How to Set Up a Coffee Bar

What you need for a coffee and tea bar

Cream & sugar, to the nines

Up for debate: We are now living in a world where options for coffee and tea have surpassed perhaps even those of a cocktail bar. One can wonder what variety they need to feature for pouring beverages when hosting, and which ingredients are bonus points. Whether it’s the type of milk to the natural sweetener option to heating up the milk or simply frothing… and then does it get poured into a glass or a mug? The questions go on. We’re here to take care of you with our top tips for setting up a coffee bar. From what to buy for a coffee bar to how to display things. Grab a hot oat milk latte, extra foam, with a drop of honey and dash of lavender and get caffeinated to make the coffee bar of your wildest dreams come to life.

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Ingredients for a coffee bar

The main character

Your A-list actor, the protagonist, the hero of this story.

• Try a few different coffee brews—a dark, medium, and light roast will do
• Automatic espresso machine and/or filter coffee maker
• Pods, if using a single-serve coffee or espresso machine
• Tea: Feature an earl gray, black, green, and a few herbal options

Pro Tip: Use a Chemex pour-over glass coffeemaker to brew many cups at once and add an aesthetic flair. Fuel up & fashion-forward. No (photo) filter needed… but use these filters ;) 

Cream

Creme de la creme, a timeless delicacy to enrich any consumption experience. 

• Full cream (dairy)
• Oat milk
• Almond milk
• Soy milk
• Whole milk
• Non-fat milk 

Pro Tip: Pouring the various milk options into different pitchers, glasses, or carafes visually enhance any beverage bar setting. Label each milk with little note cards or hang them around the neck of the bottle. 

Sweetener

A spoonful of this helps pretty much everything go down.

• Raw cane sugar
• Honey
• Cacao or chocolate powder
• Maple syrup
• Vanilla syrup: Easy 3-ingredient recipe here
• Liquid stevia or monkfruit 

Extra Flavor

For when you’re feeling extra spicy and exotic.

• Lavender extract: Just a drop will do!
• Mint
• Cinnamon
• Cayenne pepper (for a Mexican mocha)

Pro Tip: Add these dried lavender flowers for barista of the year.

Glassware

Clink, cheers, sip, and enjoy!

• Mugs
• Weck jars (for iced options)
• Saucers
• Glass straws

Accessories

Just like any jewelry piece, to complete the bar experience.

• Frother: It truly enhances every coffee experience
• Extra jar or tall glass to froth milk in
• ~Or, try this electric 5-in-1 milk frother ‍
• Electric tea kettle
• Spoons
• Ice
• Ice bucket

How to set up a coffee bar

Take your creative liberties of course, but here is how we recommend setting up your coffee and tea bar for ultimate success.

1. Brew the coffee or prep the espresso.

2. Set out the display in this order:

• Mugs and glasses
• Coffee and tea kettle
• Tea bags
• Cream: Some coffee connoisseurs will want to drop a dash of cream in their mug prior to pouring their coffee. Those are the real ones.
• Frother with jar to froth
• Sweetener options
• Spoons

3. Heat water for tea.

4. Fill pitcher or ice bucket with ice. Don’t forget the scoop.

5. Let the coffee be poured, the tea be stirred, and the good morning roll.

Final Touches

Bring the coffee shop vibe to life complete with a bakery shelf lined with fresh baked goods. Muffins and pastries? Say less. Two recipes here to get things warmed up.

• Blackberry Lavender White Chocolate Scones by Half Baked Harvest
• Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Scones by Half Baked Harvest

You get to choose the caliber of what sort of coffee and tea expertise you exude. Pending what your worldwide inspiration will be, you may choose to pour lattes into glasses, and flat whites into mugs, as they do in Australia. Or stick with cozy mugs for all—is there anything more comforting than cupping your hands around a mug, no matter the froth level? 

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