Kaffeeothek

Beans from twenty roasteries, one counter

Kaffeeothek works as a café and a bean shop at the same time, and the shelves are the reason to come. They carry coffee from more than twenty roasteries across Austria and the rest of Europe, from Intenso Kanzi and Echo to Pink Lemonade from Colombia, Uluri from Bolivia and Coffee Collective, so the choice is wider than a single-roaster bar can offer. The point of stocking that many roasteries is comparison: two Colombian coffees from different houses will not taste the same, and the counter exists to let you find out which you prefer. Staff are used to being asked which one to take, and the shop is set up for that conversation rather than for a quick transaction. The house line, roughly translated, is that it is all about the bean.

Espresso, filter and the shelf behind you

Drink first: espresso, pour over and cortado cover the bar, with hot chocolate for anyone not drinking coffee, and a small sweet counter that has run to a cardamom bun and a vegan option. Then turn around. The retail side is unusually complete for a café, with grinders, filter brewers and their papers, portafilter accessories, scales, cups and water filters, which means a home-brewing question can be answered with the object rather than an opinion. The shop supplies businesses as well as walk-in customers, so the same advice that goes to someone buying a single bag carries through to cafés and offices ordering by the case. Workshops run on a learning-by-doing principle, aimed at getting a better extraction at home rather than at coffee theory.

A quiet corner of the Old Town

The Salzburg branch sits in the historic center, a few doors from Mozart's Birthplace but set slightly aside from the heaviest pedestrian traffic, which is why it stays calm at hours when the street outside does not. The atmosphere is modern and unfussy, and the pace suits choosing carefully. It is one of two Kaffeeothek addresses, alongside the shop in Wels. Order the cardamom bun with a pour over for the simplest version of the visit, then take the conversation to the shelf and leave with beans, a brewer, or a clearer idea of what to change at home.