Coffee Service, Hotel Astor, New York
C. Scotty, chef at the Hotel Ambassador, New York, thus describes the method of making coffee in that hostelry:
In the first place, it is essential that the coffee be of the finest quality obtainable; secondly, better results are obtained by using the French filterer, or coffee bag.
Twelve ounces of coffee to one gallon of water for breakfast.
Sixteen ounces of coffee to one gallon of water for dinner.
Boiling water should be poured over the coffee, sifoned, and put back several times. We do not allow the coffee grounds to remain in the urn for more than fifteen to twenty minutes at any time.
The coffee service at the best hotels is usually in silver pots and pitchers, and includes the freshly made coffee, hot milk or cream (sometimes both), and domino sugar.
Within the last year (1921) many of the leading hotels, and some of the big railway systems, have adopted the custom of serving free a demi-tasse of coffee as soon as the guest-traveler seats himself at the breakfast table or in the dining car. "Small blacks," the waiters call them, or "coffee cocktails," according to their fancy.