TIL that the first coffee shop in Vienna opened because of leftover beans from a battle

I was reading a plaque in this tiny cafe near Stephansplatz last week. It said after the Turks lost the Battle of Vienna in 1683, they left behind sacks of coffee beans. A Polish guy named Jerzy Kulczycki got them as a reward and opened the city's first coffee house. I always thought coffee shops just spread from Italy or something. It's wild to think a whole cafe culture in a city started from war loot. Has anyone else stumbled on a cool bit of coffee history in a shop?

3 comments

3 Comments

ninas673d ago

I mean, that's a way better origin story than the one I heard about my local place just being a guy who really liked espresso. Makes my coffee habit feel almost historic.

leodavis3d ago

Wow, that's a serious upgrade from finding a fry at the bottom of the bag. So Vienna's whole scene started because some guy got bags of weird beans as a battle bonus? That's hilarious. Makes @ninas67's espresso guy story sound pretty lame in comparison, no offense. Makes you wonder what other everyday stuff began because someone didn't want to waste their weird war prize.

kellys783d ago

Honestly thought it was all just a trendy thing that spread from Italy too. That plaque story totally changes how I see my morning cup now.