As of today, Delta has become the first of the “big three” US airlines to (quietly) introduce cold brew coffee onboard. All I can say is “woohoo,” and ask what took so long?!
In this post:
Delta now serving Explorer Cold Brew coffee
As of June 7, 2022, Delta has started serving Explorer Cold Brew:
- This is initially being offered exclusively on premium transcontinental routes, including routes like Boston to Los Angeles, New York to San Francisco, etc.
- This is complimentary in premium cabins (including Delta One and Comfort+), while it’s available for purchase for $5 in Main Cabin
- It’s not known for long this is being offered, though I don’t believe there’s an official end date; therefore if you enjoy cold brew, be sure you make it known that you appreciate this is being offered, in hopes of it being expanded throughout Delta’s system
For those not familiar, Explorer Cold Brew is an innovative cold brew startup, which I’ve purchased from (unrelated to this Delta arrangement). What makes Explorer unique is that you can customize your caffeine level with each order, with everything ranging from low caf to extra caf. Explorer sells cold brew concentrate, and it’s recommended that you mix it with water at a 1:4 ratio.
In the case of Delta, the airline will be serving the regular caffeine level, and passengers will get the two ounce bottle, and that’ll be served with a small bottle of water and a cup of ice, so that you can mix it yourself, for a delicious cup of cold brew.
Even if you’re not traveling on an eligible Delta route, I’d recommend taking a look at Explorer Cold Brew’s product lineup, as you can essentially create your own carry-on bold brew. You can take the two ounce bottles onboard, and then just order a cup of water to make the perfect glass.
Why cold brew on airplanes is awesome
Coffee is something I’m passionate about, especially in the context of travel. For many of us, coffee powers us through jetlag and early mornings and late nights. In my opinion it’s such an easy area where airlines and hotels can differentiate themselves with minimal effort.
Admittedly this just reflects my preferences, but I’ll always remember an airline or hotel that has especially good and readily available coffee.
Personally I can’t make sense of how long it has taken for a major US carrier to start serving cold brew coffee:
- Americans love cold brew, so if you’re going to listen to customer feedback, that’s one easy area in which to do so
- Airplane coffee usually isn’t great, given the water tanks that are used; cold brew is a great alternative, since you can enjoy a caffeinated drink without having to consume water from the plane’s tanks
- Personally I prefer not to drink alcohol when traveling domestically, but I feel like major airlines really have quite limited decent non-alcoholic drink selections; sometimes I get bored of drinking just water or Diet Coke, and no US airline has decent juice, so cold brew is an awesome alternative
Anyway, I’ve been writing about how I wish airlines would introduce cold brew as far back as 2017 (and probably earlier than that), so it’s nice to see this finally happening over five years later.
Bottom line
Delta has become the first of the “big three” carriers to introduce cold brew, thanks to a new partnership with Explorer Cold Brew. The airline will initially offer this on premium transcontinental routes, though hopefully with positive feedback, this can be expanded to more routes over time. Here’s to hoping this becomes the norm rather than the exception.
Anyone else excited to see cold brew finally make its debut on a major US airline?
Does not affect my points or miles strategy. Not a reason to choose Delta over others. Is the coffee in the bottle zero calorie and have the same benefits as coffee or is it more like the Starbucks mixed "coffee" drinks in the bottle which are not really coffee?
Finally! Explorer is really good, I found it on Amazon originally
That is nice! I'm impressed!
This is a good idea. I'd much rather have bottled coffee than whatever comes from the airplane's water tank.
SY has had Caribou cold brew for a while. Should probably write an article about it.
Re the comment about juice: for a year now Delta offers a good cranberry juice from a 1L carton. It’s tangy and features pure cane sugar, not corn syrup.
Little click-baity given it's only on premium routes. Hopefully it's a full roll-out soon. I feel airlines have stepped up their seltzer game recently. The watermelon-lime AHA on AA is great.
Anything that doesn’t use a potable water reservoir is great. IMHO
Very excited about this! Hopefully they add to all flights soon. Flying ATL:AMS in a couple weeks in DeltaOne and this would make the mediocre breakfast much more exciting!
Delta brought back PDB's on June 1st. It's shaping up to be a thirst-quenching summer in the pointy end of Delta's planes.
Hopefully this takes off and they have plenty on board. If not, I wouldn't be surprised if flight crew keep what little is allocated for their own consumption.
On my recent trip on Amtrak first class between NYC and Boston, I discovered they have La Columbe available - made me so happy!
Yes! Those cold brew cans are a godsend in the mornings, not having to rely on Dunkin' hot coffee
Coffee Concentrate?!?! You Americans have obviously never touched, much less eaten, real food. I'm not even talking about gourmet food, but plain regular food.
@Max, for what it's worth most cold-brew is made as a concentrate and then diluted with water and ice to the preferred strength. Even espresso over ice is more diluted than most people would prefer.
Next time, please use you miles to fly to Italy and taste a real coffee.
Hate to break it to you but espresso is also a coffee concentrate.
@Brad C
Espresso is espresso. And you don't concentrate it to dilute it with water later. Mamma mia, stupido americano!
Australia does it better!
Very glad for your longstanding advocacy for cold brew. Thank you!