Coffee Thoughts

Continuing with my coffee shop hunt in Vienna, I decided to visit the last of the top 3 coffee shops in Vienna (a recent Austrian magazine listed the Roast, Mocca Club and Alt Wien), the Roast on 21 Augasse, opposite the University in the 19th District.

Being in a prime location, I expected the place to be empty on a Saturday afternoon, which it was. In any case, I was impressed by the authenticity of the place. It’s got chairs and tables outside with an extensive list of items on offer. As you enter the shop, you have to climb some stairs, where you are greeted with a comforting interior, complete with brown interior and wooden furniture. To the left as you enter, they have what seemed like a Bagel Bar, where during the week and meal times, you can get fresh filled bagel sandwiches. However, as you enter the shop, the name “the Roast” lives up to its name, as you are greeted with an enormous commercial coffee roasting machine, often used to roast green beans. On the left of this awesome machine, naturally, they have freshly roasted coffee beans to buy and take away. The beans are primarily from Ethiopia and Kenya and they have some blends suitable for different types of coffee drinks; graded according to strength. I bought the 80:20 – ideal for espresso.

Of course, I had to try their coffee making skills and I ordered an espresso macchiato, extracted from their manual hand lever commercial grade espresso machine. A good shot ! I’ll try and go back sometime God willing during their busy period to get a real feel for the place.

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.