offer a wide variety of coffee styles. Some of the most popular include:
Melange: a blend of espresso and steamed milk with a touch of froth on top (This is my favorite.)
Einspänner: a double espresso topped with whipped cream
Fiaker: a double espresso served with a shot of rum and whipped cream
Kapuziner: a blend of coffee and chocolate
Kleiner Brauner and Grosser Brauner ( Little Brown One or Large Brown One): black coffee with a bit of milk
Kleiner Schwarzer / Grosser Schwarzer: single espresso / double espresso
Recommended Viennese coffeehouses
Thankfully, numerous coffeehouse are still in existence throughout Vienna. Some, like Café Landtmann and Café Central, are very elegant but expensive and cater to tourists more than to locals. Others, like Café Ritter and Café Eiles, are somewhat simpler in their decor and cater more to locals in their neighborhoods. If you have time, explore several and see which ones you prefer!
Café Frauenhuber, est. 1824 (the oldest coffeehouse in Vienna)
Café Landtmann, est. 1873
Café Central, est. 1876
Café Ritter, est. 1887
Café Eiles, est. 1901 (my favorite)
References
*Unesco. Viennese Coffee House Culture. https://www.unesco.at/en/culture/intangible-cultural-heritage/national-inventory/news-1/article/viennese-coffee-house-culture#:~:text=The%20coffeehouse%20is%20a%20place,Turkish%20siege%20of%20the%20city.
** Coffee and Pope Clement VIII: The Pope Who “Baptized” the Devil’s Drink. https://www.catholiccoffee.com/coffee-and-pope-clement-viii-devils-drink/
***The Top 10 Coffee Growers Around the World. Nescafe. https://www.nescafe.com/gb/coffee-culture/knowledge/coffee-producing-countries
****Zweig, S. (1942). The World of Yesterday: Memoires of a European (Die Welt von Gestern: Erinnerungen eines Europäers).
I've always loved the story about Pope Clement VIII liking coffee. Reading all this about coffee in Vienna makes me want to eat a Mozart kugel!
Really enjoyed reading this. Next time you are back near Austria, drop down to Bosnia and Herzegovina to try coffee here, it's where those Ottomans stayed after being pushed back from Vienna. Coffee is big here as well.