13 cafés where to get your specialty coffee in Vienna

‘The secret to a good Flat White? Good coffee and well frothed milk,’ Valentin simply puts it in a no-bullshit kind of way. Only a modest natural can understate the skill behind the exceptionally good coffee he’s just whipped up for us. The coffee is so good here, and that’s why coffee nerds seek this place out. One such nerd enters while we’re there and tells us, ‘You can’t get much better than this when it comes to coffee in this city.’

The two guys behind Kaffeemodul, Valentin and Boris, opened this coffee spitting shoebox of a place up in 2012 and have had a steady stream of caffeine craving regulars popping in – and a few minutes later – popping out with coffee in hand, ever since. There’s hardly enough space to stay anyway, as the place is as big as a chicken coop, but its coffee’s so good, you’ll see people crowing like roosters on their way out.

They source their beans mainly from the direct trade German Roaster, Quijote, and stock and serve a variety of different kinds, from fruity, to kräftig (strong) to filtered. They also sell all the filters, grinders and other coffee paraphernalia.

And while Valentin consecutively wins himself prizes as a barista, he says he and Boris are always looking for ways to improve their quality.

Jonas Reindl is a hip, and despite its cosiness, very vibrant coffee shop. Owner, Philip Feyer, has traveled to Nicaragua, to witness for himself the conditions on the farm where he sources his beans from. This fact alone speaks of a man who is serious about the bean, and how he goes about the craft of making coffee.

At Jonas Reindl, the Flat Whites will give you that floating feeling – two shots of espresso topped with just the right amount of milk to make your insides hum – while the flavours you can experience here with their various different blends is astounding. They offer up coffee served in all the specialty coffee forms, so if you go in and ask for a drip coffee, or a doppio, the people behind the counter will know what to do.

They’ve also opened up a slick looking new coffee shop in the heart of the 7th district. They’ve even gone a step further at this new address by setting up their own coffee roaster in there like all hardcore craft coffee places should.

We love… that it’s opened on Sundays!

Small, neat and minimal in decor, kaffemik is a pleasant small coffee shop to sip at a coffee.

The people behind kaffeemik are a group of friends that realised their long-held dream to revive Vienna’s dormant coffee taste buds, with high-quality coffee sourced from small European roasters.

The milky variations, like the Cappuccino and Flat White are creamy, with that sweet and bitter coffee taste in the middle. Nevertheless, we recommend going it straight and pure with one of their roasts on the shelf. Delightful.

To be honest, it can be a little hit and miss at Kaffemik, depending on what barista is working on the day. Nevertheless, we’ll surely be seen at kaffeemik again, next time going for the filter coffee –the underrated achiever in the coffee crowd when it comes to depth in flavour and value, according to Kaffemik barista, Simon.

We are impressed… by the amount of people walking in during our visit.
We love… their company name – ‘A Bunch of Nerds KG’

Fürth Kaffee is one of Vienna’s few coffee roasters, and they also have crazy good coffee skills being practised in the cafe.

The café, which is called Café Comet, is a sales platform, a showroom and a packing station. The coffee beans are packaged at the café by the members of the team, after finding their way here from Fürth’s roastery in Lower Austria.

All of the coffee varieties are offered up here, from Drip, to Flat White, to Espressos gloriously created from one of the single origin roasts on offer here. There are generally 5 to 10 single origin varieties on offer at Comet cafe any given day, and you’ll always get the friendliest service crowd behind the counter who just so happen to be highly educated when it comes to coffee.

Almost 200 years ago, Beethoven’s body was waiting here for its journey six feet under. In this former funeral parlour of the Dreifaltigkeitskirche in Vienna’s 8th district, Robert has built his small kingdom of coffee that he calls POC (People On Caffeine). Fortunately, today this space, instead of hosting decomposing composers, it features great coffee.

POC reminds us of the rustic charm of our grandfather’s workshop – everything seems a bit chaotic and improvised, all working surfaces and shelves are full of coffee accessories. But it’s chaos of a comforting nature. The small seating area with two tables blends seamlessly into the coffee kitchen. Two espresso machines from La Marzocco are employed, one for the everyday work, the other specifically setup to take on those experienced tastebuds of coffee nerds.

CaffèCouture’s showroom/roasting lab in Vienna’s 9th opened a while back, showing off La Marzocco’s latest coffee equipment, as well as serving seasonal specialty coffees to take home with you or enjoy at the café. The owner, Georg Branny, is not only a very talented barista with endless knowledge and skills that wins awards, but he’s also a coffee entertainer, with a talent for coffee-based cocktails.

Their second coffee shop in the ideal setting of the 1st district’s Palais Ferstel Passage opened in September 2013. They have their own 100% arabica roast, and a seasonal blend mixing 3 different sorts, directly sourced from farmers. The quality of the beans, the roasting, and the skilful preparation are noticeable in every sip.

Gentle Italian music will charm your ears at Café Balthasar in Vienna’s 2nd district, while the warm interior takes care of the rest; its rough pastel-specked walls, blue and white mosaic counter and hardwood floors make it a place you’ll want to stop for a while and drink coffee after coffee until you go owl-eyed.

