Coffee drinks · Real-life English · Level: Intermediate

Vietnamese, Turkish and Greek Coffee: Café English

Some coffees are brewed in a very different way from a normal espresso. Learn the words you need to order Vietnamese, Turkish and Greek coffee and to enjoy them.

Published 15/11/2026 · Educational guide

What you need to know

Vietnamese coffee is made with a small filter called a phin and is usually served with sweetened condensed milk. Turkish and Greek coffee are brewed in a small pot with very fine grounds that stay in the cup, and Turkish coffee is usually served without milk. In Australia our sources place these drinks mostly in Vietnamese cafés and banh mi shops and in Turkish and Greek restaurant settings, so it helps to know the words and to ask.

Three coffees, three ways of brewing

Vietnamese-style coffee is made with a phin, a small filter device that needs no filter paper, and it is usually made with sweetened condensed milk. A coffee magazine reports strong demand in suburbs of Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, especially in Vietnamese cafés and banh mi shops, and links it to Australia’s large Vietnamese population. It also says Vietnam is the world’s biggest producer of Robusta beans, known for a chocolatey, full-bodied taste.

Turkish coffee is finely ground and not filtered. It is brewed in a small, heavy pot called a cezve, also called a briki. Cold water, coffee and optional sugar are heated slowly until a thick froth forms. It is strong, usually served without milk, in a small cup with a glass of water. In our sources, a Sydney chef serves it with sweets after meals in his Turkish restaurants.

Greek coffee also uses very fine grounds, cooked in a small pot called a briki, with sugar if you like. The pot is taken off the heat when the foam, called kaimaki, rises, before the coffee boils. In both Turkish and Greek coffee the grounds settle at the bottom of the cup, so you wait a couple of minutes and sip slowly. The last mouthful can be thick. Greek has named sweetness levels: sketos (plain), me oligi (a little), metrios (medium) and glikos (sweet).

Key words and phrases

phin

A small filter device used to make Vietnamese-style coffee. It needs no paper filter.

sweetened condensed milk

Thick, sweet milk that is usually added to Vietnamese-style coffee.

cezve

A small, heavy pot used to make Turkish coffee. It is also called a briki.

briki

The small pot used to make Greek coffee. The name is also used for the Turkish pot.

grounds

The very small pieces of coffee that settle at the bottom of a Turkish or Greek coffee cup.

kaimaki

The foam that rises on top of Greek coffee as it is cooked.

metrios

A Greek word for medium sweet, used when ordering Greek coffee.

freddo

A Greek-style iced coffee. The frappé is another Greek-style iced coffee.

Conversation practice: ordering Vietnamese coffee

• “Could I please have …?” plus the name of the drink is a clear, polite way to order something you know.
• “Hot or iced?” is a normal question for a drink that can be served either way. Answer with “Iced, please” or “Hot, please.”
• “Not here, sorry” is a friendly way to say a place does not offer something. It does not mean you asked in the wrong way.

More useful phrases

Could I please have a Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk?

A polite way to order Vietnamese-style coffee by name.Use it: At a Vietnamese café or banh mi shop that lists it.

Can I get that iced, please?

Please serve the drink cold with ice.Use it: When the drink can be served hot or iced.

Is it made with a phin filter?

Is the coffee brewed using the small Vietnamese filter?Use it: When you are curious about how the drink is made.

Could you make it a little less sweet?

Please use less sugar or condensed milk.Use it: When you find sweet drinks too sweet.

I’d like a Greek coffee, medium sweet (metrios), please.

I want Greek coffee with a medium amount of sugar.Use it: At a place that serves hot Greek coffee.

Could I have a Turkish coffee with no sugar, please?

I want Turkish coffee without sugar.Use it: When you prefer unsweetened coffee.

Let it sit for a minute or two so the grounds can settle.

Wait before you drink, so the grounds sink to the bottom.Use it: When a friend is about to drink Turkish or Greek coffee too quickly.

Common mistakes and better ways to say it

• Less helpful: “Give me the coffee with the condensed milk.”

  Try instead: “Could I please have a Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk?”

  Naming the drink and adding “please” is clearer and more polite.

• Less helpful: “Why is there dirt in my Turkish coffee?”

  Try instead: “Is it normal for the grounds to settle at the bottom?”

  Turkish coffee is unfiltered, so the grounds are part of the drink. A calm question is polite and helps you learn.

• Less helpful: “Quick, I need it now.”

  Try instead: “How long will it take, please?”

  Turkish and Greek coffee are heated slowly and need time for the grounds to settle. Asking about time is more friendly than asking for speed.

• Less helpful: “Normal sweet, please.”

  Try instead: “Medium sweet, please. (Metrios, please.)”

  Greek coffee has named sweetness levels, so a clear word such as medium or metrios avoids confusion.

Where you might meet these coffees in Australia

Our sources show a few settings. Vietnamese coffee is linked to Vietnamese cafés and banh mi shops in suburbs of Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. Turkish coffee appears in a Sydney restaurant example. We found no source saying that hot Turkish or Greek coffee is common in ordinary Australian cafés, so do not expect it on every menu. You may also be offered one at a friend’s home or a community event, and these phrases will help there too.

A Melbourne example shows how Greek coffee has changed. A beach café in Elwood serves Greek-style iced coffees, such as the frappé and the freddo, rather than hot Greek coffee. The owner says the thick foam is hard to make in an electric pot. The article dates the frappé to the 1960s and the freddo to the early 1990s. This is one café, not a rule, but “Greek coffee” on a menu can mean an iced drink.

A Melbourne magazine says Mediterranean migrants, including Greeks, Italians, Turks and Lebanese, arrived in Melbourne from 1947 and helped shape its café culture, making the café a social meeting place. The Vietnamese coffee article links demand to Australia’s large Vietnamese population. Our sources do not give a full history of each coffee, so ask people about their own traditions rather than assuming.

Try it yourself

Choose one drink and practise the order. For Vietnamese coffee, ask for it iced and ask for it a little less sweet. For Greek coffee, ask for it medium sweet (metrios). Say your order aloud twice, once slowly and once the way you would say it at a real counter.

Continue learning

• Café English hub
• Coffee and Multicultural Australia: Beyond the Italian Espresso Story
• How Italian Migration Shaped Australian Cafe Culture
• Arabica vs Robusta Coffee Beans: What’s the Difference?
• Australian Iced Coffee vs Iced Latte: What Is the Difference?
• How to Read an Australian Cafe Menu

Sources checked

These pages were read while writing this lesson. Links are external references, not sponsorships or endorsements.

• Beanscene magazine: Coffee for the culture
• SBS Food: the long, rich history of Turkish coffee
• Neos Kosmos: Greekness in a glass, Elwood beach kiosk
• Beat Magazine: Melbourne migration told through cafés and restaurants
• The Greek Foodie: how to make Greek coffee

This is an English-learning article. Rules, menus and café habits change, so check current official guidance and ask the café for the details that matter to you.