Servicio de café

El servicio formalizado de café se introdujo por primera vez en el siglo XVI, cuando el café llegó al Imperio Otomano. Introducido en el Imperio Otomano en el siglo XVI, el café llegó a través de Yemen y, a mediados de ese siglo, las cafeterías proliferaron en Estambul como lugares de encuentro social, centros de discusión intelectual e incluso centros de debate político ^{[ 1 ]} . Muchos de los elementos ceremoniales del servicio de café que posteriormente se incorporaron a las tradiciones europeas, incluida la cultura del café turca, se habían codificado en los elementos ceremoniales del servicio de café instituidos por la cultura del café turca, que se añadió a la Lista del Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial de la UNESCO en 2013. ^{[ 2 ]} Las tradiciones del servicio de café europeo se desarrollaron durante los siglos XVII y XVIII, cuando el café se popularizó entre las clases adineradas. Durante el siglo XVII, el café se servía en pequeños cuencos sin asa llamados tazas griegas, que se elaboraban con porcelana china de exportación o la versión japonesa de la misma. ^{[ 3 ]} La invención de la producción de porcelana europea a principios del siglo XVIII dio como resultado la introducción de tazas de café especiales ^{[ 4 ]} .

With the proliferation of coffee, tea and chocolate in the West at the onset of the 18th century, refined tableware as we now know it was conceived ^[5]. Litron cup debuted at the Vincennes factory in 1752 and this shape became the standard variant of coffee service when the consumption of hot chocolate, tea and coffee started to become more popular. ^[6] The shape of tea cups developed differently compared to coffee cups thus making the litron shape to be strictly identified with coffee drinking ^[7]. By the 18th century, the common coffee service was made up of cups, sauces, coffeepots, milk or cream pots, sugar bowls and serving trays. These collections were usually porcelain, silver or silver plate sets, and frequently gilded with fancy decorations of the artistic trends of their times. Famous producers such as Meissen that found the secret of hard paste porcelain in 1709 created coffee services combined with European decorative motifs with technical novelties in the production of porcelains ^[8].

A typical coffee service set consists of coffee pots with lids and spouts, cups and saucers (usually demitasse size, to serve espresso-style coffee), bowls of sugar with lids, cream or milk pitchers, trays to serve. These sets are still favorable to use on a formal event and they are handed down to heirs. Matter is limited to fine porcelain and bone China, silver, stainless steel, and modern ceramics^[9].

The Turkish coffee service is a unique mode of preparing coffee with very fine coffee beans that are cooked in special pot known as cezve (or ibrik). The coffee is poured into small cups, leaving the fine grounds to settle in the bottom of the cup ^[10]. The Turkish coffee tradition is the sign of hospitality, friendship, sophistication and amusement that are present in all aspects of life. A coffee invitation between friends is a chance to have a close conversation and discuss their day-to-day issues ^[11]. Turkish coffee is also highly significant when it comes to social events like engagement ceremonies and holidays. Traditionally, during the wedding ceremony, the groom family will visit the house of the bride prior to the event, the bride is supposed to make the groom perfect Turkish coffee; in case she liked the groom-to-be she would put sugar in his cup and in case she did not like a certain candidate she would put salt in his coffee cup as well ^[12].

Coffee service is an aspect of guest service and satisfaction in the hospitality industry. It has been shown that coffee has developed to play a critically important role to the hotel guest experience. A UCC Coffee survey indicated that 75 percent of hotel guests rated the quality of coffee in the rooms as poor or mediocre, and thirty percent of the respondents stated that the quality of coffee offered in the rooms would make them not come back to the same hotel again ^[13]. A different survey identified that 60 percent of the population considered quality coffee to be a significant element in their hotel or holiday rental experience^[14]. Hotels normally offer coffee in different ways such as continental breakfast service, buffet service with self-service coffee stations, in-room coffee delivery services which are considered part of the room service, lobby coffee stations available day long and in-room coffee makers which the guests can use conveniently ^[15]. Hotels are also investing more in coffee equipment that is of high quality as it is realized that the quality of coffee is one of the most important factors that determine the satisfaction of guests and online reviews. Extraordinary real estate usually collaborates with specialty coffee or has professional-quality espresso machines installed so that they can respond to the emerging demands of customers^[16]. When specialty coffee became popular in the early 2000s, most hotels began paying attention, with the Ace Hotel group being among the first to launch properties with in-house Stumptown Coffee roasters and cafes in their lobbies ^[17].

Workplace Coffee service Employees are able to conveniently access coffee in the workplace at no cost or at a reduced price through coffee service^[18]. It was introduced in the early 20th century as a benefit to employees, when employers realized the productivity and morale advantages of offering coffee to employees^[19].

The coffee services in the contemporary workplaces are delivered in different types:

• Vending machines:The automated dispensers which sell different forms of coffee, tea and hot chocolate. These machines will normally be paid or even offer free service as stipulated by the company. Vending machine coffee is also thought to be of inferior quality because of using instant coffee or pre-ground beans^[20].
• Cafeteras de goteo: Máquinas de preparación convencionales que la gente tiene en las salas de descanso, comúnmente con café molido preenvasado o paquetes de café molido que se filtran en sobres para que sean convenientes de usar ^{[ 21 ]} .
• Máquinas de espresso automáticas: Máquinas más caras que muelen el café y preparan bebidas a base de espresso. Algunas máquinas cuentan con ranuras de derivación para que los empleados puedan traer sus propios granos de café ^{[ 22 ]} .
• Programas de café premium: Hay empresas que ofrecen bares de espresso en sus instalaciones donde los baristas pueden servir bebidas premium de forma gratuita o a un costo reducido ^{[ 23 ]} .

El servicio de café contemporáneo es una demostración de los cambios en las preferencias de los consumidores y las oportunidades tecnológicas. Ejemplos de tendencias son los servicios de café de especialidad basados ​​en granos de origen único, técnicas de preparación alternativas, sustitutos de leche de origen vegetal como la leche de soja, almendra, avena y coco ^{[ 31 ]} , máquinas de café inteligentes, como interfaces de pantalla táctil y modelos de bebidas personalizables, sostenibilidad, como el abastecimiento de comercio justo y la minimización de residuos, y una sofisticada experiencia de autoservicio que permite a los clientes preparar ellos mismos un café con calidad de barista ^{[ 32 ]} .

Las prácticas culturales del servicio de café son bastante diferentes. La tradición turca incluye la adivinación (tasseografía) utilizando posos de café durante las ceremonias de preparación ^{[ 33 ]} . La cultura italiana del espresso se centra en la rapidez y el servicio en cafeterías, y hay ciertas horas del día en las que se sirven diversas bebidas. El fika escandinavo es una cultura institucionalizada de la pausa para el café que se centra en la interacción social. Las tradiciones de hospitalidad de Oriente Medio hacen del servicio de café uno de los aspectos principales de la recepción de los huéspedes. La cultura del café estadounidense se centra más en el consumo de grandes volúmenes, caracterizado por la comodidad y la personalización.