‘La Marzocco’ is the beast of a coffee machine boldly straddling the counter like it owns it, while nine times out of ten, right next to it you’ll find Otto Bayer, a former star chef from Tyrol turned barista heavyweight, now serving up sustainable fair-trade coffee out of Kenya, Ethiopia, and Brazil, with beans roasted by an artisan German company.

If you turn up here more than once, the baristas will mostly likely remember your order, which is a very attractive detail of any local coffee shop. They’re the friendliest crowd, here.

The Kleiner Brauner is strong, without bitterness, yet smooth ­– putting your head in the right place. From slowly filtered, to finely aerated flat whites are created here. You can tell Otto knows his shiny coffee machine, as intimately as his own bellybutton.

One of the smallest of Vienna’s specialty coffee shops in the 4th district – Kaffeefabrik opened a few years ago (and there’s another one on Otto-Bauer-Gasse in the 6th district), preparing coffee that makes you weak at the knees, and also selling their lovely, bubbly beans that are acquired directly from farmers in South America, Africa and India, and roasted in their small outpost in Burgenland.

The size of the shop makes it very homey, though the lack of places to sit might make you leave a tad bit more soon than anticipated. But we’re sure that as soon as the sun shines warm enough, their chairs and tables situated out front on a big stretch of sidewalk will make up for that.

The carefully made coffee at Coffee Pirates is close to perfection, and the place is one that screams ‘hang-out spot!’ – a sweeping, bright public living-room that offers a colourful mix of different seating areas (communal wooden table vs. window bar vs. cosy lounge area). It’s also one of the few coffee places, that do their own roasting, and boy, do they know how to roast!

When Coffee Pirates’ co-captains Werner and Evelyn talk about their trade, they tell you vivid tales of their coffee-hunting trips around the world, and how they carefully select each direct and fairly-traded bean variant they have on offer.

Their Coffee Speciality: the brew of the day – a speciality single-origin coffee prepared in a Chemex filter, Aeropress or a drip decanter.

Coffee is the main focus here, but not just any coffee, solely organic products are offered at the café Kaffein. All of their coffees are home roasted and you can choose from a variety of state-of-the-art brewing techniques – from the good old Espresso machine, the slow-drip filter coffee, to the AeroPress – a penis-pump-like interpretation of the French press – and the Siphon Pot – which looks like some high-tech lab tool you could use to synthesize crystal meth. But rather than lose your teeth and develop a nervous twitch that makes you constantly yell ‘bitch!’ the coffee will tamper with your taste buds like top-notch coffee should when made by third-wave coffee scientists. If you like your brewing device even more innovative: They were one of the firsts to bring a modbar into service!

When it comes to the interior, the place practices in the art of calm café Zen. Less is more, and seating is well spaced and minimal, meaning you have plenty of space to relax amongst the cushions at your funky table propped up by rusted steel rods. An interesting plus of this café: Every two months they host exhibitions by interesting artists!

GOTA Coffee Experts are taking care of the young and hip crowd in the outer 15th district with their supreme coffee creations. Katharina and her brother, who grew up in the 15th, plus her husband Junior, who grew up around coffee plantations in Peru, opened their small shop in 2017.

Not only do they have talented bristles, but they also roast their own beans in a roaster close to Vienna.

The interior is very comfy, with a clean look, and in summer, they have tables and chairs out front. You’ll also find their small snacks to eat, plus on the weekend, a Peruvian breakfast is served, as well as bread with scrambled eggs and a selection of trending breakfast variations.

For the inner district people, it might seem a bit far off, but it is definitely worth a visit. And for everyone else living outside the Gürtel anyway, this should become your new regular coffee dealer.

Since selling his first specialty cafe, Kaffee von Sascha, Oleksandr ‘Sascha’ Iamkovy, opened a itty bitty tiny new place in the heart of the city.

What’s so special thing about the place? The name says it all. Fenster Cafe means Window Cafe, and this place is indeed, not much more than a window. Behind it, you will find a happy Sascha smiling out at you, taking coffee orders. The menu has the specialty favourites, alongside original creations like a ‘marshmallowccino’ and a ‘cornettoccino’ (a coffee served in an ice cream waffle). Not to mention his glorious 95 cent espresso – a cheap and rare find in Vienna.

He currently sources his beans from all over – from Indonesia to Dutch roasters like Lot Sixty One.

Integrated into the hipster clothing store QWSTION on the corner of Westbahnstraße and Zieglergasse, Wolfang Coffee is serving specialty bean coffee to the 7th district crowd. The stylish interior is minimalistic, yet very inviting to sit down for a while and watch other people shop.

If you’re a specialty coffee pro already, you will find everything you need here, whether it’s a darker, more chocolatey bean variety, or a lighter, more fruity one – whatever you’re into. Their classic roast ‘Leitwolf’ is hand-roasted by the bean brand, Wildkaffee, and is an El Salvador/Brazil/Guatemala blend (a more chocolatey variety). But you can also go for a more fruity and light roasted one from Süssmund. You will also find a variety of filter coffees that will be prepared to your preferences, as well as a selection of cakes and pastries to accompany your drink.