Local Drinks

1. kafè

   Coffee

   Usage

   Means both the drink and the place that serves it (a café)

2. kafè bil-ħalib

   Coffee with milk

   Usage

   Coffee with milk in general; for black coffee ask for "kafè iswed"

   Grammar Note

   "bi" (with) plus the article "il-" gives "bil-"; it does not assimilate before "ħ", so "bil-ħalib" stays as it is, unlike "biż-żejt"

3. te

   Tea

   Usage

   Usually served British-style with milk, a legacy of the colonial period; it may arrive with milk unless you say otherwise

4. Kinnie

   Kinnie (Maltese bittersweet orange soft drink)

   Usage

   A bittersweet fizzy drink made from bitter oranges and wormwood extract, on sale since 1952 and stocked almost everywhere in Malta. Note that it is a registered trademark of Simonds Farsons Cisk, not a generic word; for soft drinks in general use a word such as "luminata"

5. imbuljuta

   Imbuljuta (hot chestnut drink)

   Usage

   A hot drink made from chestnuts, associated with Christmas; it is seasonal and not on sale all year

6. luminata

   Lemonade

   Usage

   The sweet citrus fizzy drink sold in bottles and cans; for freshly squeezed lemon juice say "meraq tal-lumi"

7. meraq tal-larinġ

   Orange juice

   Usage

   Swap the fruit for other juices: "meraq tat-tuffieħ" (apple), "meraq tal-għeneb" (grape)

   Grammar Note

   "meraq" also means gravy or cooking liquid; on a menu the drinks column is what disambiguates it

8. ilma tal-vit

   Tap water

   Usage

   Malta's tap water is a blend of desalinated seawater and groundwater, and many people order bottled water for the taste; bottled is "ilma minerali"

   Grammar Note

   "vit" is a tap; a separate word spelled the same way means a screw, so it is safest to learn it in the phrase with "ilma"

9. ċikkulata sħuna

   Hot chocolate

   Usage

   A winter café staple; the cold version is "ċikkulata kiesħa"

   Grammar Note

   "ċikkulata" is feminine, so the adjective takes the feminine "sħuna"; the masculine is "sħun"

Browse all TravelPhrases languages