The food and drink service is a highly anticipated point of a flight for passengers, when they can finally receive the snack or the hot beverage they need to get them through the journey. Many airline passengers choose to take a hot cup of coffee when the beverages are being served.
Since hot drinks such as coffee or even tea are, well, hot, they will need to be handled with care for the safety of the passengers and the safety of the crew. This will help prevent any burns or spills from occurring. While safety is number one for all airlines, hot drinks still need to be served to guests.
Many passengers feel cold during flights, so they will need a hot drink to keep them warm and ensure they stay hydrated. Serving coffee at the beginning of the flight, after the seatbelt signs have been turned off would be the ideal time to serve coffee.
For nearly all airlines, the coffee being served will need to be fully disposable. This helps the crew serve the coffee in a timely manner while they make their way through the plane. While these instant coffees can warm you up and give you a quick caffeine boost, it is a shame airlines cannot use something like a French press for an even higher quality coffee experience in the air.
Although airlines do not use French presses, the coffee machines found on commercial airlines are not what you would see at home. Airplanes have their own closed systems when in flight, meaning the water, the power, and everything else on board is connected. That being said, it is important for the coffee machine to be in working order before the plane takes off.
Just so long as the coffee machine is on and everything is in working order on the closed system, the crew should expect to serve coffee just after the seatbelt signs are turned off.
Airlines should also pay attention to the coffee itself, to make sure it tastes good. Coffee is a natural product and, as such, has a limited time during which the flavors will develop as intended.
There is usually a use by date on the packaging, but this date is advisory, and the coffee will usually be fine far beyond what is recommended. Freezing the product can extend its life, and doesn’t actually cause the bean to freeze, which means it can be used as soon as you take it out of the freezer.
You can quickly check your coffee to see if it has gone bad by looking at the color and by smelling it. It will never look or smell awful, but it may lose the strength of its color and potency of its smell, something that will result in a weaker tasting drink.
Sarah Jones is the editor of wedreamofcoffee.com. Coffee obsessed, she is always writing or learning new things about it. She loves to travel, partly to learn about coffee culture around the world, and of course to indulge in it as much as possible
