Your precious brew is safe! So go to your favorite coffeehouse and throw back a cuppa

http://health.msn.com/healthy-living/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=100271111&imageindex=1

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First, the quality of Zotter chocolate makes you wonder what the hell this Godiva crap is all about. Godiva?!?! Ha! Go-diva off a cliff. Zotter chocolate has a texture to it that makes you swoon. So smooth. And a flavor that is so powerful. You just place it on your tongue and let it melt. Heaven!

Second, Zotter only deals with organic and fair trade chocolate. Also, the company tries to be as local as possible. When Zotter can buy ingredients from Austria, it will.

Third, Zotter comes up with the craziest flavors. Raspberry coconut chocolate is divine. Olive oil and lemon chocolate is, no joke, surprisingly good. Beer chocolate was not okay. When I tried it, my eyes started to water with the cruelty of the nasty flavor and though I desperately looked for a way to spit out the offensive taste, I had no chance. Oh well, there is a price to pay sometimes for being adventurous.

Now to my great joy and amazement, I discovered two weeks ago that you can take a tour of the Zotter Chocolate Factory in Styria, Austria. It’s a 1.5 hour drive away from Vienna. For the price of €10 you take a tour and try, taste, drink, and eat chocolate until you think you’re going to die.

The tour starts with a video. Then you go through the entire factory with an audio guide. I have to admit, I only listened to my audio guide for about seven minutes. The entire time I was distracted by the heady smell of chocolate and could only think, bring on the chocolate! And boy did they ever.

It was one chocolate fountain after the other. From white chocolate to milk, to semi-sweet, to dark. A single room with 15 different chocolate fountains. Then you go through a long hallway with every chocolate flavor that Zotter offers. Rose chocolate. Nut chocolate. Mint chocolate. Whatever. You try all of them.

Then you go to the drink chocolate. They call it Flying Chocolate because the chocolate is on a little conveyer belt that goes by and you pick your chocolate, drop it in hot milk, and enjoy.

But wait, there’s more! Then there is the chocolate covered fruit. But wait, there’s more! Then you go to the mixed flavors. Like the raspberry coconut chocolate. Or beer chocolate. It was to the point where my group of friends and I groaned in delicious agony because we just couldn’t see straight anymore. We just couldn’t taste any more chocolate.

Of course at the end of the tour there was a gift shop. We bought like crazy.

Overall the experience was amazing. I encourage any chocolate lover to go for a visit.

Zotter Chocolate

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http://www.figls.at/- fancy neo Austrian, very good service and food, some of the best ribs i had
http://www.fischerbraeu.at/ – typical Austrian beer house, good eats, good beer, very unpretentious, mixed crowds from students to seniors, we go there when we don’t want to cook, are hungry and don’t want to spend a lot
http://www.7stern.at/ – also very famous for its beer, order the skillets, gotten a bit touristy lately
http://www.plachutta.at/(there is also one around Schönbrunn) – very traditional Viennese cuisine, fancy, turn of century aura
http://www.weinhof-zimmermann.at/- Heurigen Klassiker, beautiful setting among the winery hills.
http://www.figlmueller.at/ – if you must eat in the 1st district, then only here.  very busy, reservation only.
http://www.bierig.at/intro_2.htm- one of the best price/grub/service ratios in Vienna, they have three locations, we go to the one in Spittelau, love their outdoor seating
http://www.caffelatte.at/neubau/aktuell.html- very good coffee, great weekend brunches, you can eat there for free on your b’day
http://www.himmel.at/oktogon/indexf.html – this is the one next to the tree circle, great cakes and lattes
http://www.feuerwehrwagner.at/- this one has the best roast chicken in Vienna, very nice Heurigen setting
http://tupalo.com/en/vienna/hanil-running-sushi- this is the running sushi at Naschmarkt that I told you about
http://www.lokalfuehrer.at/?site=detail&id=1505&show=tf – this is the running sushi in the 8th, has more variety on other than sushi dishes
http://www.blueorange.co.at/- if you ever want a decent muffin or bagel, great coffee to go with it too, they are in the 9th or close to the Naschmarkt, sells Ben&Jerry ice cream too
http://www.rocky-docky.at/ – very good steaks, haven’t tried the burgers but I’m sure they are good
http://www.santacruz.at/- it’s a far cry from the mexican food we know but it’s always fresh and good if you have a craving for it.  their ribs are famous but i don’t like them, too greasy and too much garlic. it’s in the Prater so if you are there it’s worth stopping by, they are always open in summer.

