Just back from fantastic holiday in Dubai and delighted to be back to my Isomac Espresso Machine, where I can make crema rich espresso and froth milk for my macchiatos and cappuccinos, but first I need to buy fresh coffee. As usual I head off to downtown Vienna to Mocca Club but what do I see… a coffee shop on holiday !!! You’ve got to be joking right ? No ! This is Vienna, where you are not supposed to be sick as doctors, dentists, etc go on holiday, but I didn’t think that baristas (or barsiti if you are Italian) would do such a thing, but they do in Vienna. So with mouth gasp, thinking I can’t buy coffee of the shelf, I plough into nearby tourist magnet, Naschmarkt. A few steps and I see my first commercial size coffee roasting machine at a market stall called Gegenbauer. With suspicion I begin to ask the one-man shopkeeper about the origin of the coffee they are selling.. “I don’t know… from many places” OK ! now I’m getting suspicious – you have this lovely roasting machine and you don’t know where your coffee comes from ? Next question “Erm… when was the coffee roasted ? one week ago, longer ?” No he says a bit delighted to share, “about 2 days ago” Ah ha, I’m on to a winner here, only a few days old. Next test ! “would you like to try an espresso or rsitretto ?” OK ! I say, moving back to check their espresso machine – on old looking Rancillo – Of course I check his preparation technique, he uses a tamper, phew and then I get my ristretto, I check for bubble, stir it viciously and the crema still returns tot he top and doesn’t fade away like at other places. So I try one of three coffees on offer – their espresso blend. Get home and voila, bellissimmo – a dark chocolate cream is the best description I can think off. Perhaps next time I will try their espresso blend for milk based drinks. Relieve ! I have found another place to buy freshly ground coffee.
Passionate about the bean
From Coffee With Love 