Austria’s coffee habits vary by region, and things can get surprisingly confusing when crossing from East to West.
This guide aims to clarify some things with added wisdom from my western Austrian wife.
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Difference in Regions
The coffee culture emerged from Vienna. The story goes that during one of the two Ottoman Vienna sieges, over 400 years ago, locals found coffee beans, and then they learned to use them.
A coffee place in Vienna is also known as a coffee house (Kaffeehaus) and these are historical places that are social and cultural institutions.
Some are more popular than others, such as the Café Central in the Herrengasse in Vienna, but they all respect the strict rules of the Viennese coffee house culture, and you will see this reflected across eastern Austria.
On the other hand, western Austria doesn't have a coffee house tradition, and most coffee places are more relaxed in the sense of style, serving, and types of coffees offered. The coffees here resemble the coffees you see served at diners in the US (a rough comparison).
Austrians and Their Coffee
People in Austria love coffee, and they drink it almost as much as the French and Italians. Many prepare filter coffee at home for breakfast with their bread rolls, butter, jam, and honey.
Some people go out for a coffee in the morning, and/or in the afternoon after lunch or around 3 pm.
In the afternoon, a cup of coffee is frequently enjoyed with a slice of Torte cake and whipped cream (always whipped cream!). In Vienna at the Hotel Sacher, that's the Sachertorte, a chocolate cake.
In Austrian homes, all over the country, people like to take a break for a coffee with cake. They will sit with neighbors or friends at around 3ish pm and chat for 30–60 minutes over a coffee and homemade Torte cakes.
Coffee Types in Western Austria
As mentioned previously, the East and West contrast each other completely in terms of coffee types and coffee laws.
In Western coffee places, you can just sit down and ask for a cup of coffee, and you will get a coffee that is equivalent to an Americano or filtered diner coffee. This also extends to southern Germany, btw.
Locals order a cup of coffee by saying they want a black coffee or simply a coffee. If you see Café Crème on the menu, that's a type of black coffee. If they want an espresso (the coffee shot, essentially), they will say they want an espresso.
Other creamy Italian-style coffees are popular as well in Western Austria, such as cappuccino and latte macchiato, and to the dismay of the Italians, local Western Austrians will drink a cappuccino at 5 pm too. (see Italian coffee etiquette for the reason.)
Coffee Types in Eastern Austria
Eastern Austria has a fixed set of coffee types, and if you want a particular coffee, you will need to order as per the table below.
You'll find many other coffee names in Viennese coffee houses; these are just the basic ones.
| Viennese Coffee Type | Translation |
| Kleiner Mokka | Espresso |
| Grosser Mokka | Double Espresso |
| Verlängerter (aka Schwarzer) | Translated as a stretched out coffee, that means your regular black coffee, Americano, café crème. Some say Americano and Verlängerter are not the same, but that's the closest coffee to a Verlängerter. |
| Wiener Melange | A black coffee topped up with steamed milk. Melange is a borrowed French word in Austria, and it means mixed up or to mix. |
| Kleiner Brauner | Translates as a “small brown”. It's espresso in a small cup, topped up with steamed milk. |
| Grosser Brauner | A large brown, served in a regular cup with double espresso and steamed milk. |
| Milchkaffee | A small quantity of coffee with steamed milk (like the Italian Latte Macchiato) served in a tall glass. |
| Häferlkaffee | Double Espresso topped with steamed milk and whipped cream in a tall glass. |
What You Get
Your coffee is always served with a small cookie, sugar sachets or chocolate, and a glass of tap water. If you order a black coffee in Western Austria, you will get a small sealed pot with creamer-like milk too.
It is believed that coffee dehydrates, and the water is there to compensate for that. So, if they don't bring you a glass of water with your coffee, ask for it, anywhere in Austria, and they can't charge you separately for that!
The Do's
When you enter a coffeehouse or a simple coffee place, you can freely choose your table and seat. In the summer, in some places, you can sit outside under the shade.
The waiter will come by eventually to take your order. Most are rather quick, and they expect you to know your order within a few minutes, after taking a seat. If you let them know that you might take a few more minutes, they might not come so soon again.
Do try coffee with an Austrian Torte cake. Classics are the Sacher Torte, Esterhazy Torte or Schnitte, Linzer Torte, cakes that are with nuts and poppy seeds, and, of course, the Apfel Strudel. A cake normally comes with whipped cream.
Kids love a hot chocolate.
You can take your time at a coffeehouse; nobody will rush you. But nobody will like someone coming in with a laptop and sitting there for hours leeching on the internet to order just one coffee. They will boot you.
Generally, people don't just sit in coffee places with laptops to work. People in Austria go to have a coffee to socialize and to take a break to read the newspaper.
You may leave a tip if the service was good, but you need to round up. If your bill is €4.70, round up to €5, and that's the tip. When the waiter comes with the bill and tells you the amount, just tell them to make it €5, and they will say thank you, and that's it. If they ask for 10%, 20%, whatever percent, that's a rip-off and influenced by American tourists and East European waiters. Do not leave a tip if the service and coffee were crap!
The Dont's
Don't ask for a “coffee” in Vienna; they will get angry. My wife, a western Austrian, had a waiter yell at her for that.
Simultaneously, eastern Austrian coffee types are not known in western Austria. They may understand a Verlängerter, but not a Mélange. Many coffee places are run by Italians in western Austria (and Bavaria).
Do not ask for coffee to go, except if it's advertised somewhere. Bakeries and takeaway places at the railway station or subway serve coffee to go.
Do not ask for a free refill; this generally doesn't exist in Europe.
Don't treat your waiter badly. Don't call out for them. They won't hover or bring the bill unless you ask. You can just look at them or make a small finger sign if you'd like something or if you want to pay the bill.
Don't be loud!
Useful Terms
Most terms are region-dependent, and you will see them mentioned in menu cards.
- Kaffee — Coffee in German
- Haferl/ Tasse — Cup
- Obers/ Schlagsahne/ Sahne/ Schlag — Whipped Cream
- Heisswasser — Hot water
- Heisse Schokolade — Hot Chocolate
- Konditorei — Pastry shop serving coffee too with cake. It's usually self-service, and you can sit down if you find an empty table with seats.
- Kipferl — Austrian Croissant. The one that influenced the French croissant, but it's not puff pastry.
- Torte — Layered cakes.
- Schnitte — A rectangular layered cake.
- Jause — Afternoon food and coffee break time.
More Austrian German Terms for Travelers.
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