An early flight, I always grab my coffee in the terminal before boarding. Airplane coffee is made with tank water, not bottled water. And that water just doesn’t make a good cup (plus, it’s gross).
The coffee machines onboard are “galley insert” appliances designed to connect to the aircraft’s potable water system. And there’s actually good reason for that. A plumbed system delivers consistent flow and temperature, and avoids the time, mess, and burn risk of repeatedly pouring bottles into a hot brewer while the airplane moves.
And yet… how much do you trust the EPA’s Aircraft Drinking Water Rule to protect you? And how often are the coffee makers thoroughly cleaned inside?
- Each airline has to have a plan for disinfection and flushing of tanks and coliform sampling. The carrier gets to choose a schedule (e.g. monthly, quarterly, semi‑annual, or annual), or follow the manufacturer’s recommendation.
- Pots and brew baskets should be provided cleaned by catering. There’s going to be a schedule for self‑clean/descaling and deeper service, but those are going to vary by airline and those maintenance schedules aren’t published. I’d love to hear from readers that have worked on this.
Frankly in the air the best thing you can do with the grounds is use them to mask smells in the lavatory.
Even if you trusted the water and the machines, cabin pressure is going to change the brewing and taste.
- At typical cabin pressurization of 8,000 feet, water boils at ~197°F not 212°F. That reduces extraction energy and can yield flat or sour cups unless the roasts, grind, dose, and dwell time are adjusted.
- You literally taste less in the air. The cabin’s low pressure and low humidity reduces our sense of salty and sweet by about 30%, while some sour and bitter notes can become enhanced.
I do give United credit for their Illy coffee. Before the 2016 upgrade, their coffee was horrible. This change was the perfect way to signal a shift from the past cost-cutting of the Smisek era. Last year they added cold brew.
Alaska’s Stumptown partnership involves a custom altitude blend. It’s not bad. I am less of a fan of Delta-Starbucks. The idea that Starbucks somehow signals quality is strange.
The brand alone doesn’t even tell you what you’re getting. When United served Starbucks (prior to Delta) it was a special light brew because too many passengers were overwhelmed by deeper flavors. They worked to serve the lowest common denominator taste.
American, meanwhile, uses FreshBrew (Fresh Poo, the stuff United dropped). Their announcement of a new coffee can’t come soon enough. Of course, no one does coffee quite as well as Austrian in business class, though my first taste of Jamaica Blue Mountain was on ANA.
But if you really care about coffee onboard, you might follow the lead of this Emirates coach passenger who decided to pull out “all the gear” he needed to make “artisanal pour-over coffee” inflight. He made it for his companions, and even passed some around to those sitting nearby watching. Legend.
As a woman who filmed this described,
how good’s his setup though? he was mile-high cooking! grinding the beans, delicately pouring the water. so cute when he was done, his friends seated all across the plane dropped in for a cuppa. even the cabin crew came flocking asking questions about the process!
Never in my life did I expect to see a setup like this 30,000 ft in the air. and the smell, wow, made the cabin smell like a coffee shop!
I love Etihad’s coffee service – and not just for the silver trays and baklava – but because they’ve been willing to customize the strength of what they serve. To be sure it’s really just adjusting how strong the espresso they use is, and there’s a difference between coffee and espresso, but I get the deep rich flavor as well as caffeine I need after a long flight.
Years ago I was persuaded that investing in better coffee makes good business sense for an airline. A major legacy airline likely spends at least $10 million a year on coffee. Improving it might double the price! But the value created for an airline far outstrips that price.
- Improved operational efficiency and reduced delays, by eliminating pilots stopping at Starbucks in the terminal on the way to the aircraft. They get better on-time performance.
- Improved employee morale, which in turn affects customer service. Better coffee is a product flight attendants can be proud of and reduces complaints they receive from customers.
- This is especially important on high yield routes, whether the ‘first flight Monday morning’ business flight (and at 6 a.m. coffee is at a premium) – and while managed business travel lags pre-pandemic levels it’s returned somewhat – premium leisure will appreciate food and beverage differentiation more.
An airline that created a true coffee cart inflight would win my business. In the meantime, the passenger who did it themselves? A true modern travel hero.
Now do the same “cleanliness” analysis for all your sources of water.
Coffee journalism on a Saturday morning is essential, and pretty much agree with your takes! I’ve thought about this infrequently but I think this is just way too much for me to pull off, but I’m only at a level 3-4 out of 10 in coffee snobbery. So many questions though-
Where was the water sourced from? Did he ask for hot water from the airplane tanks? I think one method could be bringing an empty thermos through security and then filling it with hot water somewhere on the ground. Yeah you’ll lose some heat but there are some good thermoses lately, and you can extract some nice flavors from a lower temperature brew. I don’t think this is quite a “third wave water” scenario.
Is a pourover really the right tool for this? Just seems like the potential for mess is so high. I could see getting a small french press – feels much more contained. Also an aeropress or the new oxo rapid brewer could be great options here.
Yes can certainly hand grind on the plane for peak freshness, and you may want a hand grinder for the trip, although if you’re on a 1-2 day round trip, I think you could certainly bring some grounds that you ground up the morning of the flight. Chasing “very good” not perfection in this scenario.
And what coffee beans? Just feels wrong not to go with a higher altitude coffee in the air. An Ethiopian Yirgacheffe perhaps?
Speaking of which, pot #1 is empty, and more coffee is calling my name. Cheers!
I frequently bring my “coffee kit” (hand grinder, coffee beans, AeroPress, and an immersion circulator for boiling water) with me on trips. From time-to-time, I *have* thought of brewing my own coffee — especially on American! — for my wife and I, but I keep hearing a voice in my head saying, “did you bring enough for everyone?”
Among the US carriers, I have many compliments for jetBlue’s Mint, which actually can make espresso-based beverages on-board; just saying, their iced Americano is a surprisingly good way to end a redeye. So, if B6 can do it, the rest can too, but they choose not to.