How to order coffee in English ☕️ (C1 C2 Super Advanced Level!)

Hello lovely students and welcome back to English with Lucy.

I have really been enjoying the little series I'm making about C1 level English,

advanced English, and from your feedback you've been enjoying it too.

So today I decided to really push myself and push you too and see if I could write

a lesson about ordering a coffee in English at a C1 level.

How advanced can we make ordering a simple cup of coffee?

Oh, just watch me.

It's going to get advanced.

Before we begin, as always, I want to let you know that I have lovingly created a

free PDF for you.

It goes with this lesson.

It contains all of the phrases and grammatical structures that I'm going to

use in today's video, as well as a quiz to test your knowledge.

Just click on the link in the description box, you enter your name and email

address, you sign up to my mailing list and your copy of the coffee PDF will

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Right, let's get started.

So we all know that ordering a coffee is

one of the first things you learn in English and it can be very simple.

Can I have a coffee, please?

This way of ordering a coffee is

absolutely fine.

It's perfect in fact, although it

probably wouldn't work in somewhere like Starbucks where an order is more like,

can I get a doppio half-caf skinny mocha venti to go?

You love one of those.

I know, I do.

But that's not what we're talking about today.

I want to order a normal coffee in

advanced English.

And I know what some people are going to

say when they hear my order.

People never speak like that.

I agree.

I agree.

It's not necessary, but it's fun and it's cool.

And if we can't have fun, cool English

lessons, then what have we got?

I think it's fun to see how far we can

take it.

And more importantly for you, I think

it's a fun and memorable way to introduce some advanced grammatical structures and vocabulary.

Are you ready?

We're going to move up through the levels.

Level one, black coffee please.

This is the simplest way to order a coffee.

And it's perhaps not the most polite way to order in a coffee shop.

But if you're ordering as part of a group after dinner, for example, I think it's fine.

The addition of please at the end though is important.

Let's take it up a notch.

Level two, can I have a black coffee please?

Here, the request is formulated as a question using the modal verb ‘can’ which

makes it more polite than the first one.

You will often hear this said as, can I

get a black coffee please?

This is slightly more common in American

English, but it's making its way into British English.

Some people don't like the use of get here, but a lot of native speakers use it.

Now let's say this more politely.

Level three, may I please have a black

coffee with a splash of milk?

All right, we're getting a little bit

more complex here.

This is a very polite way to order a

coffee using the modal verb may.

You can also replace may with the modal

verb could which is a more polite way to make requests than can.

You can also see that the word please has moved from the end to directly after may I.

This front loading of please emphasises the politeness of the request and sets a

formal tone from the outset.

We are also now asking for a splash of

milk and a splash means a small amount of liquid in this context.

Okay, can I go further?

Level four, could you kindly prepare a

black coffee with a splash of milk and two sugars?

Okay, we're getting closer to advanced level here and further from reality now.

We have the modal verb could, which I talked about in level three.

And instead of please, we can see the adverb kindly.

This is another way to soften a request and make it more polite.

Let's add a little more advanced language.

Level five, would it be possible for you

to brew a medium-sized black coffee with a splash of milk, two sugars and a

sprinkling of cinnamon on top?

All right, this one is even more polite

and a bit poetic as well.

Would it be possible is a very polite way

to form a question.

We also have some more advanced

vocabulary, including to brew, meaning to make a hot drink like coffee or tea and

sprinkling, which means a small amount of liquid or powder that is dropped onto a surface.

Can I make it even more advanced?

Level six and we're not even at the end yet.

If it's not too much trouble, could you please craft a medium-sized black coffee

enriched with a splash of organic milk and precisely two cubes of raw sugar

while ensuring it's brewed to the optimum temperature and then garnish it with a

delicate sprinkling of cinnamon on top?

We're moving into nightmare customer

territory now.

If it's not too much trouble is a very

polite way of asking someone to do something, we often add it to the

beginning of a request.

Often when we know the request is going

to cause some extra effort.

Now we're asking for the barista to craft

the coffee, not just make one, craft.

This means to make objects in a skilled

way, especially with your hands.

And the coffee is to be enriched with a

splash of milk.

To enrich means to make the quality of

something better by adding something else.

Then it is to be brewed to the optimum temperature.

Optimum means best possible.

You might hear the synonym optimal or

optimal used in American English.

And then we have garnished with cinnamon.

To garnish means to decorate food or drink with a small amount of food.

Can this customer get any worse?

Yes.

The answer is yes.

If you've ever worked in retail or

hospitality, you know the answer is yes.

Here is my coffee order in its final form.

Level seven.

Would you be so kind as to commence the

artisanal preparation of a medium-sized black coffee sourced, if possible, from

single origin beans and brewed at precisely 89 degrees Celsius?

It should be complemented with a splash of organic, locally sourced milk,

sweetened to a modest degree with exactly two cubes of raw sugar, and adorned with

a subtle yet discernible sprinkling of hand-ground cinnamon.

Finally, because I'm not done yet, I request that it be presented in a ceramic

mug featuring a handle ergonomically designed for a right-handed individual.

Someone is definitely going to spit in this customer's coffee.

Let's look at the grammar.

Would you be so kind as to is a very,

very polite and formal way to make a request.

And in the final sentence, you saw the

structure, I request that it be presented.

This sentence uses the subjunctive mood,

which is a formal structure in English and appears after certain verbs like request.

And the vocabulary, first there is to commence,’ which means ‘to begin.

We had artisanal, artisanal, meaning prepared in a traditional way.

We have complemented.

This is the verb to complement with an E,

it's different to the one with I.

If one thing complements with an E,

another, it goes well with the other thing and it makes it better.

We complement each other, we go well together, we make each other better.

We compliment each other means we give each other compliments.

I like your dress, I like your hair, I like your coffee.

What did you ask for?

I'm going to ask for that.

Little did she know.

We also have adorned with.

The verb to adorn means to add something decorative to a person or thing to make

it more attractive.

We also have the adjectives subtle and discernible.

Subtle means not obvious or noticeable, while discernible means able to be recognised.

So I wanted it subtle but discernible.

Nightmare.

And finally, perhaps the most egregious request, an ergonomically designed handle.

Ergonomically means in a way that makes something, often equipment or furniture,

comfortable and effective for people who use it.

You'll see all of this grammar, all of the vocabulary, along with example

sentences in the PDF that goes with this lesson.

So remember to download that by clicking

the link down below.

What did you think of my C1 level coffee order?

Is it realistic?

No.

Is it interesting?

I think so.

And I hope it will help you to remember some of the structures and vocabulary

that I've presented.

We really do use all of these words and

phrases in real life.

I really hope you enjoyed this lesson.

If you have any requests for future C1 level ridiculous videos, please let me

know in the comments.

I love writing and making these.

One other thing you might be interested in, especially if you're interested in

English at this level, I have a really gorgeous C1 programme.

It's 12 weeks long.

You can start it immediately.

Over 2000 students have taken this course and they have had fantastic results.

Look at the feedback from some of my amazing C1 students.

My team and I poured our heart and soul into this course.

We worked a story throughout all of the readings and listenings.

We injected a lot of humour.

We've even got an entire module on

British English humour.

We weave pronunciation throughout the course.

We have weekly conversation lessons where you listen in on conversations I've had

with really interesting people, and then we break them down and analyse them.

The conversations, not the people.

The people stay intact.

If you're interested in learning a little bit more, visit englishwithlucy.com.

All of my courses are there.

Check out the C1 programme.

I will see you in the next lesson.