A Bit of History
We threw a dart at our coffee map and it landed in Vienna, Austria.
This city is rich in coffee history. The story goes that the Turks lost a battle here and fled Vienna leaving behind bags of a curious bean we now know is coffee. From lost battles to the Greek, Jewish and Armenian traders of the Ottoman Empire coffee made it to Europe and Vienna. The Greeks with their homeland occupied by foreigners took off to Russia or Italy and France.
Because the Turks could not charge interest due to their religion they allowed the Greeks and other non-Muslims to trade for them. This also gave them the chance to escape their second class citizenship under to Ottomans and enjoy a much better life in other parts of the world.
The early Greeks who fled their Asia Minor homeland brought books, art and classical Greek information that was used to start the Renaissance in Italy and France but the Greeks who made it to Vienna started the Viennese coffee culture. Vienna saw its first coffee house opening by the Greek Johannes Theodat in 1685 and with its success more Greeks opened up café’s here.
Fast forward to today and Vienna’s coffee culture is thriving. Maybe some Greeks still own café’s here but our focus is on the Italian Segafredo Zanetti café’s.
Vienna’s Contribution
Vienna at first drank its coffee the original way. Mostly known as Turkish this was something that originated in Ethiopia and Yemen which was known as Arabic. Later when Arab traders brought coffee to the Ottomans it took on the name of Turkish coffee. The main difference is the Arabic use of spices in the coffee. It’s basically a powdered coffee grind which is boiled in water for a brief moment. It’s about the same amount as an espresso shot.
The Viennese contributed to coffee by inventing the filtration process and that changed the way we drink coffee all over the world today. Later came the roasting. The Viennese style is basically a slightly darker roast then the American roast and is more balanced. As important as all that was to coffee and its development the final product is what stays in one’s mind. Semi sweet chocolate and heavy cream was added to the filtered coffee and beaten until frothy. Add some whip cream on top and sprinkle cocoa powder and you have Viennese coffee.
The Café
Italian coffee dominates the world and Segafredo is a great example of this. This privately owned company says that it’s the largest in the coffee business. With a production of 120,000 tons of coffee yearly it would seem so. So even though we’re talking about the café, the processing, trading, growing and roasting of coffee is what has put this company on the map.
Great coffee is served here every time and with so many locations one might plan their European vacation around one of them. Its signature square-ish espresso cups, its black and red color and the “celebrate every holiday” party mentality will grab you and turn you into a customer for life.
It’s not just the coffee you’ll love here. The food here is great with Italian specialties and deserts, the vodka drinks are made just right, and the atmosphere is perfect. This makes for a great place to get a quick caffeine fix, grab something great to eat or even throw a birthday celebration.
Christmas at Segafredo
Written By Elia Razelo
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