Cafe Demel: Cafe Culture in Vienna, Austria

A pint in England. A glass of wine in Paris. Vodka in Russia. Some beverages are synonymous with certain locations. Coffee, I discovered recently, goes hand-in-hand with Vienna, Austria.

A visit to Vienna, Austria is not complete without an afternoon or morning spent lounging within one of the city's elegant and relaxed cafes, where time seems to slow down and every sip and morsel has meaning. Drinking coffee is an event, each moment designed to be treasured and experienced with delight. 

I was lucky enough to spend a morning in one of the city's oldest and most notable cafes, Cafe Demel, an establishment frequented by past emperors and empresses in days when the Hofburg Palace was inhabited by the royal Hapsburg family. 

Here's what you need to know about Vienna's cafe culture so that you can luxuriate in the moment yourself when the time comes.

The Coffee Culture

The moment you set foot into one of Vienna's cafes, you feel a change within you. You stand a little straighter, walk a little taller, and automatically begin to channel the grace and composure that these refined establishments seem to request of you in an unspoken agreement. In Vienna, coffee is an art form, and you, my friend, have become its newest patron.

Jess and I, excited for our cafe culture experience!

The cafes are classical, typically designed with chandeliers and wooden panelling on the walls, and you are served by waiters in black suits. Your coffee will arrive in a simple white mug, but on a silver platter with cubes of sugar, a silver spoon, and a glass of crystalline, cold water. 

No one will rush you: a single purchase entitles you, dear patron, to spend the entire day at your table, enjoying the cultured atmosphere and feeling of refinement.

The historic interior of Cafe Demel. Image via commons.wikimedia.org

And what to order? This is part of the fun, knowing how Vienna classifies its coffee. Here are a few key blends that you might want to memorize:

• Mokka - This is your typical espresso, a large mouthful of strong coffee ready to give you either a quick pick-me-up if you down it in one gulp, or a series of gut kicks if you choose to drink it sip by sip. Either way, when you want to order an espresso, ask for a Mokka.

• Kurzer - Consider this a mini-Mokka. It's about half the size of the Mokka but with the same amount of caffeine. I never ordered one; honestly, it looked so thick I was pretty sure you could substitute it for syrup!

• Verlangerter - On the opposite end of the spectrum from the Kurzer comes the Verlangerter, which is a watered-down espresso meant to fill a full-sized coffee mug. This would be pretty close to an Americano, I believe, or in my world, just a cup of plain coffee. 

• Melange - For those of you looking for the 'authentic' Viennese coffee house experience, I suggest you order a melange, which is a Vienna speciality. Similar to cappuccino but seemingly more sophisticated, this coffee mixture is made of one shot of espresso, a splash of hot water, and a generous helping of frothed milk to top it off. I ordered one of these and LOVED it! 

• Einspanner / Fiaker - I was never too clear on the difference between these two coffees. Both are coffee on the bottom, with a delicious and hefty dollop of whipped cream on top, and both are served in a glass rather than a coffee mug. Rumor has it, this creamy coffee concoction was served to the horse and carriage drivers back in the day - the glass kept their hands warmer than if it had been served in a mug, and the cream on the top kept the coffee from getting too cold too quickly. Rumor also has it, the cream prevented anyone from smelling out the third secret ingredient - rum! 

• Cafe Maria Theresia / Biedermeier - Speaking of coffee with rum, the Viennese do like spiking their cafe coffees. If you're not a rum fan, try your coffee with a blob of whipped cream and a shot of orange liquor like in the Cafe Maria Theresia, or coffee with cream and apricot brandy like in the Biedermeier. Either way, you might end up lounging in the cafe all day if you drink more than one!

Coffee truly is a passion in Vienna!

I could go on. The cafe menus are miles long with different styles of coffee variations, some with liquor, some with cream, some with milk, or a combination of all three. The creativity for something as simple as coffee was endless - I never realized one could be so adventurous with caffeine. And I enjoyed that most coffee concoctions had a historical anecdote attached to them as well. 

Sachertorte: A Sweet Treat

Vienna's cafe culture isn't all about drinking espresso or frothing milk. There are many sweet treats to wash down with your coffee as well. 

The most famous dessert associated with the cafe culture in Vienna, and Cafe Demel in particular, is the chocolate cake known as sachertorte. This delicious cake is a thinly layered chocolate cake, filled with apricot jam between the layers or around the edges, then covered in a sleek, velvety-smooth chocolate glaze. It is extremely rich and filling, but luckily, most cafes sell it in various sizes.

Sachertorte is a must-try in Vienna, Austria.

The morning we visited Cafe Demel, we had literally just eaten a buffet-style breakfast about 40 minutes before and were still feeling stuffed full. However, I couldn't pass up the chance to try some authentic sachertorte in ONE of the cafes where it was said to have been invented, so I ordered a tiny little individual cake, about the size of a tart. (If you are hungrier than I was you can order a regular-sized slice or even a whole sachertorte to take home.)

