I've been living in coffee-centric Vienna for 25+ years. Yes, coffee is definitely done differently and (IMHO) much better than in my old home in the new world, the US. While it is true that water cleanses the mouth and balances out some of the acidity of the roasted beans, that is not where the idea of a glass of water with coffee came from.

Hopefully this summer when work slows down I'll update this with a link to an article of my own about this.