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El café está frío hoy.

El café está frío hoy.
The coffee is cold today.
From Lesson 17:Ser vs. estar·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about El café está frío hoy.

Why do we use está instead of es in this sentence?
We use está (from the verb estar) to talk about temporary states or conditions. A standard cup of coffee is usually hot, so being cold is a temporary state for this specific cup. We use estar for how things are acting or feeling right now.
What if I am drinking an iced coffee that is meant to be cold? Do I still use está?
If being cold is the defining characteristic of the drink (like an iced coffee), you would use es (from ser) to describe it: El café helado es frío. But in this sentence, está frío tells us the coffee was supposed to be hot but has cooled down.
Why does está have an accent mark?
The accent mark tells you to stress the last syllable. It is also crucial because it distinguishes the verb está (is) from the word esta (this), which we use for feminine nouns like esta casa (this house).
Why does the word for cold (frío) end in an 'o'?
In Spanish, adjectives must match the gender of the noun they describe. Because café is a masculine noun, we use the masculine form frío. If you were talking about a feminine noun like soup (la sopa), you would say La sopa está fría.

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