Going for Drinks: Order Like You Live There
Order coffee and beer the native way with poner, decode Spanish beer sizes, toast properly, and survive the morning after.
Key phrases
¿Me pones una caña, por favor?
Can I get a small beer, please?
Ponme un cortado cuando puedas.
Get me a cortado when you have a sec.
¿Qué os pongo?
What can I get you all?
¿Tomamos algo después del curro?
Shall we grab a drink after work?
Para mí un tinto de verano y para ella una clara.
A tinto de verano for me and a shandy for her.
Un café solo y un vaso de agua, por favor.
An espresso and a glass of water, please.
¿Nos cobras cuando puedas?
Can we settle up when you get a chance?
¡Salud! ¡Por los recién casados!
Cheers! To the newlyweds!
Dos tercios y un botellín, porfa.
Two 33cl bottles and a small one, please.
Anoche íbamos todos bastante pedo.
Last night we were all pretty wasted.
Vaya resacón tengo, casi no puedo abrir los ojos.
What a monster hangover I have, I can barely open my eyes.
Solo llevo un puntillo, tranquila.
I'm only a little tipsy, relax.
The Verb That Marks You as a Local
Forget quiero for a moment. In Spain, the native way to order revolves around poner — literally “to put.” ¿Me pones un café? sounds bizarre translated (“Will you put me a coffee?”) but it’s exactly what locals say. Use ponme / ¿me pones? in casual bars and póngame / ¿me pone? with older staff or in smarter places. Listen out for the bartender’s side of it too: ¿qué te pongo? (what can I get you?).
One more habit to steal: Spaniards toman drinks rather than beben them. ¿Tomamos algo? is the standard invitation for anything from a coffee to a gin and tonic. Save beber for drinking in general — no bebas si conduces (don’t drink if you’re driving).
Decode the Coffee Menu
- Café con leche — espresso with steamed milk; the default if you just say un café
- Café solo — black coffee (never café negro — it doesn’t exist)
- Cortado — espresso “cut” with a splash of milk
- Café con hielo — espresso plus a separate glass of ice; pour it over yourself. Summer essential.
- Carajillo — coffee with a shot of brandy or rum
- Descafeinado — decaf; no cute short form, you have to say the whole word
Beer Comes in Sizes, Not Pints
Ask for una cerveza and you’ll get a puzzled “which kind?” Learn the sizes instead:
- Caña — small draught glass, the everyday order
- Doble — roughly twice a caña (in some regions, a copa)
- Jarra — big glass, about a pint
- Botellín — 20cl bottle; tercio — 33cl bottle
- Clara — beer with lemon soda, ideal in a heatwave
Draught beer is de barril, and if your glass arrives as mostly foam, the head is espuma.
Toasting and the Morning After
Raise your glass with ¡salud! and dedicate it with por: ¡Por el cumpleañero! (To the birthday boy!). As the night progresses, the vocabulary escalates: llevar un puntillo (tipsy), ir pedo or ir ciego (properly drunk), and the next day, resaca — a hangover, or resacón if it deserves a trophy. In Mexico that hangover is a cruda and in Colombia a guayabo.
Pro Tip
Tipping culture barely exists in Spanish bars — locals leave small change at most, and nobody expects more. What is expected is a warm gracias, hasta luego on your way out. Manners over money.
Consider this your first round — the whole bar-to-brunch story is waiting in Social Life and Relationships, part of our Speak Spanish Like a Native book series.