Serve coffee by etiquette. What is the culture of serving coffee. Coffee while fasting

In many offices, during a business conversation, showing hospitality to their partners and clients, it is customary to serve coffee or tea. Serving your customers with these simple drinks helps create a warmer environment and serves as a wonderful addition to a good company image. But it is not enough just to serve this or that drink, it is important to know how to serve coffee correctly. Only in this case, the company will be able to make a good impression on its customers, especially since there are rules of etiquette for this, guided by which, you will not fall into a mess.

We serve coffee according to the rules of etiquette

According to the rules of etiquette, before serving coffee, it must be brewed, and freeze-dried coffee should not be served either, it is imperative to purchase natural, ground coffee. It is necessary to pour coffee in a special room, since it is not customary to do this in a meeting room. The coffee ware should be preheated to a temperature of + 40 ° C. The coffee must be brewed just before serving. This is due to the fact that the drink is considered "live" only during the first three minutes, that is, as long as the foam is able to shrink when it breaks.

The spoon should be placed under the handle of the cup, it should also be turned to the right and parallel to the edge of the table. Sugar must be put on a spoon, since it is not customary to put a sugar bowl on the table. In addition, it should be remembered that the napkin on the saucer is not placed under the cup, and the drink is poured into the cup only 2/3. The number of cups of coffee is placed on the tray, equal to the number of guests, even if some visitor refused the drink.

Tea and coffee should be offered 10 minutes after the start of the negotiations. You need to put and remove cups from the table to the left of the person. The first cup is offered to the guest-manager, the second - to the host-manager, while the third and fourth - to the guests in the chain of command, the fifth and sixth cups - to the staff of the host.

Often, along with coffee, guests are also offered sweets and biscuits in vases, as well as sliced ​​lemon with a two-pronged fork. Everything needs to be prepared in advance just before serving. Place napkins on the table after all cups have been placed. Milk and cream must be served in a separate milk jug. Now you know how to serve coffee in the office and you can support the company's image.

Aromatic coffee and steaming tea can soften morals, get additional location of the interlocutors, pause, show respect and hospitality. Without this treat, it is impossible to imagine a visit to the office, negotiations, the reception of the delegation ...

Today etiquette is not as strict as it used to be, there are innovations and indulgences. At the same time, there are, so to speak, fashion trends.

These trends include:

1. Departure from the traditional protocol technique in the context of democratic formats and, accordingly, different serving.

The format of tea drinking (coffee drinking) depends on the status of the guests, the corporate culture of the company, the nature of the negotiations, the preparedness of the host, etc.

Examples include: preference for green tea over traditional black tea, drinking tea bags and instant coffee, using a French press, and holding short coffee breaks between negotiations. etc.

2. Drinking green tea.

The table for green tea is served somewhat differently than for black tea. It is preferable to put already brewed tea in a teapot for one or two persons. Green tea is drunk either without sugar at all, or lumpy brown sugar (with tongs) is served in a small vase. Accordingly, no white sugar is served at all.

3. Drinking tea bags and instant coffee. The coffee can also be brewed in a French press.

Today they can exhibit a set of different types of tea bags, which can include both black tea and green, herbal, berry tea, so that everyone can choose a drink to their liking.

If you serve tea bags (any), personally, then the bag is placed either on a saucer (certainly in the package), or on a special small saucer for tea bags. The used bag is placed either on this saucer, or on a saucer under the cup, if there is no special one, or on plates. Never put the used bag in the ashtray!

A cruel violation of etiquette at all times is the "village" manner (with all my deep respect for the village workers who produce food for you and me): pour coffee and sugar (and stir the latter) into the guest's cup.

If you serve tea and coffee according to traditional protocol rules, then it happens in this way.

5-10 minutes after the start of the negotiations, the coffee lady or secretary serves coffee and refreshments. Cups are put on the table first. Then - sweets, cookies, sliced ​​lemon, to which a two-pronged fork is applied, napkins. If sweets are served in vases, then they must certainly be in pieces of paper. Or they serve candy in open boxes. All products must be expensive and of high quality. It is recommended to serve dry biscuits (not kurabye) in a vase.

Tea and coffee is brewed and poured Behind the door... Tea should be classic, black - not in bags and not green. Coffee - brewed.

