The café was filled after the noon meal, when busy men took their coffee and smoked; again around five o'clock, when all the world and his wife paraded along the Graben and the Karntner Strasse, and then dropped into a favorite café for coffee or chocolate and cakes—horns and crescents of delicious dough filled with jam or, possibly, the wonderful Kugelhupf, in comparison with which our sponge is like unto lead; finally in the evening, when there were family parties and those returning from theatres and concerts and opera.
The Café Schrangl in the Graben, Vienna, the City That Coffee Made Famous
Photograph by Burton Holmes
While the café life of Vienna has been nearly killed by the World War, it is to be hoped that time will restore at least something of its former glory. In spite of the stories of plundering bands of Bolshevists that in the latter part of 1921 wrecked some of the better known places, we read that Oscar Straus, composer of The Chocolate Soldier, is living in comparative luxury in Vienna, and spends most of his time in the cafés, where he is to be found usually from two until five in the afternoon and from eleven o'clock at night until some early hour of the morning "surrounded by musicians of lesser note and wealth, whom, to a degree, he supports; also with him being many of the leading composers, librettists, actors, actresses, and singers of Vienna."
For Vienna coffee, the liquor is usually made in a pumping percolator or by the drip process. In normal times it is served two parts coffee to one of hot milk topped with whipped cream. During 1914–18 and the recent post-war period, however, the sparkling crown of delicious whipped cream gave way to condensed milk, and saccharine took the place of sugar.
Belgium. In Belgium, the French drip method is most generally employed. Chicory is freely used as a modifier. The greatest coffee drinker among reigning monarchs is said to be the King of the Belgians. His majesty takes a cup of coffee before breakfast, after breakfast, at his noonday meal, in the afternoon, after dinner, and again in the evening.
British Isles. In the British Isles coffee is still being boiled; although the infusion, true percolation (drip), and filtration methods have many advocates. A favorite device is the earthenware jug with or without the cotton sack that makes it a coffee biggin. When used without the sack, the best practise is first to warm the jug. For each pint of liquor, one ounce (three dessert-spoonfuls) of freshly ground coffee is put in the pot. Upon it is poured freshly boiling water—three-fourths of the amount required. After stirring with a wooden spoon, the remainder of the water is poured in, and the pot is returned to the "hob" to infuse, and to settle for from three to five minutes. Some stir it a second time before the final settling.
The best trade authorities stress home-grinding, and are opposed to boiling the beverage. They advocate also its use as a breakfast beverage, after lunch, and after the evening meal.