318i

From Wikipedia:

"In 1990, on a trip to Denali National Park in Alaska, Caribou Coffee was imagined by newlyweds John and Kim Puckett... Following several years of mixed performance, the Pucketts sold their controlling interest in the company to Atlanta-based Crescent Capital, which has since changed its name to Arcapita.

"The First Islamic Investment Bank of Baharain has a large financial stake in Arcapita, Caribou Coffee's parent corporation, and in 2002 Yusuf al-Qaradawi's involvement with the bank led to a protest of Caribou Coffee. That same year al-Qaradawi stepped down as chairman of the bank's Sharia board."

MarqFlyer

A couple of thoughts.

First, if they want to use a local company's coffee, they'd be much better off with Dunn Bros. It started in St. Paul, and IMHO has much better coffee than Caribou. And they wouldn't have to worry about the Arcapita thing.

But as someone else mentioned, I could see why any coffee company would hesitate. To get a truly good cup of coffee, you need to start with good, fresh beans (ideally ground recently), but you also need proper brewing conditions and can't let the brewed coffee sit too long (especially on a warming plate). Mess up the brewing process, or let the coffee sit on a warming plate too long, and even the highest quality coffee tastes like swill. Given the limitations of airplane galleys, it could very well be impossible to get really good coffee.

mike_plat

I have always wondered why NW doesn't feature Caribou. I thought it was a cost thing. I already think NW has pretty good coffee, but I intentionally book connections through MSP when I'm running out of Caribou Coffee. I love that stuff. I just bought another 2 bags when I connected coming back from Europe 2 weeks ago. I have sent a lot of stuff to troops in Iraq over the past few years. When I have had it handy, I sent them Caribou Coffee. They loved it (especially the ones from Minnesota).

Caribou Coffee would certainly be a great addition!^

mot29

I don't know that it matters whose coffee is brewed on an airplane -- I don't think it is possible to consistently brew something good given the conditions. Some of the issues I think of include-
freshness of the coffee
freshness of the grind
cleanliness of the brewing utensils -- how often does that metal drip cone get really cleaned and not just rinsed out
quality of the water -- the water to brew the coffee doesn't get poured out of the bottles that are used to serve water, it comes from the airplane's water tanks, right?
how long it sits in the pot on the warmer and what is the warmer temperature
the difference that altitude and air pressure make on boiling and or brewing temperature

I don't think I've ever had a good, let alone great, cup of coffee on an airplane. I just think the challenges are too great, except -- maybe the airplane is the right application for the Douwe Egbert model that is used in the WorldClubs. I'm pretty sure that is a liquid concentrated coffee that is vacuum sealed in bags and mixed with hot water on demand. (Someone who knows better, correct me if I'm wrong.) Certainly quality control and consistency are easier to maintain. Just make sure the ratio and temerature are correct.
tom

NWAFA

Several of you made very good points about coffee quality on the ground vs in the air. i.e. no control how the coffee is made. It seems that whatever brand uses, it ends up "generic" tasting.

I was once told that once the plane is pressurerized, one's taste buds kind of change, hot food and liquids don't retain heat the same way.

Changing the equipment on planes may help the coffee, but it's still going to be made with plane water.

oliver2002

The starbucks that UA serves tastes just like the swill all the other carriers serve. LH has gone over to Jacobs instant coffee on longhaul because that atleast gives some kind of consistent product.

SK, JK and some other carriers have espresso machines in their Airbus fleets:
http://www.flysas.com/en/Travel-info...ness/Flatbeds/
(third picture on the right). Great stuff. It even has a milk foaming attachment.

channa

Is that the reason, or is it for the clientele they're serving? Ever try to get brewed coffee in Germany? I don't think it exists.

motytrah

The MSNBC Travel Column (written by a former FA) has has a rather scathing review on airline coffee in general. Basically he says the FAs don't want you to keep bugging them for coffee. They'll make it without care, pass off decaf as full strength, and even if they are taking great care with the coffee it's still using plane tank water.

If what he says is true about the decaf that would explain a lot about the quality. Making a good decaf blend is expensive. I doubt the airlines would put a lot into it outside F.