It is customary to put the same number of cups of coffee and tea on the tray. This is done so that each negotiator can give preference to their favorite drink. Usually the secretary, offering a treat, asks with a smile "Coffee? Tea?". The negotiator indicates the desired. The secretary, as a rule, knows about the addictions of his employees and regular partners, so he simply puts a cup of coffee or tea in front of the person sitting on the table.

Cups are placed on the table on right. If the guest takes a cup from the tray himself, then they offer left... They are removed from the left.

Today it is customary to place the spoon under the handle of the cup, which is turned towards the right hand. Put two sugar cubes on a spoon. Sugar bowls, as before, are not put on the table. Do not put a napkin on a saucer under a cup. Pour in about 2/3 or even 3/4 cup.

The first cup is offered to the head-guest, the second to the head-host, the third and fourth to the guests by subordination (the right side is honorary), the fifth and sixth to the employees of the host company. According to modern rules of business etiquette there is no priority for the ladies.

First, the dishes are removed from the guests. Ashtrays are changed by covering them with a napkin.

It so happens that it is difficult to approach the table from the comfortable side. In this case, the cup with the drink is placed on the side from which it is convenient. The most important thing: decent smooth movements, no rush and it is better (if possible) not to carry anything in front of the person sitting.

The second time you can offer tea and coffee in about an hour. In this case, the dishes are not removed.

Tea and coffee cups vary in size and thickness. Tea cups are larger and thinner, coffee cups are accordingly smaller and thicker in order to keep the temperature of the drink longer.

Showing hospitality in a business meeting is as necessary as in a cozy home gathering. It's just that the form of expression is stricter - in full accordance with the rules of etiquette. Coffee during negotiations is not only a pleasant break for everyone involved in the process, but also a great way to maintain a positive image of your company. Step by step, we will outline the rules of business etiquette for secretaries, how to properly serve coffee at a meeting.

• The serving set for the office includes: coffee and tea sets, a special table on wheels, a tray, a sugar bowl and sugar tongs, a teapot with a strainer, a milk jug, a napkin holder, a candy bowl.
• Drinks are prepared exclusively from natural ground coffee and large-leaf black tea without additives.
• Coffee is prepared and poured in a special room, not in a meeting room.
• Coffee utensils must be warmed up to + 40⁰С.
• The coffee is brewed immediately before serving, since the drink must be drunk in the first three minutes after preparation.
• The handle of the cup is turned to the right and placed parallel to the edge of the table, and the spoon is placed under the handle.
• They do not put the sugar bowl on the table, but place the sugar cube directly on the spoon. The fact is that moving the sugar bowl around the table can interfere with the concentrated work atmosphere, and if the guest drinks coffee without sugar, he simply leaves it on the saucer. And if there is not enough sugar, the secretary will quietly call and ask for an additional one.
• Before the arrival of important guests, the secretary receives instructions in advance about who will drink what, so it is inappropriate to distract guests with questions. And in the case of the host, the preferences of each participant in the meeting have long been known.
• If you don't know your guests' drink preferences, place the same number of cups of coffee and tea on the tray. Let everyone make their own choice.
• Putting a napkin under a cup is bad form. If a guest accidentally spills coffee on a saucer, the soggy napkin will look unaesthetic. The napkin is located on the table near the cup.
• The coffee is poured into the cup by two thirds.
• It is necessary to put and remove the cups to the left of the seated person - this rule is dictated by the fact that most are right-handed.
• The order in which the coffee is brewed matters. The first is offered to the guest leader, and the second - to the head of the host company. Then coffee is offered to the rest of the participants in the subordination meeting, but first to the guest side, and then to the host.
• Napkins, lemon slices with a fork, sweets and cookies are put on the table after the cups of coffee.
• The milk is poured into a separate milk jug.
• Serving coffee is desirable in 10 minutes after the start of negotiations, and again - in an hour.
• The dishes should be cleaned starting with the guests, after the coffee break, you can offer chilled water or juice. If the participants are drinking espresso, the water is placed in a separate glass next to the coffee cup.