As I said, Cafe Demel is only ONE of the places that claim to have 'the original' sachertore. There's a bit of drama surrounding this little dessert. The sachertorte was created by pastry chef Franz Sacher in 1832 for Prince Clemens Lothar Wensel Metternich of Austria, who demanded a new dessert be made personally for him. The head chef at the Prince's palais was out sick that day, so little Franz Sacher, a 16-year-old apprentice cook, found himself creating a cake with just the resources at his disposal in the kitchen that day. And it turned out to be pretty popular.

So popular that two cafes went to court over the right to claim it. Franz's son, Eduard Sacher, opened the Hotel Sacher (now a very famous hotel in Vienna) where the sachertorte was made and sold in the cafe. But Eduard, for some unknown reason, SOLD the recipe for sachertorte to Cafe Demel, who then began producing it. Both cafes began to claim they were the home of the 'original' sachertorte, and this caused issues.

Hotel Sacher fought tooth and nail for the claim to the sachertorte. Image via commons.wikimedia.org

Cafe Demel claimed that because they had purchased the recipe fair and square, that Hotel Sacher had then also relinquished the title of original creators. Hotel Sacher's rebuttal was that they first served it, so they were rightful 'birthplace' of the cake - even though, let's be honest, the Prince's palais was well and truly the actual birthplace of the sachertorte.

Eventually the court acted like a frazzled mother, trying to appease everyone. Hotel Sacher won the right to claim they were the home of  'Original Sacher Torte', while Cafe Demel was allowed to state they sold the 'Original Eduard Sacher Torte'. And each place had to put their jam somewhere different. Yes, that's right. They had to spread their jam in different spots, legally, to avoid more fights. Hotel Sacher spreads the jam between the layers, and Cafe Demel puts their jam on the outside of the cake under the chocolate glaze. It's so ridiculous, but I guess that solved the problem.

But no matter. The point of this whole story is that the cake is delicious and you should order some.

Cafe Demel

But why was I so excited to visit Cafe Demel in particular? It was on my list of places to go before I even set foot in Austria. I was determined to not drink coffee in ANY cafe - it had to be Cafe Demel. 

My pickiness isn't because the rest of the cafes in Vienna are subpar. As I said above, Hotel Sacher is world-famous and historic and probably very beautiful as well, and I'm sure there are hundreds of lovely cafes with just as much merit all over the city.

Cafe Demel is famous for many reasons, cake decorating being one of them.

But Cafe Demel has a lot going for it, and since I knew I'd probably only have time to sit and lounge in one cafe only during my time in Vienna, I wanted it to be memorable.

First off, Cafe Demel is half a block from the resplendent Hofburg Palace in the heart of Vienna. So not only is Cafe Demel in a fantastic tourist hot spot and close to several other amazing sights, it is also in the shadow of royalty, very literally. The moment you leave the cafes front doors, you can see the green-domed top of the Hofburg, perched at the end of the street.

Due to its proximity to the palace, Cafe Demel was a favourite getaway for the Hapsburg royals. The cafe was established in 1786, so it has seen its fair share of celebrity and nobility. My favourite Hapsburg, Empress Sisi, used to sit and chill with a cup of coffee inside Cafe Demel, and I wanted to do the same.

This car, made of cake and fondant, actually had moving wheels!

Not only does Cafe Demel have some of the best history regarding coffee and cake, but they've also kept up with modern aesthetics too. Their window displays are legendary, with cakes and confections that look like artwork, or machinery, or a bit of both, all made by hand. When we visited, they had a hollowed out wedding cake with a detailed and jaw-dropping fondant display inside the cake, and in a second window, a car made out of cake and fondant with moving cake wheels. It was insane, and I was amazed at how they could achieve such feats with flour and sugar.

Even inside Cafe Demel, there are cake displays found here and there, such as a cake with an intricate waterfall of fondant flowers, so real they look like they are alive.

The flower cake; not the best picture because the lighting was not great.

And if you don't believe your eyes, you have the opportunity to see the cakes and delicacies being made by hand yourself. The bakery and kitchen area has clear walls, so you can clearly observe how the pastry chefs (aka: magicians) make their wares. I watched as tiny flowers were painted onto a cake's surface, and was really excited to see how the pastry chefs made apple strudel. (Hint: Watch the video at the end of this post to see for yourself!)

It is really fascinating to see how Cafe Demel makes apple strudel! 

Having clear walls for the kitchen is a brilliant idea. I honestly could have stood there and watched the pastry chefs do their thing all day. They were swift, efficient and extremely talented. I can barely make a circular chocolate chip cookie, so this was very interesting to me. 

Of course, you can choose any cafe you want to visit in Vienna. My main point is that if you find yourself visiting this wonderful city, you do reserve a large portion of time within at least one day of your visit to spend soaking in the cafe culture. Order a melange and eat a slice of sachertorte for me!