When travelling through Europe, you come across different types of coffee shops. Some are more fanatic than others. The Dutch might be more laid back about their coffee, while the Italians have very strong opinions on the hot beverage and all practices surrounding it. In Vienna, which is the capitol of Austria, they tend to lean more towards the Italian sentiment and take their coffee seriously. This is evident by the many coffee shops in the city center, as well as in the less-touristy rural areas.
In the city you can find lots of cafes, but not all are as passionate or authentic as one would like. Some are just blatant tourist-traps. This is where google reviews come in, of course.
On our way to a random ballet show we booked in the center of Vienna, after a quick shopping trip elsewhere, I needed a coffee break. Through google reviews we found a coffee shop with a 5 star rating, with over 150 reviews, which was luckily right on our route to the theater. The rating itself was remarkable, so we had to try it out.
And thus, we entered coffeeshop Coffee and Beard, a small shop seating about 15-20 people max, which greeted everyone with the intense aroma of ground coffee beans.
We sat down at a small available table, and as I walked to the counter and waited my turn, the barista greeted me and said he will come to us and offered us two glasses of water while we wait. He was on his own, but you could tell that he was very passionate about what he was doing, and that he's the kind of person that would rather take his time and make everything consistently great, rather than rushing through the motion.
So, we waited, as we joyfully watched the barista's process.
I had a normal hot cappuccino, while Tanja had a vanilla flavored latte. The cappuccino was exceptionally tasty and prompted a chat between me and the barista about why this cappuccino tasted different, and better in my opinion, from the "standard" in the city. I asked him about the beans he was using. He replied that it was a house blend, but that taste is relative and mostly depends on the skill of the barista and less on the beans. The experience that is gained from years of making coffee, trial and error, and testing different techniques, philosophies and processes, weighs much more than how expensive a bean is. And there is a whole lot of truth to that.
This goes to show that sometimes, the size or appearance of a coffeeshop, or how fancy it is, is not as important as the expertise of those working there. This is why we try shops in rural areas, where google is less reliable, with a general rule of thumb to go where all the locals are sitting.
As much as I wanted to pick the bearded barista's brain more about coffee and his phenomenal skills, we had about 15 minutes to get to the venue of the ballet show, so we had to leave.
But fortunately, we left with a very good taste in our mouth and the satisfaction of experiencing a true artisan at work.
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