Feature: Hot Beverages
Jo Austin warms up for a winter flight in the Northern hemisphere with a few hot drinks
Don’t be left out in the cold D
id you hear the one about the customer who asked for ‘a double mocha lattecino with extra skinny milk and low fat choc sprinkle’? Maybe not, but when you’re queueing for your next hot drink listen out for the many strange requests customers make when placing hot drinks orders. “Now it doesn’t have to be that complicated to set up a good hot drink offering. And the greatest thing to remember is that consumers are still prepared to pay a premium for a good coffee or tea out of home as it is a luxury many people can still afford.” So says Alex Dawson at the Beverage Standards Association (BSA). Martyn Herriott, executive director of the BSA, is a mine of information on the subject
of serving the perfect cuppa: “The challenge for tea and coffee in the air is quite simply altitude. The higher the plane flies the more difficult it becomes to boil the water. Tea in particular needs to be made at a temperature of 97-98 degrees F, just off the boil.” There was a time when a cup of tea on a coach would mean a polystyrene cup holding a tea bag on a string. The milk would, more often than not, be UHT. New cup materials keep the water warmer, longer and are also recyclable. Appearance really does count a lot when someone is paying around the £2 or £3 mark for a hot drink and the big brands are challenging the ‘convenience’ look with stylish mugs and cups.
“The higher the plane flies the more difficult it becomes to boil the water. Tea in particular needs to be made at a temperature of 97-98 degrees, just off the boil.”
One of the most popular hot drinks in the air is hot chocolate, according to Simon Soni, head of inflight service at Virgin Atlantic headquarters in the UK. “Our customers are loving our Fairtrade hot chocolate service on our night flights. They find it comforting and warming as they relax onboard and many tell us that it helps them sleep much more soundly than when drinking the traditional tea and coffee offers.” Hot chocolate was introduced in VA’s Economy cabin in March this year. Hot drinks are also making important inroads in low cost airline and rail budgets as they make up a high proportion of buy-on-board products, according to Julian Sokoloff, key acount manager for Nestle Travel Channel: “The onboard sales market is growing fast
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