Local Drinks

1. cafè amb llet

   Coffee with milk

   Usage

   Espresso with plenty of hot milk. The standard morning order; after lunch most people switch to a "tallat"

   Grammar Note

   "Llet" is feminine. The final b of "amb" is silent

2. cafè tallat

   Espresso cut with a little milk

   Usage

   Less milk than a "cafè amb llet", more than an Italian macchiato or a French noisette. Served in a small clear glass so the colour shows. Drunk between meals or after lunch and dinner

   Grammar Note

   Also called "trencat". Ordering just "un tallat" is enough

3. xocolata desfeta

   Thick drinking chocolate

   Usage

   Chocolate melted into milk or water, often thickened with cornflour. Taken at breakfast or in the afternoon with bread, "melindros" (finger sponge biscuits), coca, fritters or an ensaïmada to dip

   Grammar Note

   "Desfeta" means melted or undone. Also called "xocolate bullit"

4. suís

   Hot chocolate topped with whipped cream

   Usage

   A "xocolata desfeta" with whipped cream on top — the signature order at the old "granges", the dairy cafés of Barcelona's old town. Usually comes with melindros

   Grammar Note

   The word literally means "Swiss"; as a drink name it is a masculine noun

5. orxata de xufa

   Tiger-nut milk

   Usage

   A cold, milky drink of nothing but water, tiger nuts ("xufa") and sugar — it contains no dairy. The protected production zone is Alboraia, just outside Valencia. Classically drunk with fartons dunked into it

   Grammar Note

   Plural "xufes". Ordering "una orxata" is enough. The variant spelling "xufla" also exists

6. granissat de llimona

   Lemon slush

   Usage

   Crushed ice mixed with syrup, granular in texture — a summer café staple. Other flavours include strawberry, tamarind and lime

   Grammar Note

   In the Valencian Country the lime version is called "aiguallimó". "Granissat" is masculine

7. granissat de cafè

   Coffee slush

   Usage

   The coffee version of granissat, drunk on summer afternoons in place of iced coffee. Some places add a splash of milk

8. llet merengada

   Cold cinnamon-and-lemon milk

   Usage

   Sweetened milk flavoured with lemon peel and cinnamon, with or without whipped egg white. Served in a tall glass, dusted with cinnamon, drunk through a straw. Available all year but mainly a summer drink

   Grammar Note

   Called "llet gelada" in the Valencian Country and "llet preparada" or "llet a la mallorquina" in the Balearics

9. til·la

   Linden flower infusion

   Usage

   An infusion of the flowers of the "til·ler" (linden tree), drunk for colds and as a calming or sleep-aiding drink. Available in cafés and bars

   Grammar Note

   ⚠ Write the geminate with the middle dot: l·l. Dropping it, or substituting a period or a hyphen, gives a different spelling. It is pronounced as a long /lː/

10. Cacaolat

    Catalan bottled chocolate milk

    Usage

    A cold drink of milk, sugar and cocoa, patented on 4 December 1931 by Joan Viader Roger — the first industrially made chocolate milk in the world. Sold in bars and kiosks; the returnable glass bottle is the traditional format

    Grammar Note

    ⚠ A brand name, so it is capitalised. It is not a generic word for chocolate milk

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