Customer Reviews
Europe has many wonderful cities to visit, but none are better to stroll in than Vienna or Paris. Both are Imperial cities who luxuriate in their former glory and have an “insouciance” with regards to time. They have managed to turned strolling into an artform where punctuality is seen as uncouth. In Vienna, “Flanieren”, is very different than “Spaziern”, as practiced in other German places. In Paris, “flâner”, has nothing to do with “se promener”. Unsurprisingly, both have exceptional coffee cultures: one focused on the morning, the other celebrating the afternoon. In Paris, lazy bowls of “café-au-lait” are consumed, after a cigarette or two, slowly followed by either buttery “croissants”, “brioches” or “pains-au-chocolat”. In Vienna, “Kaffee-und-Kuchen” is had in the late afternoon. JNF Indian Rustica “Café” is a taupe-coloured snuff that has the consistency of fine wet sand that has dried in the sun. Upon opening the tin, one is greeted by the smells of arabica beans, warm milk, butter and chocolate. At uptake, a subtle sour-burn dissipates into sweet coffee and ghee. Powdery after scraped with a snuff spoon, repeated micro-doses are suggested as it does provoke sneezing. A friend of Jean Nicot de Villemain, it recalls cool May mornings in Paris, sitting outside in the spring sun sporting sweaters and tweeds.