How to order coffee in Mandarin Chinese

Using the Chinese phrase “我要一杯咖啡”(Wǒ yào yībēi kāfēi, I would like a cup of coffee), to order a cup of coffee really isn’t sufficient these days. What about the size? Would you like it flavoured? How about the kind of coffee bean? None of this is covered by “我要一杯咖啡”. Here are some other things you can say to order a coffee using Mandarin Chinese language to properly order a cup of coffee. (For alcoholic drinks, see our guide on ordering drinks in Chinese).

Core Chinese sentence structure

This is the general structure of how you would order coffee in Chinese. It looks complicated and long but keep in mind that you don’t need to use all the elements, and it’s likely that you have a favourite order that you can simply memorize for convenience.

Greeting + “I would like a ” + size + iced + flavor + drink type + customizations + for here/to go + “thank you.”

Greeting in Chinese

First, start with a simple “你好”(Nǐ hǎo, hello). Do not greet a barista with “你好吗”. If you say “你好吗” with a big smile, it might appear that you’re flirting…poorly! (Here more on greetings in Chinese.)

Coffee size

Drink size might sound like one of the simplest aspects of ordering a coffee but thanks to Starbucks, it isn’t.

Normal coffee sizing:

Small coffee: xiǎo bēi 小杯Medium coffee: zhōng bēi 中杯Large coffee: dà bēi 大杯

Starbucks coffee sizing:

Short: xiǎo bēi 小杯
Tall: zhōng bēi 中杯
Grande: dà bēi 大杯／biāozhǔn bēi标准杯
Venti: Chāodà bēi 超大杯

In order to increase revenue, the ‘short’ coffee size (小杯 xiǎo bēi) isn’t usually displayed on the counter at Starbucks. Frequently what this means is that if you point at the smallest cup on the counter and say “我要一杯小杯咖啡”（Wǒ yào yībēi xiǎo bēi kāfēi, I want a small cup of coffee) , the nice barista will answer “对不起，这是中杯” (Duìbùqǐ, zhè shì zhōng bēi。Sorry, this is a tall.)

Describe your coffee in Chinese

Instead of “咖啡” (Kāfēi，Coffee), use one of the more descriptive words below. If you would like your drink iced or flavoured you simply add “冰” (bīng, iced ) and your flavour before your coffee type. For example, Iced mocha is “冰摩卡” (bīng mókǎ).

Coffee types in Chinese

Espresso: yì shì nóngsuō 意式浓缩
Double Espresso: shuāng fèn yì shì nóngsuō 双份意式浓缩
Americano: měishì kāfēi 美式咖啡
Black Coffee: hēi kāfēi 黑咖啡
Cappucino: kǎ bù qí nuò 卡布奇诺
Latté: ná tiě 拿铁
Mocha: mókǎ 摩卡
Macchiato: mǎ qí duǒ 玛奇朵

Chinese Coffee flavours

Caramel: jiāo táng 焦糖
Vanilla: xiāngcǎo 香草
Hazelnut: zhēnzi 榛子
Chocolate: qiǎokèlì 巧克力
Mango: mángguǒ 芒果
Cherry: yīngtáo 樱桃
Peppermint: bòhé 薄荷
Cinnamon: ròuguì 肉桂

Coffee customizations

These are some of the possible customizations you can have with your coffee. Of course, there are many crazy coffee customizations that aren’t included.

Whipped Cream: xiān nǎiyóu 鲜奶油
Milk: niúnǎi 牛奶
Skinny: dī zhī niúnǎi 低脂牛奶
Dry: duō nǎi pào, shào nǎi 多奶泡，少奶
Wet: shào nǎi pào, duō nǎi 少奶泡，多奶
Decaf: dī kāfēi yīn 低咖啡因

Coffee to go?

Finally, you can end up with “To go”(dǎbāo 打包) or “Here” (zài zhèlǐ yòng 在这里用)

Example of a full Chinese sentence

I would like a medium skinny latte with a double shot.
Nǐ hǎo, wǒ yào yībēi zhōng bēi ná tiě, yào shuāng fèn nóngsuō, dī zhī niúnǎi.
你好，我要一杯中杯拿铁，要双份浓缩，低脂牛奶。