Kopi Tiam Terms

A kopitiam or kopi tiam is a traditional coffee shop found in Southeast Asia, patronised for meals and beverages. The word kopi is a Malay/Hokkien term for coffee and tiam is the Hokkien/Hakka term for shop (店). Menus typically feature simple offerings: a variety of foods based on egg, toast, and kaya, plus coffee, tea, and Milo, a malted chocolate drink which is extremely popular in Southeast Asia, particularly Malaysia and Singapore and in some parts of Indonesia, especially at Sumatra Island.

Example of typical kopitiam beverage terms

• kopi oh = hot black coffee (sweetened)
• kopi oh beng = iced black coffee (sweetened)
• kopi oh kosong = hot black coffee (unsweetened)
• kopi oh kosong peng = iced black coffee (unsweetened)
• kopi = Coffee with condensed milk (sweetened)
• kopi beng – iced White coffee (sweetened)
• kopi 'c' – hot coffee with evaporated milk (sweetened)
• kopi 'c' kosong – hot coffee with evaporated milk (unsweetened)
• kopi 'c' beng – iced coffee with evaporated milk (sweetened)
• kopi sterng – iced coffee extra smooth. Usually tastes better than regular kopi (sweetened, extra smooth)
• teh oh = hot tea (without milk, sweetened)
• teh oh beng = iced tea (without milk, sweetened)
• teh oh kosong = hot tea (without milk, unsweetened)
• teh oh kosong peng = iced tea (without milk, unsweetened)
• teh = Tea with condensed milk (sweetened)
• teh beng – iced milk tea (sweetened)
• teh 'c' – hot tea with evaporated milk (sweetened)
• teh 'c' kosong – hot tea with evaporated milk (unsweetened)
• teh 'c' beng – iced tea with evaporated milk (sweetened)
• tiao hee or tiao her – Chinese tea
• tut kiu – Milo
• Cham = mixed of coffee and tea (sweetened)
• Cham beng = iced version of Cham (sweetened)
• Yin yong = same as Cham
• Michael jackson = mixed of soy milk and grass jelly (black and white)

Explanation of kopitiam terms

• kopi = coffee
• o/oh = black (coffee) / without milk (tea)
• beng = iced
• kosong = Malay for "zero", meaning without sugar
• 'c' = with evaporated milk (origins from Hainanese in which the "Xi"/"C" sound means "fresh" (鲜) i.e. "Fresh" Evaporated milk, 'Xi Gu-nin' meaning fresh evaporated milk in Hainanese)
• teh = tea
• tiao hee or tiao her = Hokkien for 'fishing' Reference to dipping up and down of tea bag.
• tut kiu = Hokkien for 'kicking a ball', as retro Milo tins often feature a soccer player kicking a ball on their labels.
• 'siew dai' = Foo chow (Hock Chew) or Cantonese for 'min tim' or 'less sweet/base', i.e. less sugar or sweet condensed milk (added to the bottom of the cup).
• 'ka dai' = Foo chow (Hock Chew) for 'add sweet' or Cantonese for 'ga tim' or 'add base' i.e. a sweeter beverage, with more sugar or condensed milk added.

These terms may be used in different configurations to suit one's liking.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia