schwarzer Kaffee
/ˈʃvaʁt͡sɐ kaˈfeː/word by word
The English phrase 'black coffee' is schwarzer Kaffee in German.
schwarzer Kaffee refers to coffee served without any milk or cream. You can also use the phrase Kaffee ohne Milch (coffee without milk) to indicate you want black coffee in a polite manner. If you are specifically ordering drip coffee, the phrase Filterkaffee schwarz can be used.
Which one should you use?
In certain contexts, you might encounter specific terms for certain sizes: Kleiner Schwarzer refers to a small black coffee, while Großer Schwarzer refers to a large black coffee.
How do you pronounce it?
/ˈʃvaʁtsɐ kaˈfeː/
Did you know?
- The word Kaffee shares a distant ancestor with the Arabic word qahwa, which originally referred to a type of wine before being applied to coffee.
- While schwarzer Kaffee is the literal term, ordering a Kleiner Schwarzer at a cafe is a specific cultural shorthand for a single espresso without milk.
- In many German regions, a schwarzer Kaffee is the standard accompaniment to a piece of cake during 'Kaffee und Kuchen', a traditional afternoon social ritual.
Examples in context
- Ich hätte gerne einen schwarzen Kaffee, bitte.I would like a black coffee, please.
- Lass uns einen schwarzen Kaffee trinken gehen!Let's go grab a black coffee!
- Ein schwarzer Kaffee ist sehr stark.A black coffee is very strong.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry schwarzer Kaffee, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (Schwarzer, Kaffee) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries Kaffee, CC BY-SA 4.0.
