I leave next week for a couple of weeks in Germany and Austria. Several days in Nuremberg and Vienna, a few stops (river cruising) in between and along the way. I'm probably not going to be able to take my usual coffee paraphernalia, so I'd love to know any suggestions for good coffee along the way! I'll try all I can, as part of the traveling experience, but would love to connect a time or two with great coffee.

According to the Third Wave Wichteln map, Nuremberg and Vienna might have some interesting places for you. Not much along the Danube.

What a great resource! Thank you! I've never seen that map before, and it looks like there'll be some great places to start, even if I don't get any other feedback. We'll stop in Regensburg and Passau as well, and one spot in each location listed there.

I was just in Vienna a few weeks ago and used this map to do a self-guided specialty coffee cafe tour. Vienna is famous for its historic cafe culture but the coffee in many of those places leaves something to be desired. The cafes on this map are all good places. I didn't get to sample them all but did make it to at least a half dozen. My favorite was Sussmund Kaffebar.

Here are pictures of a few places:

I was in Vienna in the summer. Obviously recommend the old coffee houses such as Cafe Central - fantastic decor, great cakes but very ordinary coffee. Also try Phil's for a little offbeat atmosphere - but again ordinary coffee.

For really good espresso based I went to Balthazar Kaffee Bar most mornings for my flat whites - nice new custom Slayer and great guys. Very excited about their new machine and have been up to Bonanza in Berlin for advice when they were setting up.

People on Caffeine (POC) for good espressos (LM GS3) but great pour over and cold brew - he makes his own tonic from original ingredients and is very experimental with his coffees. It is a bit of a walk from the centre of town but it gets you out of the tourist area and it is worth asking the owner (Robert) for a local restaurant recommendation if you are there at lunch time and want to get good local food.

All of the brochures rave about Caffe Couture - apparently the owner is a champion barista and consults to LM. The cafe is decorated with LM gear (eg a modified Linea coffee table) but unless the owner is pulling the shots the coffee is a bit disappointing. He wasn't when I visited!! It is in the centre of town and worth a look.

BTW - when you are in Vienna you are only 80km from Bratislava in Slovakia if you want to tick another box and have a different experience to Vienna. I am embarrassed to say that I needed Google when I heard of Bratislava.


Balthazar


People on Caffeine - POC


Caffe Couture

In the last few years, Vienna has come to have many, many places that can make a competent espresso. For example, there is a "Philosophical Café" a few blocks from my apartment that opened with good beans, a La Marzocco Strada, Robur and capable baristas. Not surprisingly, they pull a reliably good espresso. Lots of places like that. This has happened relatively recently, and it is more common in areas like Neubau (7th district) where I live but not restricted to that area.

If you are looking for classic café atmosphere, drink your coffee with milk in it. Most Viennese drink mélange. You might also want to pick one of the several cafes run by Landtmann - you can find them all on the Landtmann website. They generally are nice rooms, and the pastry is reliably good. It can be really hit or miss at a lot of cafes.

Vienna has a tier of "3rd wave" coffee shops, but I would not spend time traveling to one if you are just visiting the city. They are good, but so are the third wave shops everywhere. You should be able to find a very drinkable espresso if you look carefully in the neighborhood where you are staying. Most shops that have invested in La Marzocco equipment (not the tradition here) will also take coffee seriously enough to pull a drinkable espresso.

Save your time to see beautiful architecture, classic and modern. Go to great museums. Explore the neighborhoods and look at people using the little parks throughout the city. This is an incredibly diverse city now, with many of the features that make cities like London exciting - but far more interesting architecture. There are better things to do in Vienna than travel to an espresso shop.

(All opinions expressed in this post are the sole responsibility of the poster)

Jim

Just back from our trip! What a beautiful part of the world. It was a very busy trip, and so only got to explore coffee while staying in Vienna the last few days. For the most part early in the trip, the best I could do was illy pods and nespresso, which was my first experiencee with both. For someone looking to make ok coffee without putting in much effort, those two options are pretty good.

The old part of Vienna may be one of the most consistently beautiful cities I've ever visited, and I have travelled a good bit. Like Jim said, there's much to do there, and coffee was squeezed in here and there.

There is certainly a wonderful, old coffee house tradition there. Didn't try Cafe Central, but did make it to Demel, which is more pastry shop than coffee house, and got decent but average coffee, which seems to be widely available. I also visited Caffe Couture, but like Moots, the owner was not present and I was underwhelmed by my experience.

A much better experience was Sussmund Kaffebar. I had a delightful visit with Nicholas, who seemed to be the owner, roaster and barista, and was knowldgeable and helpful. He was willing to dial in a shot of a yirgacheff that wasn't part of the daily menu, and the coffee was the best I had on the trip.

I got the definite impression from talking to Nicholas and others that many Europeans like their traditional dark roasted espressos, mostly with milk, and so it can be quite difficult for a shop owner to educate AND SELL third wave style coffee to people who are content with what they're already drinking. So even in the cutting edge shops, the acidity of the coffee is toned down and the pulls are on the long side.

Like Jim, I think seeing the city was more important than seeking coffee...but, since I was staying less than three minutes walk from caffe couture and Sussmund Kaffebar, it sure didn't hurt to drop in to warm up!