After a week full of snow, hail, freezing rain and frost I was into something stronger than the Chai latte from last week. That's why I thought about this spicy coffee recipe. Since there seems to be some quarrel about what exactly is a Viennese coffee (or Wiener melange in Dutch) I took up the liberty to create my own version. My winter coffee does not only contain a lot of spices but uses also hennep powder, full of minerals and inflammatory agents to support your body through this continuous winter wonderland.
But as I said, what exactly is Viennese coffee? Is it a weak cappuccino? Or a chocolate coffee? Cafe Sperl in Vienna serves it's Viennese coffee like this: half a cup black coffee plus half a cup creamy milk and a dollop of milk foam. You should think they know what they're talking about? Even so, if you press the button 'Wiener melange' on a Dutch coffee machine you will get coffee with chocolate flavour. A quick research clarifies this as Nescafé and Movenpick doings: these large coffee brands added the cocoa to the Viennese coffee. My version has cocoa, cinnamon and cardamon to spice it up. But don't let that hold you back to use any spice you like. Nobody knows what a Viennese coffee is exactly anyway!
Winter Coffee from Vienna
serves 2
Ingredients:
2 small cups double espesso
1 tsp cacoa powder
1 tsp hennep powder
1/2 tsp ground cardamon
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
300 ml milk of your choice
boiling water to heat up your mug
1. Fill your glasses or mugs with boiling water and set aside. Mix de spices with the cacoa and hennep powder. Make two double espressos and bring the milk to a boil in a medium saucepan. Make sure to whisk the milk as swiftly as you can, so you will get lots and lots of milk foam.
2. Empty your glasses/mugs and devide your spice mix between the two. Pour in half of the milk and 2 tablespoons of foam. Then gently pour half of the coffee through the foam, to create two layers of colour in your winter coffee. If you're not using glasses or if you couldn't care less about layers in your coffee, you can add either the milk or the coffee first. Finish with a couple of tablespoons foam and sprinkle with cacoa or cinnamon.
Stir well before taking a sip, because otherwise your spices will remain on the bottom of your glass. If you're really cold you can make this coffee even more awesome by adding a pinch of paprika or chili.
