How to order coffee at your local Kopitiam
"Tiao Hir!" "Kopi-O!" "Tak
Kiu!"
If you've ever stepped into a local Kopitiam (coffee shop) in
Singapore, you'll definitely hear the waiter from the coffee shop
belting out in Hokkien a new order to the barrister - a bit like
Starbucks but without the fancy air-conditioned outlet with plush
armchairs, much fewer fashionable looking people, at a fraction of
the price.
I can only drink 1 cup of coffee a day - that is in the morning and
that has to be super strong to wake the sleepy day
dreaming me up. Any more, I'll be a freak show. This is unfortunate
because I really enjoy the taste of local coffee - the thicker the
better. My friend once described it as drinking mud - coffee that
looks like mud but tastes like heaven!
My favorite brew is from Tong-Ah on Keong Saik Street in Chinatown.
I used to work close by and it was the reason I would wake up to go
to work. I would buy Kopi-O takeaway (in a styrofoam cup), bring it
to work, settle down and have the first sip with along with my
first drag of cigarette (when I used to smoke) and the moment was
gold. All the stress and problems disappear from my world and life
was sweet and I am ready to take on the day. Where I work now, the
only place for a decent cup of local coffee is Coffee and Toast in
Citylink. It's not Tong-Ah, doesn't make the stress disappear but
it's good enough to wake me up.
The idea of assembling a glossary for the flowery and imaginative
terms for beverage drinks you hear at the local Kopitiam has been
sitting in my head for a bit now. While I probably don't have all
of it down, would really love it if anyone else has new terms to
email
me!
Kopi : Coffee with Condensed Milk
Teh : Tea with Condensed Milk
Add-on Descriptions (in order of grammar
positioning)
C : with Evaporated Milk and Sugar
O : with Sugar without Milk
Bok : Weak
Gao : Stong
Peng : Iced
Siew Dai : Less Sugar
Bao : Takeaway
e.g. Kopi-C Peng Bao : Iced Coffee with Evaporated Milk
Takeaway
Tak Kiu (Soccer) : Milo (This is because in the 70s/80s
there was a picture of a boy playing soccer on the tin.)
Tiao-Hir (Fishing) : Chinese Tea (in a tea bag)
Yuen Yang (Marriage) : Coffee and Tea mix (I just learnt
this and it's my new favourite!)
I'm not sure just if Horlicks is just Horlicks... it could
be.
For those who don't know, Kopitiam culture is slightly different
from the Sarabat (Milk Tea) Stall one which has an incredible and
more tea-focused culture (Teh-Halia, Teh-Tarik, etc.). Both are
equally wonderful, depending on what you're looking for. One says
Coffee Shop and the other says Tea Shop.