Restaurant coffee serving

In the restaurant and cafe you can order coffee both at the table and at the bar. Coffee will be brought to you at the table and put on a saucer, lump sugar with tongs and napkins will be placed next to it. A spoon is placed on the saucer and a compliment from the establishment in the form of a chocolate or other sweet little thing. Depending on the selected coffee, next to the saucer there may be a glass of water (for espresso), a milk jug with milk or cream (for coffee with cream), a Turk with oriental coffee. A small, separate glass may contain cognac or liqueur. If the selected type of coffee is served in a coffee pot, the waiter presents an empty cup in front of the guest and refills it only after obtaining permission. The remaining coffee in the coffee pot moves to the right hand of the guest so that he can comfortably top up his drink later.

At the bar, you can quickly get and drink coffee. First, a saucer with a spoon is presented to the guest, while the barista prepares a drink and pours it into a cup. Sugar, compliments are given in such a way that the guest is comfortable. The rest of the filing rules are unchanged.

Gives strength and vigor, in the evening a cup of your favorite tea will allow you to relax and calm down. Tea has long been used to treat various ailments. And, of course, it is offered to guests. Tea ceremonies are held differently in each country. In China and Japan, they are given special attention, in order to conduct such a ceremony, it is necessary to undergo special training.

The British have their own ritual of drinking tea. The whole family gathers for tea and tea, guests are invited, various treats and sweets are served on the table. You can spend a lot of time with each of these tea rituals, but first you need to figure out how to serve tea correctly if you are an office secretary or a hospitable hostess who hosts guests at home.

Tea serving in the office

A manager's secretary often has responsibilities such as serving tea or coffee. Make sure you always have everything you need to make tea at hand. There are two preparation options: using a teapot or using tea bags. The choice depends on the status of the institution and the preferences of the management. There should always be sugar, fresh cream or milk, lemon, different types of tea in the reception. Based on the addictions of the boss, you can stock up on sweets and other sweets. Napkins, beautiful dishes, cutlery are required.

What is the correct way to serve tea to keep everyone happy? You should always serve tea with a smile on your face, because this is the main sign of hospitality and openness. Before serving tea, it is worth asking what kind of tea visitors prefer. It is better to give preference to freshly brewed tea, especially when it comes to long-term negotiations, partnership. Tea is brewed in a teapot, cups are taken according to the number of guests. Tea is spilled, but it is considered unacceptable for tea leaves to enter the cups.

Cups of tea are placed on saucers, and then on a tray with a napkin so that they do not slip. A small spoon is placed on the edge of the saucer. The first cup is handed over to the senior in position among the visitors, then to his boss, and then to the rest of the guests. A sugar bowl with sugar should be placed on the table, lemon on skewers should be served on a separate saucer. If one of the visitors wished for tea with milk, it is worth bringing a small milk jug, placing it on the right side of the guest.

When tea is offered

The secretary can offer tea in a working atmosphere in several cases:

• if the visitor has to wait for the manager for more than seven minutes, serving tea will become a sign of your good form and serve as an excuse;
• before the start of a dialogue in the director's office;
• during a long conversation an hour and a half after the start of negotiations, if the door to the office is open, or at the personal request of the management;
• during the breaks that take place during negotiations, presentations and meetings.

Tea is offered to the manager in the morning, immediately after the greeting, during the day as appropriate.

When organizing a tea party in the office, it is worth remembering some rules:

• Tea is not poured into cups 1 cm to the edge.
• Quality tea is brewed at the rate of 1 teaspoon per 250 ml of water.
• Candies in boxes are served with tea with the lid removed, chocolate, unpacked to foil and broken into wedges.
• All pastries are served on plates with the packaging removed.
• You need to take care of the sugar tweezers, cake spatula, knife, spoons for each guest, napkins.
• During cleaning, unused dishes are first carried away, then everything else.

Serving tea at home

When accepting guests at home, it is not necessary to arrange a lavish feast. It is enough to set the tea table. To do this, it is worth laying a clean, beautiful tablecloth, laying out cutlery, putting on a tea set. Green or black tea is brewed in a teapot following certain rules. But the hostess should pour tea into cups in the presence of guests, passing the cup of tea from hand to hand clockwise.
You can decorate the tea table with sweets and pastries. A sugar bowl with sugar, a milk jug with cream, a plate with lemon are placed in the middle of the table.

