# Kaisermelange

Source: https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/kaisermelange/
Last updated: 2026-10-21

> A Kaisermelange, the "emperor's melange", is a historical Viennese coffee: a raw egg yolk whisked with honey, topped up with a double mocha (strong black coffee) and finished with a dash of cognac. Despite its name it contains no milk. It's often listed as a Viennese classic, but few Viennese have heard of it today.

## At a glance

- Chapter: Sweet and spiced
- Served: Hot
- Origin: Austria, Vienna
- Glass: Coffee cup
- Also known as: Kaiser Melange, emperor's melange

## Ingredients

- 1 egg yolk, very fresh
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 cup (50–60 ml) double mocha (strong black coffee, like a double espresso)
- 2 cl (20 ml) cognac

## Steps

1. **Separate the egg**: Separate a very fresh egg and put the yolk in a bowl. You won't need the white.
2. **Whisk with honey**: Whisk the yolk with a teaspoon of honey until foamy, then spoon it into a cup.
3. **Pour in the coffee**: Make a double mocha or double espresso and pour it slowly over the whisked yolk, stirring.
4. **Add the cognac**: Finish with 2 cl of cognac, to taste, and serve at once.

A **Kaisermelange**, the "emperor's melange", is one of Vienna's stranger coffees: a raw **egg yolk** whisked with **honey**, topped up with a **double mocha**, Vienna's strong black coffee, and finished with a dash of **cognac**. It's rich, sweet and boozy, and there's no milk in it at all, despite the name. Many websites call it a classic of the Viennese coffeehouse. The Viennese blogger behind Vienna Sunday Kitchen disagrees: in Austria, the blog says, almost no one has ever heard of it. Here's how to make it, and what's known about it.

## The short version

- **Egg yolk whisked with honey**, in the cup.
- **Strong black coffee poured over it**: a double mocha or double espresso.
- **A dash of cognac** to finish.
- **No milk**, despite being called a melange.
- **A historical curiosity**, rarely ordered in Vienna today.



## What's in a Kaisermelange?

Egg yolk, sweetener, strong coffee and cognac. The recipes agree on that much, and differ on the details:

| | Coffee | Yolk mixed with | Spirit |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Vienna Sunday Kitchen | 1 double mocha (like a double espresso) | 1 tsp honey | 2 cl cognac |
| Austrian Embassy, Washington | Strong black coffee | Honey | A shot of cognac, "in Vienna" |
| Coffeeness | 50–60 ml double espresso | 1 tsp honey or sugar, optionally whipped cream | 2 cl cognac, or rum |
| MediaMarkt Austria | 100 ml strong filter coffee | Whipped cream | 2 cl cognac |

## How do you make a Kaisermelange?

Vienna Sunday Kitchen's recipe:

1. **Separate a very fresh egg** and put the yolk in a bowl. You won't need the white.
2. **Whisk the yolk with 1 teaspoon of honey** until foamy.
3. **Make a large double mocha** and pour it over the whisked yolk. The Austrian Embassy adds that you should stir while pouring the coffee in slowly.
4. **Add 2 cl of cognac** to taste, and serve at once.

## Is it safe to drink?

The yolk is raw, or barely warmed by the coffee. Vienna Sunday Kitchen warns that raw egg yolk carries a **risk of salmonella**, which very fresh, free-range organic eggs reduce but don't remove. In the UK, the Food Standards Agency's advice, reported by IFST, is that raw or lightly cooked hen eggs produced under the **British Lion** Code of Practice are safe even for infants, children, pregnant women and elderly people; other eggs should be cooked thoroughly for those groups, and the advice doesn't cover people who are severely immunocompromised.

*General guidance only, not food-safety or medical advice. Check the egg advice where you live, and skip the cognac for anyone who shouldn't drink alcohol.*

## Where does the Kaisermelange come from?

**Vienna**, by name and reputation, but its history is thin. The sources tell different stories:

| Claim | Source |
| --- | --- |
| A variation of the Wiener Melange, invented by a former Austrian emperor because little milk was available during the First World War | Coffeeness |
| The yolk is said ("so erzählt man sich") to have replaced milk in wartime | MediaMarkt Austria |
| A historical Viennese speciality, almost unknown in Austria and apparently no longer served in Viennese coffeehouses because of rules on raw egg yolk; "a remnant of the myth of Old Vienna" | Vienna Sunday Kitchen |

Neither wartime story names a source, so treat the emperor as legend. Vienna Sunday Kitchen began researching the drink after a Viennese friend living in the Philippines was asked about the "famous Viennese Kaisermelange", which the friend had never heard of. Having finally made one, the blogger was "pleasantly surprised".

## Kaisermelange vs other Viennese coffees

- **[Wiener Melange](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/wiener-melange/):** the everyday Viennese coffee with milk and foam.
- **[Einspänner](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/einspanner/):** strong black coffee under whipped cream.
- **[Vietnamese egg coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/vietnamese-egg-coffee/):** Hanoi's coffee under a cream of whipped yolk.
- **[Pharisäer](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/pharisaer/):** coffee with rum, hidden under whipped cream.

Explore every drink in the [sweet and spiced chapter](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/sweet-and-spiced/).

## FAQs

### What does Kaisermelange mean?

"Emperor's melange". Vienna Sunday Kitchen translates it as the Emperor's Melange Coffee. A melange is Vienna's coffee with milk and foam, but the Kaisermelange swaps the milk for egg yolk.

### Does a Kaisermelange contain alcohol?

Usually, yes. Austria's embassy in the US says a shot of cognac is added in Vienna, and Coffeeness and MediaMarkt Austria both use 2 cl of cognac; Coffeeness allows rum instead.

### Is the egg yolk raw?

Yes, or almost: hot coffee is poured over a whisked raw yolk. Vienna Sunday Kitchen warns of a salmonella risk and recommends very fresh free-range organic eggs, which reduce the risk but don't remove it.

### Do people in Vienna drink Kaisermelange?

Rarely. Vienna Sunday Kitchen, a Viennese food blog, says almost no one in Austria has heard of it and no Viennese would order one in a coffeehouse, and that it is apparently no longer served there because of rules on raw egg yolk.

### Was it invented for the emperor?

That's a legend. Coffeeness says an Austrian emperor invented it because milk was scarce in the First World War, and MediaMarkt Austria says the yolk is said to have replaced milk in wartime. Neither gives evidence.

## Sources

- [Nostalgic Viennese Kaisermelange coffee recipe](https://www.vienna-sunday.kitchen/viennese-coffee-kaisermelange/)
- [The strangest Viennese coffee specialties](https://www.vienna-sunday.kitchen/coming-soon-the-strangest-viennese-coffee-specialties/)
- [Coffee](https://www.austria.org/coffee-1)
- [Wiener Kaffee: 17 Kaffeespezialitäten mit Rezept](https://www.coffeeness.de/wiener-kaffee/)
- [12 Wiener Kaffeespezialitäten, die man kennen sollte](https://www.mediamarkt.at/de/content/haushalt-kueche/kaffee/wiener-kaffeespezialitaeten-guide)
- [New advice on eating runny eggs: FSA](https://www.ifst.org/node/7180)