I never notice since I'm a tea drinker.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12057042/

oliver2002

I would rather say that good coffee doesn't exist in the US. I have never been served instant coffee anywhere in Germany and I lived there 7 years. YMMV.

jacksafar

Am I remembering correctly, or didn't they used to feature that "Caravali" gourmet coffee on NW? I don't know what they use now, but I think its terrible.

I love the Starbucks House Blend on QX, but don't care so much for the Seattle's Best Post Alley Blend on AS.

There are so many variables that make a cup of coffee "good" or "bad" like proportion, water, freshness, grind, brewing method, etc.

I'd rather see NW feature a smaller, high end coffee company that wanted to get its name out there. I love Caffe Lladro's coffee here in seattle or Caffe Vita's which many restaurants serve. I even like the Dunn Bros in Mpls. The only Caribou coffee that I really loved was the obsidian blend, but its far too dark to be served on an aircraft, because it wouldnt work please people across the board. Thats why airlines stick to the simpler middle-of-the-road blends. (I work for Starbucks, I know this). ;-)

curl

Delta used to serve Caribou Blend onboard - in the 1990s, i think.
I'm guessing that airline cost-cutting made it go away.

jiburi

I think the bottom line is, people book NW due to convenient flight times/connections/routes, price advantage, or frequent flyer benefits/loyalty. People generally don't base their booking decision on the quality of the coffee.

Jiburi

Radiocycle

The 4 factors to making a great cup of coffee are

1) Temperature of the water (close to boiling 190F or higher)

I checked the temperature of coffee served on several flights. The hottest temperature I was served was 145F, which is not hot enough.

Note: I used cooper infrared digital themometers to check the surface temperature of the coffee.

The coffee brewers do not brew 190F coffee, it is generally 145F or less, that means that the water doesn't get hot enough to fully extract the flavor from the coffee. The brewers need to be reset at a higher setting to extract the full flavor from the coffee (this is true if NW uses Dunn's or Caribou's or whomever's coffee)

2) Use filtered ir distilled water (to eliminate hard water, metalic offtastes)

The plane water is not filtered, so it will vary in water hardness, minerals, and the coffee will be subject to taste fluctuations when this occurs. Note: CO uses bottled water on the ERJ's to brew coffee. That would be a good move for NW to adapt on mainline planes, assuring that the coffee brewing water would always be good.


3) Freshly roasted beans, recently ground

The coffee beans are preground and in a filter pouch. This probably means the coffee was ground at least 30 to 45 days before it was brewed on the plane. Coffee should be ground the same day it is brewed. If grinders were on a/c the coffee would taste much, much better. There is no way to get a "fresh cup" brewing 30-45 day old ground coffee/filter packs.

4) Serve within 20 minutes of brewing (coffee pots on warmer "burns")

I think the FA's make the coffee often, so this is not a problem.

RC

Mill Creek Don

It was even a SkyMiles perk (double-entendre not intended) for Medallions to get a discount at Caribou locations by showing the elite card.

ProntoPup

87.8% of Caribou Coffee is owned by the First Investment Bank of Bahrain, which among other things posts this as a philosophy of theirs: “Above all, ensuring that all activities conform to Islamic Shari’ah”.

Their chairman of their supervisory board is Dr Yusuf Abdullah Al-Qaradawi, Chairman, Seerah & Sunnah Center, Qatar University.
Yusuf Abdulla Al-Qaradawu is also on the supervisory board of “Union for God” which posts as part of it’s purpose statement: “The Al-Aqsa Intifada is the latest of a long line of affliction faced by the people of Palestine. Its ancestry dates back to the massacre of innocent men, women and children in villages such as Deir Yaseen and the illegal Jewish occupation of Palestine in 1945.

Both organizations holdings and ?charitable contributions? are currenty under scrutiny and investigation by the US State Dept and the US Dept of Homeland Security.

Personally, I’d prefer to be served a nice American owned coffee, maybe Kona, even Starbucks. Even though it has a branch in Minneapolis, this is no local American company and if NW were to contract to use Caribou Coffee, what does this company do with it's profits? I'm proud of NW for NOT getting involved in such a potentially damaging situation on many accounts!!