Serving tea with jam provides for a common vase with it, and each guest should have a small socket for jam and a spoon. Honey can be served in the same way. At home tea, bagels, gingerbread cookies, pies, pastries and even sandwiches are appropriate.
Correctly brewed and served tea will cheer you up, set you in the right mood, win over to conversation, cooperation, show how hospitable and kind you are.

Fortunately, the days when restaurants only served two types of tea - with lemon and without lemon - are in the past. Now any self-respecting establishment offers guests a whole tea list, often accompanying it with recommendations for choosing a dessert and advice on combining different types of tea with certain dishes. Many restaurants are adding tea sommeliers or expanding the powers of wine sommeliers. All these curtsies in the direction of tea are easy to explain. Tea is fashionable, tea is a symbol of a healthy lifestyle and a sign of the subtle mental organization of the person drinking it. The words "green tea", "pu-erh", "milk oolong" are more and more often heard from the leaders of the most diverse opinions. In the conditions of an exuberant interest in tea, especially in high-quality tea, the organization of its good serving for the restaurant becomes a matter of honor and, in general, profit. It is believed that more than 70% of guests of hotels, restaurants or cafes order tea. It is tea that often influences the overall impression of the guest from visiting the establishment most strongly, because it is served last. And it is tea that often determines whether guests will return to the institution again or not. A restaurant (hotel or cafe) planning to organize a high-quality tea service will have to solve two large-scale tasks. The first is the choice of a supplier. The second is the formation of our own “tea ideology”. Let's try to analyze these tasks in detail, starting with the second. There are a number of fairly clear and easy-to-implement rules and principles that will allow a restaurant to raise tea service to the highest level and offer guests a drink so worthy and so dignified that a discerning (or simply interested in tea client) will be satisfied. But the implementation of these simple rules and principles in life is possible only after the adoption of the principle, which, perhaps, can be called the "fundamental tea". This principle is very simple and is formulated in three words: tea is a luxury. Luxury at its core. Food becomes a luxury when properly prepared. Or if unusual products were used in its preparation. Or if it is served on luxurious dishes. But at its core, food is a necessity. And for most people in food, its ability to saturate is primary - aesthetics comes only when saturation is inevitable. Tea is drunk in order to get pleasure. There are exceptions - but they can be ignored. When a person is going to drink tea, he expects to get pleasure. At home, brewing a favorite drink in a favorite teapot, a person is responsible for this pleasure. And in a restaurant, the restaurant is responsible for this pleasure. Therefore, tea in a restaurant, and serving tea in a restaurant, and knowledge about tea in a restaurant should be such that the visitor gets the pleasure he expects. And if your visitor does not yet know that tea is a luxury and a way to get exquisite pleasure - make him feel it - and he will be grateful to you. It should also be noted that luxury is a bit of a conservative concept. This "little conservatism" applies to tea as well. The tea that your guest will drink in your establishment should have a little less haste, a little more comfort, a little less fuss and a little more calm than in the world around us. Having taken the principle of "tea is a luxury" as a basic one, you can move on to more specific concepts related to serving tea in a restaurant. These specific concepts are simple enough to formulate. Tea in a restaurant should be:

· tasty - otherwise it makes no sense at all;

· original - a guest can drink non-original tea at home;

· convenient to prepare - let's not forget that a restaurant is not only a place where guests enjoy, it is also a business. And this business should be comfortable working with tea;

· and, of course, it should go well with the dishes of the main menu of the restaurant and generally fit into its ideology - in an oriental restaurant, for example, flavored tea bags will not look very organic.

We will leave the issue of matching tea to the style and menu of the institution practically without attention - this issue is resolved in its own way in each specific case (ideally, with the participation of the supplier's company). But we propose to consider the taste, originality and convenience of making and serving tea in more detail.

