Airline Coffee

If you need a good blast of coffee to start your flight, try these tips to get yourself a better cup.

I really enjoyed this article about Airline Coffee: A Bitter Cup on MSNBC. Basically it's full of tips to get a good cup of coffee on a flight. Good advice.

Here are my own tips:

• I bring my own coffee, the kind I like best from my French press, and in a Nissan stainless travel mug, for morning flights (when I remember to make it).
• If I forget, I'll ask for a cup right after boarding, when it's hot and freshly brewed. By the time the coffee makes the beverage cart rounds, it's sure to suck already.
• I myself have noticed that early morning flights get better brews than coffee in afternoons or evening schedules. I couldn't say why - except that maybe the airline attendants just had stolen a few hours of sleep and are feeling generous with their attention to brewing. Or maybe the coffee just sits there as the day wears on, glumly reducing away between flights. You know that taste of which I speak.
• I use half-and-half in my coffee, but whole milk will do. Skim milk is pointless; tastes like water. I also hate powdered cream, but those are still better than skim milk. My point here, is I will ask the flight attendant what they offer for coffee, and decide myself rather than just blithely accept a "cup with cream".
• For a treat, ask for a container of chocolate milk and add it to your coffee yourself. Yum.

Hmmmm. My mother worked as a flight attendant for Delta. I'll have to ask her about secret coffee flight tips. Later.