Good coffee is as much a staple as bread for a big part of the Portuguese population. Coffee beverages come in many shapes and forms, all of which will eventually be checked upon with our Words of the Week segment.
For today, I brought you [o] galão, a hot drink made with expresso and hot milk mixed together and served in a glass (the proportions may vary, but the ratio is usually one quarter expresso to three quarters foamed milk). It’s a typical breakfast food (to be accompanied by a sandwich, croissant or pastel de nata), so it’s a word you’ll run into when looking at menus or simply by observing Portuguese people in their natural habitat!
Related words/useful sentences:
- [o] café/[o] snack-bar: snack-bar (place where coffee and small meals are served)
- [o] empregado [de mesa]: waiter
- [a] empregada [de mesa]: waitress
- Quero um galão e um pastel de nata. I want/would be a galão and a pastel de nata.
- Pedi um galão ao empregado há dez minutos. I asked the waiter for a galão ten minutes ago.
- Neste café servem-se galões ao pequeno-almoço. Galões [pl.] are served in this snack-bar at/for breakfast.
The European Portuguese Experience 
Obrigado! Now I finally know what it is that they drink in the pastelaria. I personally prefer uma bica e um pastel de nata (com canela).
Going to a pastelaria is our favorite pastime when we are in Algarve.
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De nada! Just in case you ever decide to try um galão, here’s another warning: adding a piping hot beverage to a glass usually makes the whole thing really, really hot; you should enjoy your pastel for a good few minutes before trying to hold the glass or drink it (we love our little china expresso cups, but pastelarias are not terribly fond of the bigger cups one can find at hipster cafés and coffee shops) :)
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