Originally Posted by
enviroian
Okay here it is. When I fly AA over the pond (usual choice -- Y ticket upgraded with system wide cert) I enjoy when I order my go-to drink. I ask for a double Tito's and club soda with lemon. The flight attendant brings me two little Tito bottles, a 12 ounce can of Schweppes club soda, and a glass 3/4 filled with nice big ice cubes.
Last week when I flew CW I asked for the same and the flight attendant appeared bewildered that anyone would ask for a double. Anyway, what I got was a very weak (maybe less than 1 shot) in a glass with 2 ice cubes and room temp soda water. Do BA flight attendants not have the little bottles and what I get is up to the flight attendant to pour? The drink was awful. I don't recall what brand of vodka it was but based on the taste it didn't seem very high standard.
Putting this back OT, Most of this is down to the different approaches on the two sides of the pond, and the cultural ways that have diverged since 1776.
Travelling on AA, the cans of fizzy drinks are always full size. This is I think a good thing for most of the drinks, since having to have two cans for a normal soft drink seems a bit silly if they are the 150ml (and probably incurs more weight on board?). They are however perfect for mixers, since most of Europe don't want the mixer to drown the spirit.
As the standard measure on a European carrier is 50ml, I can see why asking for a double would raise eyebrows, since with the small mixer can that would be a very strong drink!!.
The ice that's always added to US carriers drinks also waters down the drink, so in the end, one AA drink makes about 3 BA drinks, but the BA ones would be slightly stronger.
I tend to look at the different approaches along the lines of how much do I want to drink. Do I want effectively 6 times what I'd get in a pub, or just the two?. I ask for a small drink on AA if I don't want the big gulp drink.
I'm not a vodka drinker, but like rum. The way the spirit is made and its ingredients makes a huge difference to the taste. Titos and Ciroc would I expect be very different, like the difference between a Woods Navy Rum and Bacardi Carta Blanca. One I like, and one I don't. YMMV