Bed and Breakfast Breakfast Ideas: A Simple Menu and the Coffee Guests Remember
A good bed and breakfast menu is one or two signature hot dishes, something baked that morning, fresh fruit and a coffee guests remember. A six-room inn at 70 percent occupancy pours about 118 eight-ounce cups a week, roughly 3.4 pounds (our estimate: 2 guests a room, 2 cups each). A 7 lb King Hoff every two weeks covers it and ships free.
We are Der Hoffskeller, a family coffee roaster in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, roasting one coffee in cast iron in a barn that has been in the family since 1944. This guide is for innkeepers: what to cook, what to set out and how much coffee to keep on hand.
Build the menu around a signature dish
Guests rarely remember a long menu. They remember one dish and tell their friends. Pick one or two hot dishes you can make well on your busiest Saturday, then build a short rotation so a guest staying three nights never sees the same plate twice. Make-ahead dishes help most: assemble the night before, bake in the morning, and spend breakfast at the tables instead of the stove.
- Overnight baked French toast with fruit or a crumb topping.
- An egg strata or quiche with Wisconsin cheddar and whatever vegetables are in season.
- A German apple pancake puffed in a cast iron pan and dusted with powdered sugar at the table.
- Buttermilk pancakes or waffles with real maple syrup.
- Breakfast potatoes and sausage from the local meat market, for guests with a long day ahead.
Keep one dish ready that skips eggs, gluten or meat, and ask about dietary needs when guests book.
Continental or hot breakfast?
A continental breakfast is a spread guests serve themselves. A hot breakfast adds a cooked course, plated or family style. Many inns do both: a continental spread on the sideboard when the dining room opens, then one hot course at a set hour. Good continental breakfast ideas for a B&B:
- A coffee cake, muffins or scones baked that morning
- A bowl of seasonal fruit, or berries with yogurt and granola
- Hard-boiled eggs and a small board of local cheese
- Toast with butter, jam and honey
- Juice, tea and a full carafe of coffee
Local touches guests remember
People book an inn instead of a hotel for a sense of place, and breakfast is the easiest place to give it. In Wisconsin that might mean cheddar in the eggs, cranberries in the muffins, Door County cherries on the French toast, honey from a farm down the road, maple syrup from a nearby sugarbush or a kringle on the sideboard.
A small card on each table that names where things come from does a lot of work: guests read it, ask about it and remember it. Put the coffee on it too. Ours is 100% Colombian Supremo Arabica (Supremo is the largest bean-size grade), roasted medium-dark in what we call the German Norwegian style, in cast iron on our family farm in Cedarburg. We roast in small batches to the same finish every time and ship close to the roast date.
The coffee: the cup guests talk about
Coffee is the first thing most guests look for and the last thing they finish. A few habits help:
- Bring a full carafe to each table and refill it before it runs low.
- Brew into a thermal carafe. One coffee equipment maker's guidance is about 20 minutes in an open decanter and about 60 minutes in a closed container.
- Brew the same way every morning. Our starting point is two tablespoons of coffee per six ounces of water.
- Offer a pour-over for the guest who lingers.
- Keep a decaf on the side. We make one coffee and no decaf.
Ground comes in one medium-fine grind that works for every brew method, espresso included. If you grind your own, order whole bean; every bag size costs the same either way, and only the jars differ (see whole bean vs. ground coffee). Customers describe it as smooth and low in acid. Two of them, on how it brews:
“The grind is perfect for pour over coffee makers.”
PD, X, September 2026
“Delicious! We bought your beans at the Williams Bay farmers market for brewing in our Moccamaster.”
Jim & Kris, Verified buyer, July 2026
For the sideboard, a half-gallon Mason jar of coffee looks the part. It holds about 30 ounces of ground ($42) or about 25 ounces of whole bean ($35), one-time orders only. Why we pack in glass: Mason jar coffee storage.
