 Coffee-loving expats in big cities like Shanghai are pretty spoiled in terms of how little Chinese they need to get by. China’s coffee culture has been booming recently, and at just about every corner you’re bound to find a Western coffee chain staffed with locals who understand generic orders such as a latte or an americano. But what happens when you walk into a busy Starbucks branch and the only person available to take your order is a barista-in-training who looks at you funny when you ask for a grande cold brew? You can’t expect that each Starbucks you come across will have English-speaking staff. You’re the foreigner in China, after all!  Types of Coffee and Drinks If a regular coffee isn’t where you get your usual caffeine fix, here are the translations of other standard beverages commonly served across coffee chains, cafes and restaurants: 拿铁 (ná tiě) — Latte 浓缩咖啡 (nóng suō kā fēi) — Espresso 卡布奇诺 (kǎ bù jī nuò) — Cappuccino 摩卡 (mó kǎ) — Mocha 美式咖啡 (měi shì kā fēi) — Americano 玛奇朵 (mǎ qí duǒ) — Macchiato 星冰乐 (xīng bīng lè) — Frappuccino 冷萃 (lěng cuì) — Cold brew 茶 (chá) — Tea Here are a couple of examples of iced drinks: 冰拿铁 (bīng ná tiě) — Iced latte 冰红茶 (bīng hóng chá) — Iced black tea Of course, Starbucks has its own system for cup sizes, so let’s take a look at what each cup translates to in Chinese. 小杯 (xiǎo bēi) — Short 中杯 (zhōng bēi) — Tall 大杯 (dà bēi) — Grande 超大杯 (chāo dà bēi) — Venti Each coffee shop will have its own flavors of coffee drinks and syrups, but let’s discuss some of the common ones: 香草 (xiāng cǎo) — Vanilla 榛子 (zhēn zi) — Hazelnut 薄荷 (bò hé) — Peppermint 巧克力 (qiǎo kè lì) — Chocolate 焦糖 (jiāo táng) — Caramel 草莓 (cǎo méi) — Strawberry 拉茶 (lā chá) — Chai tea 绿茶 (lǜ chá) — Green tea 抹茶 (mǒ chá) — Matcha As for add-ons and custom orders, here are some phrases that may be of use to you: 鲜奶油 (bù yào xiān nǎi yóu) — Whipped cream 双份浓缩 (shuāng fèn nóngsuō) — Double shot of espresso 牛奶 (niú nǎi) — Milk 低脂牛奶 (dī zhī niú nǎi) — Low fat milk 豆浆 (dòu jiāng) — Soy milk 糖 (táng) — Sugar 奶精 (nǎi jīng) — Creamer 低咖啡因 (dī kāfēi yīn) — Decaf So after you’ve given your order, you can say either: 在这里用 (zài zhè lǐ yòng) — For here 打包 (dǎ bāo) — To go |
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