To order a drink at a Malaysian kopitiam, start with the drink, then add what you want to change: kopi is coffee and teh is tea, O means no milk, C means evaporated milk, kosong means no sugar and peng means iced. So "kopi O kosong peng" is iced black coffee with no sugar. Once you know these few words, you can order almost anything. (Wikipedia), SAYS)
Start with the default
Say just "kopi" or "teh" and you will usually get it hot, with condensed milk, which is already sweet. That is the standard kopitiam drink, thick and rich. Everything else on this page is a change from that default. (Wikipedia))
The words you need
Milk
- Kopi / teh: with condensed milk
- Kopi O / teh O: no milk, with sugar
- Kopi C / teh C: with evaporated milk, with sugar added separately
The C has a nice little story. SAYS traces it to Carnation, a popular evaporated milk brand, which customers asked for so often that the request shrank to one letter. Kopitiams may use other brands today, but the letter has stayed. Wikipedia also notes a Hainanese explanation, linking it to the word for "fresh", so you may hear both told with equal confidence. (SAYS, Wikipedia)
Sugar
- Kosong: no sugar. It is the Malay word for zero or empty.
- Siew dai: less sugar
- Siew siew dai: very little sugar
- Gah dai: extra sugar
(Wikipedia)) If those feel like too much to remember, kurang manis, Malay for "less sweet", works in most places.
Strength
- Gao: extra strong and thick
- Di lo: no water added at all, so stronger still
- Poh: weaker, with more water
Temperature
- Peng: iced. It comes from the Hokkien word for ice.
- No word needed for hot, since hot is the default.
Malaysians often shorten orders. "Teh peng" is simply iced tea with condensed milk, and you will hear it at nearly every table. (Wikipedia))
Put it together
Think of the order as a small sentence. Drink first, then milk, then strength or sugar, then ice.
- Kopi: hot coffee with condensed milk
- Kopi peng: iced coffee with condensed milk
- Kopi O: hot black coffee with sugar
- Kopi O kosong: hot black coffee with no sugar
- Kopi O kosong peng: iced black coffee with no sugar
- Teh C: hot tea with evaporated milk and sugar
- Teh C kosong: hot tea with evaporated milk and no sugar
- Teh C peng: iced tea with evaporated milk and sugar
- Teh O peng: iced tea with sugar and no milk
- Kopi gao siew dai: strong coffee with condensed milk and less sugar
Do the same with Milo. Milo C is Milo with evaporated milk, a lighter version than the usual. (SAYS)
A few more to know
- Cham: coffee and tea mixed together, also called yuanyang. (Wikipedia))
- Teh tarik: tea with condensed milk, poured back and forth to make it frothy. It is more of a mamak order, but many kopitiams make it too.
- Ipoh white coffee: a style of coffee roasted with margarine and served with condensed milk, closely linked to Ipoh's old town.
How to get it right the first time
- Say it plainly. Nobody minds if you say "black coffee, no sugar, with ice". Staff have heard everything.
- Expect variation. Usage differs a little between towns, and between Malaysia and Singapore, so one shop's "less sweet" may not match another's. (Wikipedia))
- Order with food. Kaya toast and soft-boiled eggs are the classic partners.
Where to practise
Try your new vocabulary at one of these well-loved kopitiams:
- Yut Kee, Kuala Lumpur: KL's grand old Hainanese coffee shop, running since 1928, with house-made kaya and roti bakar. Tuesday to Sunday from 7.30am to 3pm. RM10 to RM30.
- Kedai Kopi Sin Yoon Loong, Ipoh: widely credited as a birthplace of Ipoh white coffee, with charcoal kaya toast and soft eggs. Daily from 6.30am to 2.30pm. RM5 to RM15.
- Kedai Kopi White House, Kota Bharu: kaya toast and Hainanese coffee on the same table as nasi dagang. Open from 6.30am to 1am, closed on Fridays. RM6 to RM15.
The word kopitiam tells you about the style of shop, not its halal status. Yut Kee and Sin Yoon Loong are listed as non-halal in our data, and White House is listed as Muslim-friendly (certification not confirmed). Look for a valid JAKIM certificate if this matters to you.
Browse more on our kopitiam page, and next time the auntie asks what you want, try "kopi O kosong peng" and watch how quickly it arrives.
Sources
- Actually ahโฆ what is the "C" in teh C, kopi C and other kopitiam drinks? โ SAYS, 2025-09-08
- Kopi (drink) โ Wikipedia, 2026-11-07
- Kopi tiam โ Wikipedia, 2026-11-07