I have just read in my international edition of Newsweek that the French government is going to lower its tax rate by 72% on food and drinks at restaurants and cafés this summer hoping that people will start frequenting the country’s beloved cafés again as many are closing due to the financial crisis.  I wrote an article about this some months back.  So, since many of you might be some of those that enjoy that tax cut when on vacation this year, I thought I would give you some vocabulary to help you order.

un Vittel - a famous French brand of mineral water, you can order it even if you just mean you want mineral water
un Perrier (citron) - a famous French brand of carbonated mineral water which you can now get lemon and lime flavored
une menthe à l’eau - this is mineral water with a little bit of mint-flavored syrup
un Coca - a Coke as in Coca Cola
un Orangina - this is an orange and mandarin citrus soda which is very popular in France
une limonade - something like 7Up or Sprite
un citron pressé - lemonade
une orange pressé - like lemonade, but made with oranges (ice, freshly-squeezed orange juice, chilled water and sugar)
un jus d’orange - orange juice
un diabolo menthe - lemonade and mint syrup
une bière allemande - German beer
une bière française - French beer
un demi - 1/4 liter of draught beer
un kir - a drink made of cassis liqueur and a little white wine
un verre de rouge - a glass of red wine
un verre de blanc - a glass of white wine
un lait fraise - a thin, strawberry milk shake
un lait au chocolat - chocolate milk
un chocolat chaud - hot chocolate
un express - espresso coffee
un café au lait - coffee with milk, served in a larger cup (normally for breakfast)
un café crème - coffee with milk, but served in a smaller cup
un thé citron - tea with lemon
un thé nature - just normal tea
un thé au lait - tea with milk 

Why don’t you tell us about your favorite drink to order at a French café or restaurant??