Ah, coffee. One of, if not the most popular drinks in the world. It’s interesting that when I first came to Korea in 2009, coffee still wasn’t as big as it is now. Now, you can see coffee shops everywhere. It’s almost to the point where I think there are too many coffee shops around.
So how do you say coffee in Korean? It’s actually really simple and easy to remember.
커피 (keo-pi) = coffee
It’s a Konglish form of the English word coffee so you can see how the Korean word sounds similar. Remember, there’s no sound similar to the f sound in Korean, so lots of times, the consonant ㅍ is used to mimic the f sound.
So what if you went to a coffee shop and wanted to order a cup of joe?
커피 주세요 (keo-pi ju-se-yo) = Please give me some coffee.
커피 한잔 주세요 (keo-pi han-jan ju-se-yo) = Please give me a cup/glass of coffee.
These phrases also apply to other drinks you can order at the coffee shop. Just replace coffee with your drink of choice.
Here are some other related coffee words:
카페 (ka-pe) = cafe
커피 샵 (keo-pi shyap) = coffee shop
커피 콩 (keo-pi kong) = coffee bean
커피 메이커 = (keo-pi me-i-keo) = coffee maker
블랙 커피 (beul-laek keo-pi) = black coffee
바리스타 (ba-ri-seu-ta) = barista
And there you have it! Enjoy your daily cup of coffee.