Local Drinks

1. bica

   Espresso

   Usage

   Portugal: coffee from a pressure machine, served in a small cup. The word belongs to Lisbon and the south; anywhere in the country "um café" gets you the same thing

   Grammar Note

   Feminine — "uma bica". The same word also means a spout or a public drinking fountain

2. galão

   Milky coffee in a tall glass

   Usage

   Portugal: espresso with a good deal of hot milk, served in a tall glass. The standard breakfast partner to buttered toast

   Grammar Note

   Masculine, plural "galões". The same word also means a gallon, and the braid or stripe on a uniform

3. meia de leite

   Milky coffee in a large cup

   Usage

   Portugal: coffee with milk in a large china cup. What separates it from a galão is the vessel, not the drink — the galão comes in glass

   Grammar Note

   Feminine. Both meia-de-leite and meia de leite occur; the hyphen depends on which side of the 1990 orthographic agreement the spelling comes from.

4. garoto

   Espresso with a little milk, in a small cup

   Usage

   Portugal: coffee with milk in a small cup, also called a "pingo" — far less milk than a galão. ⚠ The word's first meaning is "boy", so it only reads as coffee at the counter

   Grammar Note

   Masculine. To order one: "Um garoto, por favor"

5. abatanado

   Espresso served in a large cup

   Usage

   Portugal: espresso served in a big cup, the closest thing to an americano. Ask for this when a small cup is not enough

   Grammar Note

   Masculine and also an adjective (café abatanado). Specific to Portugal.

6. cafezinho

   Small cup of coffee

   Usage

   Brazil: coffee in a small cup, usually already sweetened. It is what shops, offices and homes offer a visitor first

   Grammar Note

   Masculine: "café" plus the diminutive -zinho. ⚠ In Brazilian slang the same word can mean a tip or a gratuity

7. sumo de laranja

   Orange juice

   Usage

   ⚠ The word splits by country: "sumo" in Portugal, "suco" in Brazil, for the same thing. In a Portuguese café ask for "um sumo de laranja natural" if you want it freshly squeezed

   Grammar Note

   Sumo is masculine and synonymous with suco; Brazil says suco de laranja.

8. guaraná

   Guaraná soft drink

   Usage

   Brazil: a fizzy drink made from the Amazonian guaraná fruit, as much a national default as cola. Commercial production began in 1905, and regional brands survive — Guaraná Jesus in Maranhão keeps its original formula

   Grammar Note

   Masculine. The plant and its fruit carry the same name

9. caldo de cana

   Sugarcane juice

   Usage

   Brazil: the liquid pressed straight out of sugarcane, also called "garapa". Street stalls and markets mill it in front of you and serve it cold. Commonest in the north-east, south and south-east

   Grammar Note

   "Caldo" is masculine; "cana" is feminine, short for "cana-de-açúcar"

10. água de coco

    Coconut water

    Usage

    Brazil: a green coconut opened on the spot with a straw pushed in. A fixture of north-eastern beach stalls — the region is also one of the country's main coconut-growing areas

    Grammar Note

    "Água" is feminine and, unlike Spanish "el agua", Portuguese keeps the feminine article: "a água", "uma água"

11. chimarrão

    Unsweetened yerba mate

    Usage

    Southern Brazil, above all Rio Grande do Sul: bitter yerba mate taken without sugar, drunk through a metal straw from a shared gourd. ⚠ The same word also means cattle gone feral

    Grammar Note

    Masculine, and usable as an adjective — "mate chimarrão"

12. vitamina

    Fruit-and-milk smoothie

    Usage

    ⚠ Brazilian sense: fruit or vegetables blended with milk or water — "pedi uma vitamina mista". ⚠ In Portugal the drink is a "batido" and "vitamina" only ever means the nutrient

    Grammar Note

    Feminine. The drink sense is Brazilian culinary usage; the European Portuguese equivalent is batido.

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