Check out this World Hum article on the seven best cities in the world for all you latte-drinkers, java-sippers, and espresso-lovers. Here's the rundown: 1) Vienna, where the huge menus include such can't-find-that-in-America offerings as the Kaisermelange (mocha with an egg yolk, honey and cognac or brandy instead of milk).
2) Coffee house-crazed Amsterdam (yes, some of them actually serve nothing but coffee), where locals sip and chat into the wee hours.
3) Rome, home of delizioso espresso and cappuccino (and despite warnings, I've ordered cappuccino after 10 a.m. in Italy many times, even if the locals consider it "sacrilige").
4) Melbourne, where local coffee culture is so entrenched Starbucks simply can't make inroads.
5) Wellington, said to have as many coffee houses per capita as New York (fun fact: New York City has about twice the population of the entire country of New Zealand).
6) Buenos Aires, where your coffee is likely accompanied by a dulce de leche-centered sandwich cookie called an alfajor (my dream cookie, and subject of an upcoming post).
7) Seattle - famous for Starbucks; worth the trip for indie roasters like Lighthouse Coffee.
To this list I would like to add: Hanoi, where strong, thick coffee is ritually poured over an inch of sweetened condensed milk and stirred with a long-handled spoon; New Orleans, where sipping a chicory-infused cafe au lait and eating powdered sugar-covered beignets at Cafe du Monde is a rite of passage; Havana, where the café cubano at the palatial old Colonial era hotels is served in tiny porcelain cups with a cookie on the side, just like in Hemingway's day.
What are your favorite coffee drinking cities?
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