Union Coffee comes to BA premier cabin and lounges
#1
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Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 4,477
Union Coffee comes to BA premier cabin and lounges
As per Business Traveller https://www.businesstraveller.com/bu...-special-brew/.Never heard of this brand before.
Originally Posted by Business Traveller
BA is set to change this with the introduction of Union hand-roasted coffee served in First, Club World and BA lounges from May.First class passengers can select from a range of coffee options including latte, cappuccino, filter coffee or espresso, while Club World passengers get Union’s filter coffee. Passengers flying in economy will miss out on the Union experience, but passengers able to gain access to BA’s lounges can enjoy Union coffee there.
Last edited by FlyerTalker688786; Apr 24, 2018 at 5:52 am Reason: Link wrong
#2
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: LHR, LGW
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 3,421
Having previously worked in this speciality (3rd wave) industry and having met one of the founders of Union (he's a good friend of a friend, not to name drop of course) but this is nice move for an Airline and something I'd loved to have achieved myself. I always thought it would be great to have a speciality coffee stand in lounges delivering (proper) barista crafted flat whites, capps and lattes to lounge guests.
Hopefully we might see flat whites in the skies one day! This move is certainly a vast improvement on Nespresso or those awful machines in the lounges.
Here's the BA PR...
https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb...w/union-coffee
Hopefully we might see flat whites in the skies one day! This move is certainly a vast improvement on Nespresso or those awful machines in the lounges.
Here's the BA PR...
https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb...w/union-coffee
#3
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: London
Programs: BAEC GGL, BA Amex PP
Posts: 1,051
Union coffee is great - working in Shoreditch I'm spoilt for choice with roasteries and artisan coffee on every corner but Union sells in Waitrose for about Ł5 for 250g ground and it's way above the supermarket competition like Taylors.
That said, it's all very well having the beans but some of that benefit goes away if it's ultimately made by an untrained person or as I suspect, gets mangled by basic coffee machines. A coffee bar with a barista like you see in Qantas and CX HKG lounges would be ideal...
That said, it's all very well having the beans but some of that benefit goes away if it's ultimately made by an untrained person or as I suspect, gets mangled by basic coffee machines. A coffee bar with a barista like you see in Qantas and CX HKG lounges would be ideal...
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2004
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@rockflyertalk won't they still be using the nespresso machines in First class? Just a third party capsule?
#5
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
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And the all important Avios earning opportunity at the end of that BA publicity push:
BA Coffee Club
Union Coffee is now available for purchase on the British Airways Avios eStore, which means Executive Club members can now collect 5 Avios for every Ł1 spent on Union Coffee or receive a special introductory offer of 500 Avios on subscription packages to the BA Coffee Club. Shop now
Union Coffee is now available for purchase on the British Airways Avios eStore, which means Executive Club members can now collect 5 Avios for every Ł1 spent on Union Coffee or receive a special introductory offer of 500 Avios on subscription packages to the BA Coffee Club. Shop now
#6
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: LHR, LGW
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 3,421
@rockflyertalk won't they still be using the nespresso machines in First class? Just a third party capsule?
Even if this just means filter coffee from Union it's a step forward. Albeit it requires a decent ratio, grind and temperature to get the best out of the beans. I can't see Union wanting to do capsules, unless from the days I knew them, they have sold their souls...but they are very good at quality and scalability whilst retaining the quality in hot drinks. Well done BA.
Last edited by rockflyertalk; Apr 24, 2018 at 6:21 am
#9
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,772
The mediacentre says "next month by 31 May" and the BA web says "June".
British Airways - BRITISH AIRWAYS PARTNERS WITH BRITISH BRAND TO PROVIDE COFFEE LOVERS WITH A LATTE OF OPTIONS
They also have a video. I'm a bit suspicious of this being from Shoreditch, no-one is sporting a beard.
https://d1btjlf89lsb3b.cloudfront.ne...1524562040.mp4
British Airways - BRITISH AIRWAYS PARTNERS WITH BRITISH BRAND TO PROVIDE COFFEE LOVERS WITH A LATTE OF OPTIONS
They also have a video. I'm a bit suspicious of this being from Shoreditch, no-one is sporting a beard.
https://d1btjlf89lsb3b.cloudfront.ne...1524562040.mp4
#10
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: LON
Programs: BA Gold; LH FTL; IHG Diamond; Marriott Gold; ALL Gold
Posts: 1,758
If it takes 18 months for a "phased roll-out" of a new blanket on a CW seat, how long will it take to make a cup of coffee with a different sort of bean...?
#12
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: The North
Posts: 1,844
I’m rather partial to good quality coffee, so view this as good news. As others have pointed out, you need someone with at least some training to get top notch coffee, but hopefully even without this, it will still be a noticeable improvement.
#13
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 8,767
Having previously worked in this speciality (3rd wave) industry and having met one of the founders of Union (he's a good friend of a friend, not to name drop of course) but this is nice move for an Airline and something I'd loved to have achieved myself. I always thought it would be great to have a speciality coffee stand in lounges delivering (proper) barista crafted flat whites, capps and lattes to lounge guests.
Hopefully we might see flat whites in the skies one day! This move is certainly a vast improvement on Nespresso or those awful machines in the lounges.
Here's the BA PR...
https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb...w/union-coffee
Hopefully we might see flat whites in the skies one day! This move is certainly a vast improvement on Nespresso or those awful machines in the lounges.
Here's the BA PR...
https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb...w/union-coffee
While this is a welcome improvement, I still find it very disappointing that espresso still won’t be available in J class. This remains quite far behind the times.
#14
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: UK
Programs: BA Blue, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond
Posts: 303
This seems like good news to me. That said, on my last First (which to be honest, was also my first First) I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the coffee. I'm not a complete coffee snob, but do like a nice brew and BA First certainly did the job (now I think about it, I had worked my way through some LPGS and a cocktail in the CCR, some kind of mini gin festival in GF, wines with my meal and assorted further drinks on board, so was probably a little pissed and grateful for the caffeine kick by then!)