Wiener Melange

The Wiener Melange is the classic drink of the Viennese coffee house: coffee and warm milk, about half and half, under a cap of milk foam. Vollpension calls it “the queen of Viennese coffee culture” and describes it as a lengthened Mokka with warm milk and a fine, airy foam: “milder than a Cappuccino, warmer than an espresso, cosier than anything else.” It isn’t a drink to knock back at a counter; it comes with a glass of water, to sit over for an afternoon. Here’s what’s in it, how to order it, and what else is on a Viennese menu.

The short version

• Coffee and warm milk, about half and half, with a cap of foam.
• Milder than a cappuccino, says Vollpension, because it’s built on a lengthened Mokka.
• Ordered sitting down: “Eine Melange, bitte.”
• Comes with a glass of water, automatically.
• Part of a recognised tradition: Viennese coffee house culture is on Austria’s intangible heritage inventory.

What’s in a Wiener Melange?

The sources agree on coffee, milk and foam, but not exactly how they’re named:

Source	Melange	Wiener Melange
Austria.info	Half coffee, half milk	A Melange served with foamed milk
Vollpension	A lengthened Mokka, with warm milk and a crown of milk foam	The same drink: “the queen of Viennese coffee culture”

In Vienna a Mokka is a small, strong black coffee: austria.info lists the Kleiner Schwarzer, also called a kleiner Mokka, as the basic black coffee. “Lengthened” means hot water is added: austria.info’s Verlängerter is a Kleiner Schwarzer lengthened with the same amount of hot water, which it compares to an Americano.

How is a Melange different from a cappuccino?

Vollpension answers this directly: the Melange is based on a lengthened Mokka with warm milk and fine foam, so it’s milder and less intense than a cappuccino, which is built on a stronger espresso. There’s a cultural difference too: the Melange “is not a quick drink for a standing counter but a companion for a long afternoon in the coffee house”.

How do you order one in Vienna?

Vollpension’s advice:

1. Sit down and wait for the waiter.
2. Use the proper name: “Eine Melange, bitte.” Simply asking for “a coffee” is considered a tourist move and usually prompts a question back.
3. Don’t ask for water: the glass comes automatically.
4. When paying, round up and tell the waiter the amount directly.

Vollpension’s own suggestion is to pair it with apple strudel.

Where does it come from?

Vienna’s coffee houses, whose own beginnings are told two ways:

Story	Source
The first coffee house was founded by the Armenian Deodato, who had been entrusted by the Viennese court with preparing coffee, at the end of the 17th century, in the years of the Ottoman siege	Austrian UNESCO Commission
After the Ottoman defeat in 1683, a general of the Polish-Lithuanian alliance found sacks of strange beans in the abandoned camp, added sugar and milk to the bitter brew, and coffee houses opened across Vienna from 1685	Austria.info

Neither story is proven here; the beans-in-the-camp tale in particular is best read as legend.

The commission adds that the Kramersches Kaffeehaus on the Graben was the first to put out newspapers, in 1720, and women were admitted from 1856. The commission describes the coffee house as a place “where time and space are consumed, but only the coffee is on the bill”. Austria.info says Vienna had around 600 coffee houses at their peak in the 1910s, and that UNESCO recognised Viennese coffee house culture as intangible cultural heritage in 2011; it sits on Austria’s national inventory.

As for the Melange itself, Time Travel Vienna says it was first offered around 1830, and that its name comes from the mixture (mélange) of coffee and milk.

Melange vs other Viennese coffees

• Einspänner: strong black Mokka in a tall glass under whipped cream.
• Kaisermelange: another Viennese classic.
• Cappuccino: the stronger Italian cousin.
• Café au lait: France’s coffee with hot milk, in a bowl.

Explore every drink in the milk coffees chapter.