While a small victory, one of my favorite aspects of American’s premium cabin experience is returning…
In this post:
American’s first class espresso machines
American Airlines has historically served espresso-based drinks in three cabin first class, on Boeing 777-300ERs and Airbus A321Ts. As someone who is a bit obsessed with coffee, it’s something I always appreciated:
- Obviously they weren’t the best espresso or cappuccino beverages, but they were significantly better than airplane coffee
- Being able to order these drinks was a small point of differentiation compared to business class, especially given the lack of soft product differences otherwise
- The crews always seemed to enjoy these drinks as well, which is to say that I feel like 80% of the espresso pods were used for crew members, and then there were some leftovers that passengers had the privilege of enjoying 😉
In the spring of 2021, American stopped catering the products needed to make espressos onto planes, so those haven’t been available since then. I think many of us feared that this would be a cut that becomes permanent, given the ways that airlines go about making changes. So there’s some good news on that front.
Espressos return to American Airlines
As noted by View from the Wing, American Airlines has brought back espressos for the Boeing 777-300ER and Airbus A321T. It’s fantastic to see this amenity return.
In many ways I’m surprised to see this was brought back, given that American has largely eliminated any soft product differentiation between first class and business class, at least onboard (fortunately there’s still Flagship First Dining).
Bottom line
American Airlines has brought back espresso to Boeing 777-300ER and Airbus A321T aircraft, which is exciting to me. These were cut in early 2021, at a time when the airline wasn’t offering much service.
While this is objectively a minor development, it’s something I’m probably more excited about than the average person, as good (or in this case, better) coffee makes a big difference to me. So if you do find yourself on a flight offering espresso, make sure you order one!
Anyone else excited about American bringing back espresso machines?
Now the rating for domestic first can be 5/5 stars!
So if this is the only difference between First and Business, then one should settle for business if it costs less. Just a cup of coffee - you can purchase and bring on board for less than the difference of the ticket.
Given how much coffee matters to you, I would recommend travelling with high-quality individually-packed speciality instant coffee. While relatively expensive (about $2-3 a cup), all you need is hot drinking water to have a cup that beats Starbucks drip (or AA 'espresso') hands down! It has totally changed how I think about travel & coffee. There is a good range of speciality instant from one of the USA's best coffee roasters here - https://www.blackwhiteroasters.com/collections/specialty-instant-coffee
That...
Given how much coffee matters to you, I would recommend travelling with high-quality individually-packed speciality instant coffee. While relatively expensive (about $2-3 a cup), all you need is hot drinking water to have a cup that beats Starbucks drip (or AA 'espresso') hands down! It has totally changed how I think about travel & coffee. There is a good range of speciality instant from one of the USA's best coffee roasters here - https://www.blackwhiteroasters.com/collections/specialty-instant-coffee
That said, a lot of their coffees are an acquired taste & rotate seasonally, so I would look for coffees with a green label on them. Also Verve in California also have a pretty big range of speciality instant coffee - https://www.vervecoffee.com/collections/instant-craft-coffee
Not really. Once you’ve experienced a sip of cappuccino in Italy that is nothing but dense foam ………
I’ll just be grateful if American Airlines doesn’t have any operation meltdowns during this upcoming unprecedented high demand summer travel season. Some people still haven’t travelled since COVID.
Why not just through a small kuerig or nespresso machine on every plane. Whats the point of having to install an incredibly expensive machine thats hard to maintain and clean when they can get better results using a small $80 nespresso machine that is way easier to actually use.
I never fly American. Is it really a full espresso machine?
I assumed it was some sort of pod machine.
Really
That's what gets you excited !!!
Really and expreso coffee on an airplane.
Dude I guess food on a plane also tickles your fancy. Or maybe some alcohol.
How about on time departures!!
Getting from point A to point B with out a hitch!!!
Unbelievable!!!
@Crandall 787
Are you triggered?
You sound triggered and unhappy because something that excites someone else doesn’t excite *you.*
Would you like a tissue?
@Steve
It is definitely an authentic espresso cappuccino machine that was installed in the a321Ts. I don’t know about the 77W.
Espresso and cappuccino is an inflight service enhancement for sure. A purser or FA working the A321T transcon for American is likely to have high seniority and would take pride in maintaining and wiping down an espresso machine.
All 777, 787, & A321T aircraft have espresso machines, not just the 777-300 and 321T. Espresso is available in Business Class as well.
Lucky, I don’t care about the expression. They need to eliminate those terrible one cheese sandwiches first…..
Not only eliminate the sandwiches but how about the Management Personnel associated with bringing the sandwich onboard and destroying The Brand? AA has really become a marginal Airline......nothing special domestically and certainly not international. The reign of Doug Parker has created one unspectacular Airline on many fronts and most significant is RELIABILITY......pitiful.
I agree with you there needs to be a change at the top for AA be at the top of the Big 3. With Parker finally out it remains to be seen what Isom will do to bring AA from the bottom. Hopefully he will make a change but he is from the Parker clan so that leaves very slim hope for change but we will quickly see.
That's great news. Unlike filter coffee, espresso never affects my sleep (because the water passes the filter more rapidly and therefore, espresso has less caffein than filter coffee).
It was one of the "COVID" changes I could never understand and I'm happy to see it back.
“ because the water passes the filter more rapidly and therefore, espresso has less caffein than filter coffee”
What complete nonsense!
By volume, espresso has ~4x as much caffeine as drip coffee.
Of course, most people consume way more drip coffee in a serving than espresso, so I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt that’s where your confusion is. Either that, or your just generally confused.
Never drink the coffee on the airplane!
Haha. Couldn’t agree more. I never ever had a good coffee on a plane. Some blame the whole altitude thing and how it affects your senses. I blame the coffee.
I blame the quality of the water, personally. Makes a big difference at home...