How to Order Kopi in Sabah: A Coffee-Shop Cheat Sheet
Kopi, kopi-O, kopi-C, peng, kosong: what the words mean and how to get the coffee you actually want in a Sabah kopitiam.
Ordering coffee in a Sabah coffee shop is quick once you know the shorthand. The base word is kopi, and everything else changes the milk, the sugar, the strength or the temperature.
The basics
- Kopi: coffee with sweetened condensed milk
- Kopi-O: black coffee with sugar
- Kopi-C: coffee with evaporated milk and sugar
- Kosong: no sugar (kopi-O kosong is plain black coffee)
- Peng: iced
- Siew dai: less sweet
- Kau: strong
Sabah coffee
Much of the coffee in Sabah's coffee shops is roasted locally, and Tenom in the interior is the best-known growing area. Traditional roasts are dark and often roasted with sugar or margarine, which gives a thick, caramel-edged cup.
The same shorthand works for tea: teh, teh-O, teh-C, and teh tarik for the frothy pulled version.
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