How to create a Coffee & Tea bar when you are entertaining

Use decorative items and desserts for an elegant coffee/tea bar.

Instead of serving coffee and tea the traditional way when you entertain, you might find that setting up a coffee and tea bar to be more entertaining for your guests. It helps keep your guests' cups full without the constant running back and forth to the kitchen for refills. It also gives your guests many more options for such a personalized experience as coffee or tea drinking. To make your coffee and tea bar as satisfying as possible, you'll want to organize and plan ahead.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Thermos or carafes
• Stirrers or spoons
• Napkins
• China or paper cups
• Tablecloth or runner
• Regular coffee
• Decaf coffee
• Flavored coffee
• Regular black tea
• Decaf tea
• Flavored tea
• Regular & flavored creamers
• Sugar & sweeteners
• Dessert items

1. Brew regular, decaffeinated and flavored coffees. Once brewed, keep each in its own thermos or carafe. Make a label and scotch tape it on each thermos or carafe so guests know what's inside. If you can purchase a single-cup coffee or tea maker that uses K-cups or T-discs, such as a Keurig or Tassimo machine, even better.

2. Set up a selection of regular tea, decaffeinated tea and an assortment of flavored teas next to a thermos or carafe of hot boiled water. You can use boxes of tea bags, or for a more exotic tea experience, use loose-leaf teas with the appropriate equipment.

3. Guests can top off their drinks with fat-free milk, flavored creamers, half-and-half and nondairy creamers. Once again, make sure you label everything so guests can make an informed choice if you are not serving the creamers in original containers.

4. To make your bar even more interesting, add other fun toppings and stir-ins like whipped cream, chocolate syrup, pumpkin spice, cinnamon sticks and flavored coffee syrups, along with the traditional sweeteners like sugar, artificial sweeteners and honey.

5. Consider covering the coffee and tea bar with a plastic tablecloth or runner, or supply plenty of napkins to avoid excessive spills on the table where the coffee bar is set up. Be sure to supply plenty of spoons for stirring or plastic stirrers.

Tips & Warnings

• Set up a dessert tray on your coffee/tea bar so that your guests are adequately fed in between drinks.

References

• AromaCup: Brewing for a Crowd With a Single-Cup Coffee Machine