Stuck in an in-flight cocktail rut? Tired of the same old gin & tonic/rum & Coke/vodka cranberry options from the beverage cart? Bon Appetit is here to help. Restaurant and drinks editor Andrew Knowlton, aka The Foodist, has come up with three cocktail hacks to transform your next sky drink into a much happier occasion. These are all directly from the online pages of BonAppetit.com:
1. Bring Your Own Bitters
“Next to my passport, the most important item in my bag is my miniature set of Bitter Truth’s Old Time Aromatic Bitters ($20; binnys.com). A few dashes are essential to making my beloved Pink Gin: gin poured over ice (ask for extra) with a lemon wedge.â€
2. Make Your Beer Bloody
“I doctor a boring plane beer by making it a Michelada. Pour Mr. & Mrs. T Bloody Mary mix into an ice-filled cup, top with the canned beer of your choice, add a squeeze of lemon or lime, and stir. If you’re armed with a little bottle of hot sauce, use it.â€
3. Raid the Airport Food Court
“So you can make a Caipiroska—a vodka take on a Caipirinha. In a cup, add one raw sugar and as many lime wedges as the flight attendant will give you. Use the mini vodka bottle as a muddler to smash the lime and sugar. Fill with ice, add vodka, and stir.â€
Do you have your own in-flight tricks to turn that plain mixed drink into a mixology masterpiece? If so, I want to hear about them in the comments.
I would recommend these if you need airplane friendly bitters – http://the-bitter-truth.com/bitter/bitters-travel-pack/. I slip them into my carry-on clear plastic baggie and TSA doesn’t even blink an eye.
Also, basic cocktails work well in the air. Daiquiris (rum, simple syrup/sugar, lime) and gimlets (gin. lime, simple syrup/sugar) are easy to make at your seat. For the people who like bone dry martinis, you can also purchase a vermouth mister ($5 to $15 bucks on Amazon) that you can mist over some gin.