How to Order Coffee in the Greek Language

Written by Greek Boston in Learn How to Speak Basic Greek Comments Off on How to Order Coffee in the Greek Language

Coffee is a big part of the Greek culture. Although you can find regular, espresso-based coffee drinks in Greece, the most popular type of coffee by far is the “Greek coffee” that is made in a special pot called a briki. However, you do have a lot of choices for coffee while you are in Greece, and you will need to know the right way to order it so you can get your coffee just the way you like it. Here’s more information:

Types of Coffee to Order in Greece

As mentioned above, there are different types of coffee drinks you can order. Greek coffee is made with the briki pot and still has the grounds in it. There are also the typical espresso drinks available in some places. What we in the United States refer to as “regular coffee” (drip-style coffee) is often referred to as French coffee in Greece. Frappe drinks are special iced coffees that you can find all over Greece that are made with instant Nescafe.

Here’s a look at how to say these types of coffee drinks in the Greek language:

• Coffee – καφέ – kafe
• Greek Coffee – ελληνικό καφέ – elliniko kafe – or referred to as simply “ελληνικό” or “elliniko”
• Frappe – φραπέ – frappe
• Espresso – εσπρέσο – espresso
• Cappuccino – καπουτσίνο – kapoutsino
• Decaf – ντεκαφεϊνέ – dekafeine

These are a few basic ways to order coffees in the Greek language. Here are your two options. Both work equally as well.

• A coffee, please. –  Έναν καφέ, παρακαλώ – Enan kafe parakalo
• I would like a coffee, please. – Θα ήθελα έναν καφέ παρακαλώ – tha ithela enan kafe parakalo.

In addition, there are different combinations of coffee drinks that you will need to know. Here’s some extra vocabulary you might need to know when wording coffee in Greece:

• A Greek coffee sweet/medium/plain – Έναν ελληνικό γλυκό / μέτριο / σκέτο – Enan elliniko gliko/metrio/sketo
• A double Greek coffee – Έναν ελληνικό διπλό – enan elliniko diplo
• A frappe sweet/medium/plain – Ένα φραπέ γλυκό / μέτριο / σκέτο – ena frappe glyko/metrio/sketo
• A frappe with milk/ without milk – Ένα φραπέ με γάλα / χωρίς γάλα – ena frappe me gala/horis gala

The easiest way to go about learning the vocabulary for ordering coffee in Greek is to figure out exactly how you like your coffee and then only learn the vocabulary for how to say it just the way you like it. There’s no need to learn all of these words unless you think you will need to order different types of coffee drinks in the Greek language.

The Learn Greek section on GreekBoston.com was written by Greeks to help people understand the conversational basics of the Greek language. This article is not a substitute for a professional Greek learning program, but a helpful resource for people wanting to learn simple communication in Greek.

Categorized in: Learn How to Speak Basic Greek

This post was written by Greek Boston