Australians are known for their adventurous attitude, love of travel and, perhaps more importantly, love of good coffee. While it’s becoming increasingly hard to top the brew our baristas are serving, ‘up there’ is definitely one place to avoid drinking coffee. And that is 20,000 feet in the air.
Not only is coffee not great for jetlag or staying hydrated, the real reason to avoid it while on an aeroplane is far more sinister than that. Even to the most undiscerning coffee connoisseur, it’s hard not to notice that it never fails to taste like tepid dishwater, and now we know why. According to a recent post on Reddit from people who claim to work in the airline industry, it’s not unusual for staff to fail to clean the coffee container each morning. If that isn’t concerning enough, even if they were motivated to give it the attention it deserves, planes are not equipped with the appropriate supplies to properly clean and maintain machines.
These claims are further backed by an incident in 2013 that uncovered some airports in Dallas were using “dirty, mould-clogged hoses” containing bacteria such as coliform and E. coli, to make coffee. It’s almost enough to put you off caffeine forever.
Thankfully, we’re used to a much higher and safer quality of product at our local haunts. If you can’t bear to be without your caffeine hit for the duration of a flight, consider carrying some freeze-dried coffee pouches with you or going for green tea instead.
While we’re all for multitasking, this is one instance where two of our greatest loves, coffee and flying, are best left as mutually exclusive events.
Have you had a bad experience with coffee or food while flying? What food or drink do you take with you on a flight?
You can read more secrets from airline insiders at Reddit.
Related articles:
Eleven cheeky travel tricks
First class travel cheats
How to choose the best plane seat
