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The Coffee 100 · make it at home

The Viennese Melange, coffee-house style

5 min · 1 cup

The everyday order in Vienna's grand cafés, where the coffee house tradition is on UNESCO's list: a mild long espresso, half steamed milk, a hat of foam, served on a silver tray with a glass of water.

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The real one

You need

• 18 g medium-roast beans
• 120 ml (1/2 cup) whole milk
• A glass of cold still water to serve alongside
• Optional: a slice of Sachertorte or apple strudel

How to make it

1. Shot (30 sec): Pull a long double espresso (a Verlängerter in Vienna): about 60 ml from 18 g, either by letting the shot run to 45 g and topping with a splash of hot water, or with a moka pot.
2. Milk (30 sec): Steam the milk to 60 to 65°C with more foam than a flat white, about a third bigger than when you started, like a cappuccino.
3. Combine (10 sec): Pour the espresso into a wide 200 ml cup, then the milk, holding the foam back with a spoon, and spoon the foam on top as a domed cap.
4. Serve (the Vienna way): On a small tray or plate, with the glass of water beside it and a spoon laid over the water glass. Take your time: in a Viennese café a single Melange buys you the table for the afternoon.

Tips

• No steam wand? Heat the milk in a pan and froth it in a French press by pumping the plunger 20 times.
• An Einspänner is the same long coffee in a glass with a thick cap of whipped cream instead of milk.
• Ask for 'ein Glas Wasser' again and it will be refilled for as long as you stay.

Chef Amazing's own home version, in our words; not any café's recipe.