The taste of tea served in a restaurant should be combined with the main menu of the restaurant (or with part of its dishes), fit into the ideology of the establishment, be stable and recognizable and, most importantly, please the overwhelming majority of guests of the establishment - regardless of their "tea preparation". If the guest “did not understand tea” - this is a lack of the establishment (or tea), but not the guest. The simplest example of malfunctioning tea flavor is the mishandling of poor quality green tea in a huge number of restaurants. Green tea should not taste bitter, except just a little, almost imperceptible. It should have a delicate, mild, slightly sweet taste and a "fragrant", very fresh aroma. Green tea, served in many establishments, is overly tart, clearly bitter, and has very strong ash notes in its aroma - in short, it is of low quality and poorly brewed. Because of this, a strange situation often arises. Many people drink green tea because they know about its fashionableness and usefulness - and for this they are ready to endure its frank tastelessness. Or fill it with sugar. The situation is often exacerbated by waiters who have little understanding of the taste of real green tea and persuade guests that green tea really is. So that's it. In fact, the taste of tea should not be an unpleasant surprise for the guests of the establishment, and the waiter does not need to spend precious time convincing the guests that the mixture he serves is delicious, only it has a specific taste. Tea should be liked immediately and unconditionally. The taste of tea served to guests consists of two components: the type and quality of the drink and its correct preparation in the restaurant. And, accordingly, tea in a restaurant has two "taste risks": the tea itself and its brewing. The first "gustatory risk" completely depends on the supplier of tea to the restaurant, the second - on the actions of the restaurant staff. The first "gustatory risk" is more manageable, because the choice of tea for purchase is made, for example, once every six months - and the restaurant has the opportunity to pay the most careful attention to quality control of the purchased tea. Whereas the second "gustatory risk" is much less manageable - in the same six months, tea in a restaurant can be brewed several thousand times, and this will be done by different people. Thus, in order to ensure a consistently high level of tea serving, a competent restaurateur must find such tea, the taste of which, firstly, will please the guests, and, secondly, it will depend to a minimum on the actions of the restaurant staff. At the level of tea producers and suppliers, the problem of tasty tea is solved in two directly opposite ways: by playing to decrease the tea taste of guests and by playing to increase it. In the first case, the "deliciousness" of tea is most often achieved by adding strong flavors to it, replacing the own taste and aroma of tea with the taste and aroma of pleasant, understandable things: chocolate, strawberries, cherries, etc. The formation of a tea list based on highly flavored teas, in general, suits everyone - these teas are convenient for a restaurant (as a rule, they are very technological), convenient for guests (they do not need to strain, choosing between complex tastes and aromas, you can choose between, for example, strawberries and peaches) and are most convenient for the supplier company. However, a “highly flavored” tea card is, if you like, “low class, unclean work” - that is, a solution that is quite acceptable for an inexpensive cafe, but completely unsuitable for a reputable establishment. The regulation obliges a reputable establishment to keep the "tea bar" slightly above the average taste of guests - at least so that guests are constantly in a state of slight amazement and pleasant euphoria of getting a new and "tasty" experience. And, of course, so that when drinking a cup of tea, the guests of the restaurant not only enjoy the taste and aroma of the drink, but also realize their involvement in the noble tea culture. In short, a self-respecting restaurant in its tea list, for the most part, should operate with pure and high-quality teas, pleasant in its own taste and aroma, and not with the taste and aroma of additives. This does not mean at all that flavored tea should be abandoned altogether - but there should be relatively few of them in the tea list and they should be selected with special care. There are not so many delicious pure high-quality teas on the Russian market now, but you can find them without spending much effort. Only this search must be meaningful. You can “complete” the restaurant's tea list with five wonderful fresh Darjeelings from different plantations - only a specialist will find the difference between these teas, and an ordinary restaurant guest will feel cheated if he happens to taste different teas from the tea list. The teas chosen for a restaurant should not only be of high quality and tasty - they should be different, and the guest of the establishment should feel and remember this difference - in order to be able to meaningfully make repeated orders of the tea he likes. And, again, we must not forget that the “deliciousness” of the chosen tea should, to a minimum, depend on the actions of the staff of the establishment. That is, the ideal tea list of a high-level restaurant should be composed of pure (with a small addition of flavored), high-quality, tasty, different and memorable teas. There are very few teas from which such a tea list can be made. Suppliers, on the basis of the assortment of which such a tea map can be drawn up, can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Which, however, is not surprising. There is very little good tea, like almost all other good things. Material provided by CJSC INTEX