Love coffee? Head for Vienna. As the Eiffel Tower is to Paris and Buckingham Palace is to London, so is cafe culture to Vienna. Serving what is arguably the best coffee – and cake – in the world, a visit to a Viennese coffee house is more than a quick caffeine fix, it’s a complete sensory experience.
	It was in the late 17th century when coffee was introduced to Viennese society; when the Ottomans were expelled from the city they left behind sacks of coffee beans which were picked up by a soldier Georg Franz Kolschitzky whose experiments with the bitter, black liquid led to the opening of the first coffee houses. Less than a hundred years later the cafe tradition was well and truly established. All over the city people would flock to the cafes not just for coffee, but for warmth, comfort and conversation – here you could find dozens of newspapers and magazines in all languages. Actors, writers, artists, politicians, aristocrats and statesmen would gather in their favourite cafes, as did the city’s businessmen for whom cafe culture was an integral part of business. Unlike Parisian cafes that focussed on coffee and alcohol with a Bohemian accent, the cafes of Vienna were an altogether more elegant affair, with coffee, cakes and stringed quartets. Many of these famous Viennese institutions are still around, and are the perfect place in which to relax with a coffee and a selection of the finest cakes and pastries including the rich chocolate Sachertorte. Café Landtmann, Café Sperl, Café Hawelka and Café Braunerhof are all frequented by locals and visitors alike. Now, as then, coffee is served in a variety of ways. Here are just a few:
	Schwarzer Strong black coffee, the equivalent of an espresso. For a double shot, ask for a grosser Schwarzer Brauner Coffee with a dash of milk or cream Goldener ‘Regular’ coffee with milk Mélange Frothy, with equal measures of milk and coffee Kaffee Crème Coffee with a small jug of milk on the side Kapuziner Cappuccino Verl?ngter Coffee with extra hot water Pharis?er Espresso with sugar, whipped cream, cocoa and a shot of rum Fiaker Espresso with sugar and cherry brandy, topped with whipped cream and a cherry
	Elegant cafes, the Opera House, St. Stephen’s Cathedral – there is so much to see and do in Vienna, click on the link below to discover more...