How to order coffee in Korean — the exact sentences
Ordering coffee is the first real conversation most people have in Korea, and it follows a script. Learn the script and you can walk into any café in Seoul and come out with the right drink.
The one sentence that does most of the work
아이스 아메리카노 주세요.
A-i-seu a-me-ri-ka-no ju-se-yo — An iced americano, please.
The pattern is [thing] 주세요 = "please give me [thing]". Swap in anything:
- 카페라테 주세요 — a café latte, please
- 따뜻한 아메리카노 주세요 — a hot americano, please
- 물 주세요 — water, please
주세요 is polite, safe with everyone, and works far beyond cafés. If you learn one sentence pattern this week, learn this one.
The questions you will be asked
Café staff will usually ask two or three things. They come fast, but they are always the same ones.
1. 사이즈는요? — What size?
작은 걸로 주세요 (small) / 큰 걸로 주세요 (large)
Or just say the English-derived word: 레귤러, 라지.
2. 드시고 가세요? — Are you having it here?
네, 먹고 갈게요. — Yes, I'll have it here.
아니요, 포장이요. — No, to go.
포장 (packaging) is the everyday word for takeaway. 테이크아웃 is also understood.
3. 적립하세요? or 포인트 있으세요? — Do you have a points card?
아니요, 괜찮아요. — No, I'm fine.
That last sentence — 괜찮아요 — is one of the most useful in the language. It covers "no thanks", "it's fine", "don't worry about it", and "I'm okay".
Paying
카드로 할게요. — I'll pay by card.
현금이요. — Cash.
Korea is close to cashless, so card is the default and nobody will blink.
When your drink is ready you may hear 주문하신 음료 나왔습니다 — "the drink you ordered is out". You do not need to produce that sentence, only recognize it.
Words worth memorizing
| Korean | English |
|---|---|
| 아메리카노 | americano |
| 카페라테 | café latte |
| 아이스 / 따뜻한 | iced / hot |
| 한 잔 / 두 잔 | one cup / two cups |
| 얼음 빼주세요 | no ice, please |
| 시럽 빼주세요 | no syrup, please |
| 여기서 먹을게요 | I'll have it here |
The iced americano thing
You will notice Koreans drinking iced americanos in winter, outdoors, in the snow. There is a well-worn joke about it — 얼죽아, short for "얼어 죽어도 아이스" ("iced even if I freeze to death"). Say 얼죽아 to a Korean friend and you will get a laugh, because it is the kind of slang foreigners are not expected to know.
Practice it out loud, not in your head
Reading this page takes four minutes. Saying 아이스 아메리카노 주세요 to a real person, and then handling the size question you did not expect, is a different skill entirely — and it is the one that fails at the counter.
That gap is the whole reason our Episode 1 takes place in a café in Seongsu. You order, your tutor plays the barista, and the questions come at you in the wrong order on purpose.
Related: why they'll ask your age right after, and what 밥 먹었어요 really means.