I can’t say exactly when my love for coffee began. But when I look at my life so far, all experiences that I have been able to collect over the years have actually contributed to the fact that a deep friendship with this fascinating coffee fruit has developed after the first encounters, and with which I today, this is probably the best way to describe having a passionate, creative love relationship.

My love story began in my youth, when I learned about the coffee plant during my apprenticeship in upscale Budapest gastronomy. Only a few gastronomic stations later, I took advantage of a professional opportunity and spent a few eventful months in Africa – the continent of origin of coffee. After that, there was no going back to Budapest because the time in Africa had awakened my wanderlust. So I got hired as a chef de rang on a cruise ship and was able to travel to many countries around the world: Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, Hawaii, Jamaica, Northern Australia, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, China… surely it was no coincidence that in all of these Countries where coffee was also grown…

Of course, the impressions I was able to collect on each shore leave were varied and very interesting. But I was particularly taken with the Third Wave Coffee Shops, which existed in Melbourne/Australia 20 years ago. Here, in small shops lined up in a row in the narrow streets, home-roasted, high-quality coffee (light roast) was offered in a cozy living room atmosphere, the beans of which could be traced back to their origin. 

What a treat it was! No comparison to what is called coffee in this country. I was deeply impressed, and I believe that the wish arose here to implement something like this myself…

A few years later, when I was back on land and in Austria, I had the opportunity to train as a barista with Johanna Wechselberger, and I didn’t hesitate for a second. I am still grateful for this encounter today, because during the instructive time with this outstanding Master Barista it became clear to me that my life path up to now was geared towards starting now, what I am actually capable of and what my heart beats for.

And so did I. In May 2015 I opened my own “Himmels Café” in Wolkersdorf, where I initially worked with Johanna’s coffee roasting and also used the time to deal with coffee roasting in detail. In order to further deepen my knowledge, I visited coffee plantations in Mexico and India in the following years. Finally, in 2018 I also completed my coffee roaster training. In the same year, on the day of coffee on October 1st, I was ready and opened “Himmels Kaffeerösterei”.

Since then I have been producing my own roasts here. In addition to tasty single origins, my aim is to create harmonious coffee blends. And when I then hear from guests and customers “… Ludwig, your coffee tastes simply heavenly…”, it is a very nice feeling to know that my life has led me to my true purpose and that I am doing exactly the right thing today.