One of the most interesting things I discovered while abroad is that people around the world all take their coffee a little differently. Some prefer their bean juice to be strong and bitter like the shots of espresso I tried in Italy.
I valued the experience of trying it but I think I needed something with a little more sugar. So I also got the coffee cream that you can see next to the espresso. It was chilled and sweet, (basically ice cream) which made the strong espresso a little better. The croissants in Maiori were also so amazing we got them every morning we were there.
In Vienna, I also had an Esspressso-based drink. I visited one of the oldest cafes called Cafe Frauenhuber. We took a train from Prague to Vienna which left at about 5:45 am so this coffee was more out of necessity than for fun.
We were told that this specific way of serving coffee was very Austrian. In fact, if you search Viennese coffee you can follow a recipe to make it yourself. This was a shot of espresso topped with whipped cream. But not American whipped cream like the super sweet stuff from a can. This was whipped in-house and wasn't very sweet. I loved that you could taste how rich the cream was. Many places, this cafe included would serve espresso with a small glass of water (I found this interesting because most places in Europe that I went to didn't give water away, you had to ask and pay for it!). This coffee was also served with a small piece of chocolate, which is one of the things Austria is best known for. The cafe had an almost old-timey feel which really added to the atmosphere. The servers were dressed up in little suits, and there was lots of dark wood. It is also known that Mozart and/or Beethoven would go here. This was one of my best breakfasts abroad.
Back in Prague, Czech Republic, I tried egg coffee. Before you judge let me explain. The Czech Republic has a really large Asian immigrant population, specifically people who are Vietnamese. As a field trip for my Czech Food and Culture course, we went to the Sapa marketplace. Most of the vendors here were immigrants from Vietnam. Our class had a little meet-up at a cafe that was serving this egg coffee. I let my curiosity get the best of me and spent about 175 Czech Koruna on this coffee (about 8 USD)! It was probably the sweetest coffee I've ever had. But it was good, they hand-whipped the egg whites and I loved the texture of the sweet foam.
My overall favorite, and what became my go-to was a cappuccino. I think they are the perfect balance between sweet and bitter. I have definitely come to appreciate the real taste of coffee more. Since coming back to the US I tried a few more coffees outside of my comfort zone (iced, and with plenty of milk and sugar).
Here is a fun side story: When one of my roommates went to Paris, she asked for an iced latte and they laughed at her. Ice in general isn't really served in a lot of restaurants, but it also seemed like everyone in Europe drank their coffee hot.
- Zoë Zeller