How to Order Coffee in Greece: The Complete Phrase Guide

You walk into a café in Athens, confident, holiday-rested, and you say “a coffee, please.” The barista stares back. Not rudely, just waiting. In Greece, “a coffee” won’t get you far, and you’ll need to provide a little more important information before your barista gets busy whipping up your drinks.

By the end of this guide, you’ll order with the right words, in the right order, at the right kind of café.

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The Two Decisions You Must Make Before You Name Your Drink

How to order coffee in Greece:

1. Decide hot or cold (ζεστό / κρύο — zesto / krio).
2. Decide your sweetness level: σκέτο (sketo, no sugar), μέτριο (metrio, medium), or γλυκό (glyko, sweet).
3. Name the drink (freddo espresso, freddo cappuccino, Greek coffee, frappé).
4. Add milk if you want it: με γάλα (me gala) or χωρίς γάλα (choris gala).
5. Say παρακαλώ (parakalo) — please.

That’s the whole system. Hot or cold, how sweet, what drink, with or without milk, polite tag at the en.

The reason sweetness comes before the drink name is mechanical. Sugar in Greece is added during preparation, not after. Greek coffee gets sugar boiled in with the grounds in the μπρίκι (briki). A freddo espresso has the sugar shaken into the shot while it’s still hot, before the ice goes in. You can’t stir sugar into a finished cup and get the same result because the texture would be wrong. The sweetness question comes first because the drink can’t be built without the answer.

If you only remember one thing from this article, remember that. Have your sweetness answer ready before you order.

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Every Type of Coffee You Can Order in Greece

Greek café menus look longer than they are. Most of what you see is two or three base drinks crossed with hot/cold and milk/no milk. Here’s what’s actually behind each name.

Ελληνικός καφές (ellinikos kafes) — Greek coffee

My personal favourite! A Greek coffee is finely ground coffee, water, and (usually) sugar boiled together in a small long-handled pot called a μπρίκι (briki). Poured unfiltered into a small cup. The grounds, which you shouldn’t drink, settle at the bottom.

The mark of a good Greek coffee is the καϊμάκι (kaimaki), the pale foam on top. Don’t worry about stirring it in.

Greek coffee is always hot and never with milk. You can order it sketo, metrio, glyko, or vari glyko. It usually comes with a glass of cold water on the side.

Φρέντο εσπρέσο (freddo espresso) — the iced shaken espresso

A double espresso shot, sugar added immediately if you want it, then shaken hard with ice in a cocktail shaker until it’s cold and foamy. Strained over fresh ice.

This is what most Greeks under 45 are drinking in cities. It overtook frappé as the default cold coffee somewhere in the 2010s and has stayed at the top. It’s made with real espresso, so it tastes like coffee instead of like instant coffee.

Don’t forget to specify your sweetness before they shake it.

Φρέντο καπουτσίνο (freddo cappuccino) — the cold cappuccino

A freddo espresso topped with cold frothed milk, served cold, sitting on top of the iced coffee. This is probably the single most ordered café drink in Greece today.

Milk language matters here. The default is με γάλα (with milk). If you want it dairy-free, say χωρίς γάλα (choris gala). For oat or almond, name the milk: με γάλα βρώμης (me gala vromis) or με γάλα αμυγδάλου (me gala amygdalou). Most specialty cafés stock both. Most καφενεία don’t.

Φραπέ (frappé) — the foamy instant coffee classic

Instant coffee, cold water, sugar, ice, shaken or whisked into a tall glass of dense brown foam.

Invented in Thessaloniki in 1957 at an international trade fair, when a Nescafé rep couldn’t find hot water for a demonstration and improvised with a cocktail shaker. For about forty years afterwards, the frappé was Greek summer.

It’s not as popular anymore. You might not find it as often in the city, but it’s there for you in a Naxos beach bar, a village καφενείο in the Mani, or a roadside spot on the way to Meteora.

Εσπρέσο and καπουτσίνο (hot espresso and hot cappuccino)

Exactly what you’d expect. Both come with a small glass of cold water on the side without asking.