How much coffee a bed and breakfast needs
The math: rooms × occupancy × guests × cups × 7 days, divided by about 35 eight-ounce cups per pound at standard strength (the SCA golden cup ratio). All figures are our estimates, assuming 70 percent occupancy, 2 guests a room and 2 cups each.
| Rooms | Cups a week | Pounds a week | A size and schedule that covers it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | about 59 | about 1.7 lb | Two Big Hoff Bags (2 lb each) every 2 weeks |
| 6 | about 118 | about 3.4 lb | A King Hoff (7 lb) every 2 weeks |
| 10 | about 196 | about 5.6 lb | A King Hoff (7 lb) weekly |
| 15 | about 294 | about 8.4 lb | A Bulk 20 lb bag every 2 weeks |
Afternoon coffee, a third cup or a full holiday weekend push these numbers up, so round up. If you brew lighter, closer to urn strength at about 46 cups a pound, each pound figure drops by about a quarter. The arithmetic is in how many cups of coffee are in a pound.
Picking a size and schedule
A small inn's usual worry is paying a lot per pound for a little coffee. Two ways around it:
- A King Hoff every 2 weeks: 7 lb for $95 on a subscription ($13.57 a pound), about 39 cents an eight-ounce cup, or about $1.55 of coffee for a room of two at breakfast (our estimate: standard strength, 2 cups each). Ground or whole bean.
- Two Big Hoff Bags in one order: each extra Big Hoff Bag of the same grind on the same schedule is $4 off automatically, so 4 lb on a subscription is $30 + $26 = $56, which ships free. Every 2 weeks or monthly.
There is no special inn price. Bulk is the discount: the 20 lb bag is our lowest price per pound, $12.50 one-time or $11.50 on a subscription. Subscriptions come weekly, every 2 weeks or monthly, with a two-delivery minimum; you manage deliveries online through a secure emailed link (skip, pause, move a date earlier, change sizes).
In the quiet season, change to a smaller size or pause a delivery. If your season is short, one-time orders may suit you better: a King Hoff one-time is $105 and ships free. Run a vacation rental too? See the best coffee to stock in your Airbnb.
How to order coffee for your inn
Any business can buy, serve and resell our coffee: no account, application, approval or minimum. Order, and start pouring when the box arrives.
- Pick a size and the grind, then choose One-time order or a schedule.
- Check out as a guest with your email and shipping address. There is no company field, so type your inn's name with your name or on the Apt, suite line. Pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay through Stripe.
- Watch for the confirmation email, which lists what you ordered and the total.
We ship by USPS to US addresses only, free on orders of $50 or more; Queen, King and Bulk orders always ship free. Orders typically go out within a few business days (estimates, not guarantees). Online orders are limited to 60 items; for more, or with any question, use the contact page or call 414-375-5804. Every size and schedule is on our page of coffee for B&Bs and inns with no account.
Want to taste it first? Brew a Little Hoff (1/2 lb, $15), or have a free cup at the barn, 1040 Sherman Road in Cedarburg, open every day from 9 to 5. Checkout has no pickup option, but visitors are welcome.
B&B Breakfast Questions
What should a bed and breakfast serve for breakfast?
One or two signature hot dishes in a short rotation, something baked that morning, fresh fruit, yogurt or granola, juice and a full carafe of good coffee. Make-ahead dishes such as baked French toast let the innkeeper spend breakfast with guests.
What is a good continental breakfast for a B&B?
Coffee cake or muffins, seasonal fruit, yogurt and granola, hard-boiled eggs, local cheese, toast with jam, juice, tea and coffee kept fresh in a thermal carafe.
How much coffee does a bed and breakfast use?
Our estimate for a six-room inn at 70 percent occupancy, 2 guests a room and 2 eight-ounce cups each, is about 118 cups a week, about 3.4 pounds at standard strength (about 35 cups a pound).
Do you have decaf?
No. We make one coffee, with no decaf and no flavors. Keep a decaf on the side for guests who ask.
Do you sell pods?
No. We sell whole bean and ground coffee from a half pound to 20 pounds, plus half-gallon Mason jars.
Do I need a business account to order for my inn?
No. Any business can buy, serve and resell our coffee with no account, application, approval or minimum. Check out as a guest.
Set the table, fill the carafe
Pick a signature dish, set out a spread, tell guests where breakfast comes from and keep the carafe full. Start with a King Hoff every 2 weeks or a one-time King Hoff. Prost from all of us at the barn.