Nikolaus Hartmann founded Süssmund in 2014. He was an architect, and when his idea of roasting each coffee gently, to suit where it grew and how it was processed, found an audience, he gave up architecture for coffee. Norbert Rieberer, who came from finance, joined in 2018. Hartmann won the Austrian Brewers Cup in 2014 and 2015.

The roasting happens every week in Simmering, on a handmade drum roaster from Greece, with a profile developed for each coffee. Süssmund trades as directly as it can. Its partners include Unión Majomut in Chiapas, Mexico, which the team visited on an origin trip, the Andrade family’s farms in Minas Gerais, the women’s groups of El Bombo in Colombia and La Prosperidad de Chirinos in Peru, and Mass & Plantrich in Kerala, India, whose robusta goes into darker espresso blends such as Nocciola and Panther Royale. Many of the coffees are certified organic. The filter shelf runs to washed and anaerobic lots from Ethiopia, Kenya, Panama and El Salvador.

Every Süssmund coffee can be drunk at the Süssmund Kaffee Shop in the Innere Stadt, where the staff also advise on beans to take home. Süssmund supplies offices, restaurants and events as well.

Coffee on the shelf

Photograph: Süssmund Kaffee