If you want a hot espresso in August, when everyone around you is drinking iced, say ζεστό εσπρέσο (zesto espresso) to be explicit. Otherwise some baristas will assume freddo and you’ll be stuck with an incorrect, albeit refreshing, drink to start your day.

Φίλτρου and νες (filter coffee and instant)

Φίλτρου is filter coffee, plain and simple. Νες is instant coffee served hot, from Nescafé, hence the name. Most cafés will make you one if you ask.

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The Complete Sweetness System — All Four Levels

Most guides stop at three sweetness levels. There are four.

Greek	Romanisation	Sugar	Who orders it
σκέτο	sketo	None	Espresso drinkers, purists
μέτριο	metrio	~1 tsp	The most common order, especially for Greek coffee
γλυκό	glyko	~2 tsp	Common, especially with older customers
βαρύ γλυκό	vari glyko	~3 tsp, brewed strong	Almost exclusively for Greek coffee

Βαρύ γλυκό is the one most guides miss. It’s both strong and very sweet. More coffee in the briki, more sugar with it. You’ll mostly hear older Greeks order it with their morning ελληνικός καφές.

A practical note: vari glyko on a freddo espresso confuses most baristas. For freddos, stick to sketo, metrio, or glyko. If you’re genuinely unsure, μέτριο is the safe default for any drink, anywhere.

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Milk and Size Modifiers

Greek	Romanisation	Meaning
με γάλα	me gala	with milk
χωρίς γάλα	choris gala	without milk
με γάλα εβαπορέ	me gala evaporé	with evaporated milk (traditional for frappé)
με μαύρη ζάχαρη	me mavri zachari	with brown sugar
στο χέρι	sto cheri	to take away (literally “in the hand”)
διπλό	diplo	double

Στο χέρι is the phrase you’ll use most as a traveller. Just add it to the end of your order and they’ll switch to a paper cup. Φρέντο καπουτσίνο μέτριο στο χέρι, παρακαλώ. Done.

On cup sizes: there’s no tall/grande/venti here. Freddos come in one tall glass. Greek coffee comes in one small cup. If you want more coffee, order διπλό (diplo), a double.

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What to Actually Say — Full Ordering Phrases

Greek	Romanisation	English
Ένα φρέντο εσπρέσο σκέτο, παρακαλώ	Ena freddo espresso sketo, parakalo	One freddo espresso, no sugar, please
Ένα φρέντο εσπρέσο μέτριο, παρακαλώ	Ena freddo espresso metrio, parakalo	One freddo espresso, medium sweet, please
Ένα φρέντο καπουτσίνο μέτριο, παρακαλώ	Ena freddo cappuccino metrio, parakalo	One freddo cappuccino, medium sweet, please
Έναν ελληνικό καφέ σκέτο, παρακαλώ	Enan elliniko kafe sketo, parakalo	One Greek coffee, no sugar, please
Ένα φραπέ γλυκό με γάλα, παρακαλώ	Ena frappé glyko me gala, parakalo	One frappé, sweet, with milk, please
Ένα φρέντο καπουτσίνο μέτριο στο χέρι	Ena freddo cappuccino metrio sto cheri	One freddo cappuccino, medium sweet, to go

One word worth knowing: if you say εσπρεσάκι (espresaki) or φραπεδάκι (frapedaki) — the diminutive forms — you sound less like a tourist placing an order and more like someone who belongs there. Greek uses diminutives as a sign of warmth and familiarity, not smallness.

When you’re done: τον λογαριασμό, παρακαλώ (ton logariasmo, parakalo) — the bill, please. You ask for it. Nobody’s trying to rush you out.

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Test Yourself: Coffee Ordering Quiz

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The Café Culture Rules Tourists Miss

Sweetness comes first. The barista will ask you, so have the word ready.

Water arrives without asking. A small glass of cold water comes with every hot espresso, cappuccino, and Greek coffee.

You pay after, not before. Sit-down café service works like a restaurant. Order, sit, stay as long as you like, ask for the bill. Only takeaway counters work the other way.

Lingering is expected. Ninety minutes over one freddo is completely normal. Nobody will hover, nobody will clear your glass to hint.

