Local Drinks

1. kaffi

   Coffee

   Usage

   Coffee as a brewed drink (beans or grounds are kaffit). The centre of Greenlandic social life is kaffemik = kaffillerneq (a coffee gathering), where a household opens its doors to everyone on a birthday or confirmation

2. tii

   Tea (the brewed drink)

   Usage

   Tea as a drink. Tea leaves and tea bags are a separate word, the plural tiit. Warning: the similar-looking tiippoq / tiingavoq have a sexual meaning, so do not conjugate this word that way

3. najugassaq

   Najugassaq (a hot drink — coffee or tea)

   Usage

   A general word for a warm drink served to a guest, meaning coffee or tea. Used at a kaffemik. Warning: the same spelling can also be built from najugaq (dwelling) + -ssaq and read as "a place to live", so use it where the drink meaning is clear

4. immiaq

   Beer

   Usage

   The same word covers beer as a liquid and a glass or bottle of it; light beer is immiaq kimikinneq. Note that alcohol sales in Greenland are restricted by hour and by day of the week, and the rules differ by municipality and settlement — some settlements have voted to stop selling alcohol altogether, so check locally before travelling outside the towns

5. sodavandi

   Soft drink, soda

   Usage

   Danish sodavand borrowed and reshaped to Kalaallisut phonology. The bottle is puiaasaaraq

6. kakaavi

   Cocoa

   Usage

   Cocoa has three forms, kakaavi / kakaavu / kakao, and any of them can be used

7. isseq

   Juice, cordial (saft)

   Usage

   Pressed juice. It also covers the concentrated syrup diluted with water that is called saft in the Nordic countries. Pressing is issingerpaa

8. tungu

   Berry juice

   Usage

   Berry juice — crowberries (paarnaq) and lingonberries are the summer harvest in Greenland. Note that tungujortoq ("blue") and tungusunnippoq ("tastes sweet") merely share the opening letters

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