How To Make Coffee Better By Adding Whipped Cream

We've been crushing hard on a coffee beverage that comes from Austria, where the hills are alive with the sound of sweet, sweet caffeine. Enter the cafe melange: It uses the simple formula of coffee plus whipped cream, taking the cream you're already putting in coffee just one small step further in the right direction.

Unlike other coffee shop standards, you don't need a steamer, espresso machine and beans that were hand ground by Monks in a far-off land to make it at home—just your favorite blend and a confident puff of freshly whipped cream. Sure, ReddiWhip works in a pinch, but making it by hand takes only a minute more and lets you adjust the sweetness and bonus flavors any way you choose. We finished by sprinkling cocoa powder on top for a makeshift mocha taste, because we couldn't think of a single reason not to.

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As if ordering specialty coffee wasn't already like speaking another language, we're about to confuse you a little bit more. The drink actually goes by a handful of different names. Depending on where you are in the world, your cup could contain anything. Well, it will probably be some combo of brewed coffee and dairy product, but still. The Viennese call it melange mit schlag, but they also have the Wiener melange, which is really nothing but a cappuccino-esque steamed milk, milk foam and coffee combo. Our version is truer to an espresso con panna, which is a couple of espresso shots topped with whipped cream, and a café Viennois could be either.

Moral of the story: If you're ordering it in a café, say "I'd like an aggressive amount of whipped cream with my coffee" and there'll be no surprises.