Don’t clink coffee cups. Wine, beer, ouzo, cheers away. Coffee cups, no. There’s a Greek superstition that it brings bad luck. You’ll never see locals do it.

Καφενείο is not καφετέρια. A καφενείο (kafeneio) is the traditional café, usually older clientele, simple menu of Greek coffee, tsipouro, and soft drinks. A καφετέρια (kafeteria) is the modern café with the full freddo range. Both welcome tourists. Don’t walk into a village kafeneio and ask for a flat white, they won’t have an espresso machine, and you’ll feel awkward asking.

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Seasonal Switching — Hot in Winter, Cold in Summer

Greek coffee culture has a thermostat. Around late May, city cafés tilt cold. By July, you’ll struggle to spot a hot drink on the tables around you. In August, it’s near-universal.

Cold coffee accounts for roughly 60–65% of total coffee consumed in Greece, and freddo variants dominate the cold side. Greeks consciously shift, and shift back, with the season.

Two practical takeaways. In summer, default to cold and say ζεστό (zesto) only if you specifically want hot. In winter, hot espresso and Greek coffee become the natural choice. If you’re travelling in April or October, you’ll see the split happening in real time on the tables around you.

For more on how to navigate ordering in Greece, see our guide on ordering food and drink in a Greek taverna.

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Now Try It: Order Your Coffee Out Loud

Reading an order is one thing. Saying it at a counter, in sequence, clearly enough that the barista doesn’t ask you to repeat yourself — that’s the bit worth practising. Give it a go below.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Greek coffee the same as Turkish coffee?

In terms of preparation and taste, effectively yes. Same finely ground beans, same briki, same boiled-not-brewed method, same grounds at the bottom of the cup. The drink has shared origins across the former Ottoman territories — Greek, Turkish, Armenian, Cypriot, and Arabic versions all use the same technique with regional variation. The name “Greek coffee” became standard in Greece after 1974. The cup itself didn’t change.

What is kaimaki?

Καϊμάκι (kaimaki) is the pale foam on top of a properly made Greek coffee. It forms when the coffee is brought to the brink of boiling in the briki, then poured carefully so the foam transfers intact. A Greek coffee without kaimaki was made by someone in a hurry. Don’t stir it. Sip through it.

How much does coffee cost in Greece?

• Takeaway from a neighbourhood spot: €1.50–€2
• Sit-down at a local café: €2.50–€3.50
• Tourist hotspots (Plaka, Santorini caldera, Mykonos town): €4–€5, sometimes more

The same freddo cappuccino can cost €2.50 on one street and €4.50 on the next if it faces a famous square. Walk two blocks back from any major sight and prices roughly halve.

Do I need to speak Greek to order coffee?

No. Every barista in a tourist area speaks enough English to handle an order. That said, knowing σκέτο, μέτριο, and γλυκό speeds things up — those words don’t translate cleanly into English anyway. And παρακαλώ and ευχαριστώ (efcharisto — thank you) get a noticeably warmer response than skipping them. For the everyday basics before your trip, our Greek greetings guide covers everything from good morning to goodbye.

What is kafemandeia?

Καφεμαντεία (kafemanteia) is coffee cup fortune-telling. After you finish a Greek coffee, you invert the cup onto the saucer, wait for the grounds to dry into patterns, and someone reads the shapes — birds, paths, letters, mountains. Taken with varying degrees of seriousness. It happens between people who know each other, not between a tourist and a stranger. If you’re invited into one, accept. It’s a slow, warm hour.

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Quick Reference

Greek	Romanisation	Meaning
σκέτο	sketo	no sugar
μέτριο	metrio	medium sweet
γλυκό	glyko	sweet
βαρύ γλυκό	vari glyko	very strong and very sweet
με γάλα	me gala	with milk
χωρίς γάλα	choris gala	without milk
στο χέρι	sto cheri	to take away
ζεστό	zesto	hot
κρύο	krio	cold
διπλό	diplo	double
παρακαλώ	parakalo	please
ευχαριστώ	efcharisto	thank you
τον λογαριασμό	ton logariasmo	the bill