Vienna And Its Cafes
If you ever have been to Vienna you may have spotted that there is a great amount of cafes which present the everyday ‘Wiener Melange’ in addition to further coffee specialties. But what’s 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 Kingdom, they made the use of coffee known in those regions. Still, there had been a clear line of distinction between oriental and occidental cultures, and the utilization of coffee was one item. Until 1683.
At that point the Turks had come to Vienna and trapped the town. They nearly succeeded in their sinister quest, but ultimately a host came along from Poland and fought the invaders off.
Now, legend tells us the Turks left so hastily, that they didn’t remember to take their coffee with them. The inhabitants from Vienna failed to recognize it, thinking it was compost of the camels – animals equally strange to them. Only a individual Kolschitzky is said to have known, what coffee beans were used for, so he collected each one of them and established the 1st coffee bar in Vienna.
The truth is slightly different. Where there was a person called Kolschitzky, who was an Austrian scout of Polish origin, for the duration of the battle against the Turks, and even if he also was allowed to open a coffee shop in’Domgasse’ in Vienna in 1686, he wasn’t the 1st one. The first Viennese coffee bar was established 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 said to have invented the filtering of the coffee and to mix it with milk.
However, thereis no doubt the Austrians came to know coffee through the Turks – and when the cultural border well was crossed, coffee made its triumph procession thru western Europe also. In the subsequent century the Dutch used their colonies to produce coffee there, thus getting enough sell to the Old World.
Today there are a massive number of coffee beans, every one of them tasting subtley different. There are countless methods to treat the beans, before you drink the final product. Roasting is only 1 method ( the lighter roasted, the’grainier’, more acid, the flavor of your coffee will be ), you can grind it nearly, and finally you can cook it, brew it or make an Espresso-type of coffee.
Here we want to give you an idea of what kind of coffee you can get in a Viennese’Kaffeehaus’.
Just one word about the history of making coffee :
‘Turkish coffee’ : using a copper-pot, you decant the well ground coffee, sugar and water into it, mix it while boiling and serve up the mix in a ( little ) cup. You’ve got to hang on a minute, until the coffee powder has sunk, it will then remain at the bottom of the cup. This strategy is still employed in south-eastern Europe.
Boiling coffee is also frequently used nowadays in northern Sweden, not at least by the native people of the North, the Lapps. This is usuallybecause it is the most simple way to cook coffee over an open flame.
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 trade mark. Since then we have got the probability to brew coffee also. Finally Espresso-machines came into use, and nowadays nearly all coffee you ask for in cafes is of Espresso-type.
At this point you possibly will wish to experience the coffee in a real Viennese Kaffeehaus. So don’t hesitate and reserve your city tour to vienna.
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