Iced Einspänner (Viennese iced coffee)

Viennese coffee culture

If you have been to Vienna, you will have visited at least a few cafés that the city has a dizzying array of. And yes, the cakes with the famous Sachertorte are amazing, but various types of coffee are as worth sampling. And none of them are from the (hideous, in my view) Starbucks nomenclature! You won’t encounter a skim flat hemp (or whatever) in Vienna coffee houses, thank heavens.

They have Kleiner Brauner or Schwarzer – a small brown or black, self-explanatory, and a Melange – not unlike cappuccino. They have the more indulgent drinks as well like Franziskaner and Kapuziner (with frothy milk and/or a dollop of cream), Biedermeier or Mozart with a dash of liqueur, and my all-time favourite: Einspänner.

Einspänner – a one-horse carriage.

I’d known it long before I first visited Vienna, from my Austrian grandmother who’d prepare it as a treat sometimes on a Sunday afternoon, to go with Buchteln or a Strudel.

Einspänner is a generous shot of strong black coffee topped with as generous a portion of whipped cream. The name means ‘one-horse cart’ and it refers to the horse-drawn carriages that in the 19th century ferried residents around Vienna, like modern taxis. The coachmen used to stand around in between rides, sipping coffees, and the layer of whipped cream in the cup would keep their coffees warm.

There is a debate around how to correctly consume Einspänner: do you stir it, eat the cream first with a spoon or sip black coffee through a cream moustache? The origin story suggests to me that the last method it traditional, but of course to each their own, especially in the comfort of your own home.

Iced Einspänner is not traditional

Einspänner in Vienna is always hot, snow or shine. A summery, chilled option in an Austrian Kaffeehaus is Wiener Eiskaffee: iced coffee topped with ice cream. It is not the same as Italian affogato – there’s more coffee than ice cream and it’s served in a cup with ice cream added to the coffee rather than the other, Italian way round.

… but who cares?

And iced Einspänner is not just my invention. Of all places, it has gained tremendous popularity in South Korea! Although you’d struggle to trace the various Korean options to the Viennese coffee drink: they include iced matcha as well as concoctions with sweetened condensed milk.

How to make iced Einspänner

Nothing more simple: just dollop softly whipped double cream over strong coffee poured over ice cubes.

I like it unsweetened but sugar of course can be added, both to the coffee and to the whipped cream. Alternatively stir some vanilla, caramel or chocolate syrup into your coffee before adding the cream – that would be my choice if I craved sweetness.

What coffee preparation?

The best option is, as in the recipe, a cold brewed coffee. That’s ground coffee steeped in cold water overnight, and it does not need fancy brewing equipment. On the downside it’s quite a wasteful process, using about three times as much coffee as for a hot brew.

You can make a strong cup of hot filter coffee or a double espresso and pour it over ice but it will obviously water the coffee down. If you let the coffee cool down before preparing the drink, it tends to go cloudy which is not ideal. Likewise, Turkish or Greek coffee made in an ibrik or from a cafetiere will be too murky for a pleasant experience.

But for a quick and easy option, make instant coffee with cold water. Yes it will dissolve, though it will take its time and a bit of stirring.

Whipped cream or instant spray cream?

Hear me sigh. Yes, you can make a cup of cold instant coffee and top it with a squirt of instant spray cream. But the difference between such confection and a whipped cream topped iced cold brew will be like comparing a supermarket trifle to a lovingly made summer pudding. The effort pays off in taste, as usual.

More cold drink recipes

Cold brewed ice coffee made overnight in a jar or a jug – 3 scoops per a cup of water per person. You can easily cold brew delicious coffee for a smooth iced drink.

Pimm's cocktail is the classic British summer drink, with fruit and mint. My recipe is a little more grown-up than others!

Strawberry fizz, a prosecco and grenadine cocktail sparkling with halves of frozen strawberries. Use cava or cremant instead of prosecco - it's the sparkle that matters, not the brand!

More whipped cream recipes

Matcha (green tea) sponge cake with lemon and bay leaf scented whipped cream frosting. It’s a beautiful dessert, beautifully simple to make (but nobody will believe you how easy it is).

Karpatka, Carpathian mountain cake is a well-known Polish dessert made from layers of choux pastry sandwiching Chantilly cream filling, like a giant éclair sandwich cake. It often features crème pâtissier filling but my cream version is lighter and not as sickly sweet.

Strawberry fool is the supreme of strawberries and cream, with layers of vanilla scented whipped cream and gorgeous fresh strawberry puree, barely sweetened.