Local Drinks

1. A cup of tea

   A cup of tea — British-style black tea, usually with milk

   Usage

   Britain and Ireland. Ask for "tea" with no further detail and you get strong blended black tea with milk; you will be asked about sugar. Strong, milky and sweet is known as "builder's tea", and the colloquial word is "a cuppa". In the American South, ordering "tea" gets you cold sweet tea instead, so say "hot tea" if that is what you want

   Grammar Note

   "Tea" is uncountable, so a serving is "a cup of tea" — though in a café people shorten it to "two teas, please". "Do you take milk?" is the standard question

2. Flat white

   Flat white — espresso with steamed milk and very little foam

   Usage

   Born in Australia and New Zealand in the 1980s — both countries claim it — and now standard in British, Irish and American chains. Espresso with steamed milk, but with a thinner layer of foam and a smaller volume than a cappuccino or latte, so the coffee comes through more strongly. Australian and New Zealand cafés also use "long black" (espresso poured into hot water) and "short black" (a plain espresso)

   Grammar Note

   In Britain, "white" and "black" mark whether there is milk: "white coffee, please" or "black, no sugar". Americans are more likely to say "regular" or "with cream"

3. Filter coffee

   Filter coffee — American-style drip coffee

   Usage

   Called "drip coffee" in the United States, and what you get if you just ask for "coffee" in a diner. American diners and family restaurants usually top up your cup as often as you like (free refills, a "bottomless cup"). In Britain, asking for "a coffee" normally gets an espresso-based drink such as an americano or a latte, and many places do not brew drip coffee at all

   Grammar Note

   British English says "filter coffee"; the everyday American terms are "drip coffee" and "regular coffee". Beware that "regular" can mean with milk and sugar in parts of the US, so say "black" if that is what you want

4. Lemonade

   Lemonade — clear and fizzy in Britain, cloudy and still in America

   Usage

   This is the most misunderstood drink name in English. In Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, "lemonade" is a clear, carbonated lemon-flavoured soft drink. In the United States and Canada it is a still, cloudy drink of lemon juice, water and sugar. If you want the American kind in Britain, ask for "cloudy lemonade" or "traditional lemonade". British pubs will mix lemonade with beer to make a shandy

   Grammar Note

   Uncountable, but you can order "a lemonade" for one glass. The roadside stall American children run in summer is a "lemonade stand"

5. Squash

   Squash — fruit concentrate diluted with water

   Usage

   Britain. A concentrated syrup of fruit and sugar, mixed roughly one part to four or five parts water, drunk at home, at school and in pubs by children and drivers. The name varies: "squash" or "cordial" in Britain, "dilute" in Ireland, "diluting juice" in Scotland. It is barely sold in the United States, and American "cordial" means a sweet liqueur, so the word will not get you this drink there

   Grammar Note

   "Squash" also means the vegetable and the racket sport, so name the fruit — "orange squash", "blackcurrant squash" — to make the drink sense clear

6. Fizzy drink

   Fizzy drink — the soft drink, whose name changes by region

   Usage

   No other everyday word splits the English-speaking world this much. Britain says "fizzy drink", Ireland "mineral", Scotland "fizzy juice" or just "juice", Australia and New Zealand "soft drink". The US divides three ways: "soda" in the Northeast and California, "pop" in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest, and "coke" as a generic in the South, where "what kind of coke do you want?" can be answered "Sprite". Eastern Massachusetts also preserves "tonic"

   Grammar Note

   In Britain "soda" means soda water, so do not use it when you want a sweet fizzy drink; and in most of the US "tonic" means tonic water, the bitter mixer for gin

7. Root beer

   Root beer — the sweet North American sassafras-flavoured soft drink

   Usage

   The United States and Canada. It was originally flavoured with sassafras root bark, but the FDA banned safrole — the oil in sassafras — from food in 1960, so today's versions use other flavourings. Despite "beer" in the name it is normally non-alcoholic, unless the label says "hard root beer". With a scoop of vanilla ice cream it becomes a root beer float. It is barely sold in Britain, and first-time drinkers often say it smells of medicine or toothpaste

8. Ginger beer

   Ginger beer — the strong, spicy ginger soft drink

   Usage

   Common in Britain, in Caribbean shops and in Australia: a sharp carbonated drink made by fermenting or steeping ginger, normally non-alcoholic though traces can remain. It is not the same as ginger ale, which is paler, sweeter and much milder — the mixer sold as Canada Dry. Cocktails such as the Moscow mule and the Dark 'n' Stormy call for ginger beer

9. Sweet tea

   Sweet tea — the sweetened iced black tea of the American South

   Usage

   The American South. Black tea sweetened heavily while still hot, then chilled and served over ice. Ask for "tea" in a Southern diner and this is what arrives; say "unsweetened tea" (or "unsweet tea") if you do not want it, and "hot tea" if you want it hot. Outside the South, American iced tea usually comes unsweetened and you add sugar yourself

   Grammar Note

   In the South you may simply be asked "sweet or unsweet?". "Unsweet" is Southern colloquial; the full form is "unsweetened"

10. Hot chocolate

    Hot chocolate — the hot cocoa drink

    Usage

    Used across the English-speaking world: cocoa powder or melted chocolate stirred into hot milk, often topped with whipped cream and marshmallows. Americans also say "hot cocoa", and it is a winter fixture. British café menus sometimes write "drinking chocolate" instead

11. Milkshake

    Milkshake — blended milk, ice cream and flavouring

    Usage

    An American diner standard: milk, ice cream and flavouring blended together, classically chocolate, vanilla or strawberry. Anything labelled "malt" or "malted" has malted milk powder added and tastes different. In Australia the thin version is a "milkshake" and the thick ice-cream-heavy one is a "thickshake"

12. Irn-Bru

    Irn-Bru — Scotland's bright orange soft drink

    Usage

    Scotland. A vividly orange carbonated drink made by A.G. Barr since 1901, with a flavour that resembles no particular fruit. It is in every shop in Scotland and has a reputation as a hangover cure. You will rarely find it outside Scotland, so it is a thing to try on the spot

    Grammar Note

    A trademark, spelled with the hyphen as Irn-Bru. It is a deliberate respelling of "iron brew" and is pronounced exactly that way

13. Tap water

    Tap water — free drinking water from the tap

    Usage

    Tap water is drinkable in Britain, Ireland, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In a British restaurant, simply saying "water" may get you a bottle you have to pay for, so ask clearly: "a jug of tap water, please". Licensed premises in England and Wales are required to provide free drinking water on request. In the US, most restaurants bring iced water without being asked; say "no ice" if you would rather not have it

14. Apple cider

    Apple cider — unfiltered, unfermented apple juice (US and Canada)

    Usage

    The United States and Canada. Pressed apple juice left unfiltered, so it is cloudier and fuller-flavoured than clear apple juice. Orchards and farm stands sell it in autumn, often heated with cinnamon as "hot cider" and paired with cider doughnuts. In Britain, Ireland and Australia, "cider" means the fermented alcoholic drink; in America that one is "hard cider"

    Grammar Note

    "Cider" is the classic word whose alcohol status flips across the Atlantic: order it on an American menu and you get juice, order it in a British pub and you always get alcohol

15. Eggnog

    Eggnog — the creamy Christmas egg-and-milk drink

    Usage

    The United States and Canada. Milk, cream, sugar and beaten egg, dusted with nutmeg. It appears in supermarkets only in December, and the carton version contains no alcohol; many people add rum, brandy or bourbon, which is described as "spiked". Britain has a related drink made with the egg liqueur advocaat

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