Portuguese CoffeeHow to Order Like a Local

In Portugal, "um café" means a short, strong espresso, called a bica in Lisbon and a cimbalino in Porto. For milky coffee, order a galão (a tall glass, mostly milk) or a meia de leite (half coffee, half milk in a cup). At the counter, an espresso usually costs around €0.80 to €1.20, which is why most Portuguese people drink several a day.

Coffee in Portugal is quick, cheap and social. People stand at the counter, drink it in two sips, chat with the person behind the bar and leave. There's no takeaway culture to speak of and no giant cups. Here's every word on the menu, what you get, and how to recreate it at home.

Espresso drinks: the black coffees

Café / bica / cimbalino

The standard: a single espresso in a small, thick cup. Everywhere in Portugal you can simply ask for um café (oong kah-FEH). In Lisbon you'll hear bica (BEE-kah); in Porto and the north, older customers say cimbalino, after the Italian La Cimbali espresso machines that arrived in the city's cafés.

There's a popular story that bica comes from a sign reading "Beba Isto Com Açúcar" (drink this with sugar). It's a nice tale but almost certainly invented after the fact.

Café cheio and café curto

• Cheio ("full"): the same espresso, topped up a little more. Slightly longer and milder.
• Curto ("short"): extra short and intense, like a ristretto.

Abatanado

An espresso with extra hot water, served in a bigger cup. The closest thing to an Americano or long black. Ask for it if a standard café is too strong for you.

Carioca

A weaker, more diluted espresso, lighter in body and caffeine. Don't confuse it with carioca de limão, which isn't coffee at all: it's hot water with a strip of lemon peel, often ordered after a heavy lunch.

Café duplo

A double espresso, served in a slightly larger cup.

Descafeinado

Decaf. Usually available as an espresso, sometimes from a capsule machine.

Milky coffees

Pingo / café pingado

An espresso with a drop (pingo) of milk, in the small cup. Like a macchiato.

Garoto

A small cup that is mostly hot milk with a little coffee. Gentler than a pingo. Names shift by region: in Porto, pingo is often used for what Lisbon calls a garoto, so if you're unsure, describe what you want.

Meia de leite

"Half of milk": half coffee, half hot milk, in a normal-sized cup. The everyday breakfast coffee for many Portuguese, often with a torrada or a pastry.

Galão

A tall glass of hot milk with a shot of espresso, roughly a quarter coffee and three-quarters milk, served with a long spoon. The Portuguese answer to a latte. If you want it stronger, ask for a galão escuro (dark); weaker, a galão claro (light).

How much does coffee cost in Portugal?

Prices have risen since 2024, but coffee is still cheap by European standards. Typical counter prices:

• Café / bica: about €0.80 to €1.20.
• Pingo, garoto, abatanado: similar, sometimes 10 to 20 cents more.
• Meia de leite: about €1.20 to €1.80.
• Galão: about €1.30 to €2.

Expect to pay more if you sit at a table on a terrace, in a tourist hotspot or in a hotel. Standing at the counter (ao balcão) is always cheapest. You normally pay at the end, either at the counter or at the till.

How to order coffee in Portuguese

Short and simple is best:

• Um café, por favor. (oong kah-FEH, poor fah-VOR) One espresso, please.
• Uma bica, se faz favor. (OO-mah BEE-kah, seh fahsh fah-VOR) A polite Lisbon way to ask for an espresso.
• Um galão, por favor. (oong gah-LOWNG) A galão, please.
• Uma meia de leite. (OO-mah MAY-ah duh LAYT) A half coffee, half milk.
• A conta, por favor. (ah KOHN-tah) The bill, please.

Add a pastry from the counter and you've had the full Portuguese ritual. A pastel de nata is the obvious choice; our Portuguese pastries guide covers the rest.

When do Portuguese people drink coffee?

All day, in small doses:

• Breakfast: a galão or meia de leite with toast or a pastry.
• Mid-morning: a quick café at the counter.
• After lunch: almost always a café, often with the bill. It's considered the end of the meal.
• Afternoon: a café or galão with a snack, the lanche.
• After dinner: a café, sometimes followed by a small glass of brandy or ginjinha.

A milky coffee after a big lunch or dinner is unusual but nobody will mind if you order one.

Which coffee brands do Portuguese cafés use?

You'll see the same few names on café awnings, cups and sugar packets. Delta, founded in 1961 in Campo Maior in the Alentejo, is the most widespread. Nicola and Sical are other long-standing Portuguese roasters. Portuguese blends tend to be dark-roasted, often with some robusta in the mix, giving a strong, bitter cup with thick crema.

Making Portuguese coffee at home

The easiest way to get the taste is a Portuguese blend, either ground for a moka pot or espresso machine, or in capsules.

Portuguese

Delta Cafés ground coffee bundle

Portugal's best-known coffee brand, the one in most cafés. Brew it strong for a bica after dinner.

Tip: Ground coffee, so it works in a moka pot or filter.

View on Amazon

If you drink a lot of espresso, Delta's own capsule system, Delta Q, is what many Portuguese households use. The machines are compact and make a short, strong café that tastes close to the café version.

Portuguese

Delta Q Quick espresso machine

A compact capsule machine from Delta, Portugal's biggest coffee brand, for a bica at home.

Tip: Uses Delta Q capsules only.

View on Amazon

To make the classics at home:

1. Bica: a single espresso of about 25 to 30 ml, in a small preheated cup.
2. Abatanado: a single espresso topped with 60 to 90 ml of hot water.
3. Meia de leite: an espresso plus the same amount of steamed milk, in a regular cup.
4. Galão: a single espresso poured into a tall heatproof glass with about 150 to 200 ml of hot, frothed milk.

Serve with something sweet, such as a slice of bolo de bolacha, which uses coffee in the recipe too, or start the day the Portuguese way with our Portuguese breakfast guide.

From the shop

What you’ll need

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Portuguese

Delta Cafés ground coffee bundle

Portugal's best-known coffee brand, the one in most cafés. Brew it strong for a bica after dinner.

Tip: Ground coffee, so it works in a moka pot or filter.

View on Amazon

Portuguese

Delta Q Quick espresso machine

A compact capsule machine from Delta, Portugal's biggest coffee brand, for a bica at home.

Tip: Uses Delta Q capsules only.

View on Amazon

Portuguese

Costa Nova stoneware mug

Simple Portuguese stoneware from the Costa Nova range, made for a big morning galão.

Tip: Microwave- and dishwasher-safe.

View on Amazon