I thought my fellow coffee lovers might like to know some useful vocabulary! For me, I learned it in order to work as a barista, but it’s still important to know as a customer too. All vocabulary includes necessary usage notes/gender. Native speakers please feel free to correct/add on to this.
– vocabulario
para describir el café (to describe coffee)
el café… (coffee…)
amargo: bitter americano: American/Americano (referring to coffee that is half coffee concentrate and half water for a milder taste/caffeination–not really in reference to coffee that comes from America) caliente: hot con crema: with cream con espuma: with foam con hielo: with ice con leche: with milk con miel: with honey dulce: sweet frío: cold (referring to cold brew in the case of my job–iced coffee is not necessarily cold brew in English)
los sabores (flavors)
la avellana: hazelnut la canela: cinnamon el caramelo: caramel la cereza negra: black cherry el chocolate: chocolate la vainilla: vanilla
para describir la leche (to describe milk)
la leche… (milk…)
de almendra: almond de coco: coconut de soya: soy desnatada: skim entera: whole semidesnatada: reduced fat
los tamaños (sizes)
pequeño/a: small mediano/a: medium grande: large
otras cosas (other things)
el aroma: smell la cafeína: caffeine el capuchino: cappuccino la crema batida: whipped cream el expreso, el café exprés: espresso
para pagar (in order to pay)
el dolar: dollar el cambio: change el centavo: cent costar (o to ue stem change): to cost la moneda: coin pagar: to pay
– frases
** Note that, depending on situation and country, it varies as to whether you’d speak informally or formally in a coffee shop to a barista or customer. I tend to speak formally with adults and informally with children/young adults my age.
¿Cuánto/a cuesta? How much does it cost?
¿Cuántos/as cuestan? How much do they cost?
Cuesta(n) … dólares y … centavos. It costs / They cost … dollars and … cents. Cuestan treinta y nueve dólares y noventa y nueve centavos. They cost $39.99 / thirty dollars and ninety nine cents.
Me gustaría un café caliente con crema. I would like a hot coffee with cream.
¿Puedo ayudar(te/le/les)? Can I help you?
¿(Tienes/Tiene) leche de soya? Do you have soy milk? Tu/Su cambio es … dólares y … centavos. Your change is … dollars and … cents.
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I hope this is helpful! Once again, if you notice any errors, please contact me. If you’re a native speaker have any regional/dialectual notes to add, please feel free to do so!