VIENNA COFFEE. 47 



was ! We were there in winter. The sensitive Madrilenos avoided 

 the open air and crowded into the cafe. Every one of the, perhaps, 

 one hundred tables was surrounded by customers, four, six at a 

 time ; some reading the newspapers ; others conversing and ges- 

 ticulating; some taking chocolate or coffee; others playing at 

 dominoes, or at cards ; men, women, even children in the throng ; 

 here, a uniform resplendent with brass buttons and gold lace ; 

 there, a " mantilla " with a bright smile not far imder it ; near by, 

 the dark gown of a priest ; and over and around all, a sort of haze 

 or mist of tobacco smoke. Customers came in, and customers 

 went out ; but look in at any time, and the same general picture 

 greeted your eyes — ^busy and idle, unintelligible to an American. 



Besides coffee and chocolate, the national beverages, one iinds 

 in the coffee-houses of Spain, as in those of France and Italy, 

 wines, liquors, and a great variety of refreshing drinks. These 

 form a v6ry important department of a Spanish caf^. There is 

 the " orchata," a drink made of a sort of milk of sweet almonds ; 

 the "bebida de naranja" (of orange), "de limon" (of lemon), 

 "de fresa" (of strawberry), "de guindas" (of cherry), etc. ; "sor- 

 betes," or ices, of all kinds ; " espumas de chocolate, or de cafe " — 

 light, frothy creams made of these substances, and the " panales," 

 or " azucarias," a little loaf of white blown sugar, in the shape of 

 a French roll, very light and very porous, which is allowed to dis- 

 solve in a glass of water, and with the addition of a little lemon- 

 juice or liquor constitutes a favorite beverage. Cigars and ciga- 

 rettes, of course, are essentials. 



VIENNA COFFEE. 



In making coffee at the large cafes and hotels on the Karthner 

 Eing, in Vienna, the coffee is prepared as follows : To make six 

 quarts, one pound six ounces of coffee are used. "Within a very- 

 heavy cylinder or urn that is securely pinned to the floor or table, 

 there is fitted a coarse sieve, a piece of cord or rope surround- 

 inf the sieve making it fit tightly. Over the sieve there is 

 placed a piece of Canton flannel, fastened down by means of 

 an iron ring that fits into the rim which holds the sieve. At- 

 tached to the sieve is an iron frame, with a hook at the top. 