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Just to add to this post I want to talk about coffee milk. It’s milk that you can buy in every grocery store that is specially designed to be added to coffee. What makes this particular milk so special you ask? Why the percent of fat in it of course! Try a whopping 12% fat. Yes!

In case you’re interested in this oh so special milk for your coffee, you can pick up the original from Austrian food company Maresi at any grocery store.

Coffee Milk in Vienna

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Being an expat is full of new experiences. A fruitcake is one of them. I’ve never actually seen a fruitcake in real life, let alone received one. So naturally I was curious if its reputation is as bad as its taste. Yep. It is.

I cut off the edge piece, popped it in my mouth and thought for all of 0.5 seconds, “Now come on, this isn’t so bad.” But then I felt the moisture get sucked from my mouth. Then a weird taste spread over my tongue. I felt my lips pucker in distaste. I bravely let the intro piece to fruitcake meet my stomach, but I promptly chucked the whole thing in the trash.

Thanks for nothing waterheater company. Merry Friggin Christmas to you too.

Fruitcake in Vienna

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Toblerone in Vienna

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Nespresso is HUGE here in Austria. The stores are glitz and glamour. They have tasting bars so you can decide which of the 10 flavors you want to buy. The extremely expensive machines are on display like artwork. The catalogs are slick and a marketer’s dream. George Clooney is the spokesperson for Nespresso and you see the commercials all the time on TV. My husband’s 75 year old grandmother has even stated, ‘That coffee guy, he sure is good looking.’

Nespresso is a machine over here. No pun intended.

It makes sense in Austria where coffee is such a big part of the culture. Check out my blog post concerning how big coffee really is Coffee Post

I have to confess. I have a Nespresso coffee machine at home. I buy the capsules. I drink the coffee. It’s good coffee. I mean really good. So good that I won’t drink the American coffee and I sure in hell won’t drink the Starbucks coffee. It tastes burnt to me. My little Nespresso machine chosen in a color to match my kitchen produces smooth, rich, flavorful coffee. Not watery, not burnt tasting. I look forward to my cup every morning. And hey, I don’t have to stand in line for it either!

I’ve invited a lot of people over to my place on a Sunday afternoon to have a cup of coffee and chat. Everyone says the coffee is good. Aunts, cousins, my father, uncle, and friends. That’s a lot of happy, satisfied, impressed people. My cousin actually called me two days ago out of the blue to ask me a few questions. He asked if I was really happy with it and I said yes. He then said that he was going to buy one for his office. And he didn’t mind that he was going to have to order the capsules online.

Keeping the Nespresso machine clean is easy. I wipe it down once in awhile. I put the plastic parts in the dishwasher. Due to the capsules, there is no fumbling with the coffee grinds which usually go everywhere. I just drop the capsule of my choice into the machine, and done. Coffee.

There is one draw back that I really don’t like. The machine only makes one cup of coffee at a time. When I have guests, I make one cup, then run to my first guest and give it to that person, then run back to deliver the second when it is done. I don’t want anyone to drink cold coffee. Also, the coffee could be a little bit hotter. What I do to make up for that though is heat up the milk in the microwave. For those that don’t take milk, I put their cup in the microwave to heat up the porcelain.

I think Nespresso has a shot in the United States. People don’t want to spend the money that they have been at Starbucks anymore. People are pulling back from gathering at restaurants to socialize. What’s left is inviting people to your home to entertain. Entertaining goes well when you have good coffee to serve.

Also Nespresso is a marketing machine. They know how to push their product. As a marketing manager myself, I wouldn’t mind working for Nespresso. It would  be fun.

Nespresso Website

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http://www.palmenhaus.at/ 

It’s a hot house turned restaurant. It’s beautiful! Light and airy because it’s mostly made out of glass. Huge plants everywhere. Hip, trendy, modern, and fun. The service was quick despite being very full and busy. The staff was friendly, which is unusual for Viennese waiters.

I went once for breakfast and they offered a traditional Viennese breakfast. A coffee of your choice, fruit, a roll, and a croissant. The croissant flaked just like it should, which I find hard to get in the United States.

I also went again for coffee on a Sunday afternoon (a traditional Viennese activity and should never be missed when visiting). The dessert was very good.

The crowd was hip and trendy both in the morning and in the afternoon. Heads swivel when you walk by because people are watching people. It was a very high, energetic atmosphere and I loved it.

The location is great so getting there is easy. Be sure to make reservations.

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