Flying High

The Wall Street Journal had a good article in its weekend edition (only available to subscribers and people like me with the secret access code) about the history of cocktails on airplanes. Here's what's going on now:

Some airlines over the years have recognized the branding possibilities that cocktails provide. In the early '50s, Swissair offered what is known as a Swiss Cocktail -- half kirsch (a dry cherry brandy) and half Dubonnet. For decades, Lufthansa served a proprietary orange liqueur called the Lufthansa Cocktail. Introduced in 1955, a year after the modern Lufthansa itself got off the ground, the drink was made for the airline by Berentzen, a German distiller that specializes in fruit schnapps. It was served either straight or mixed with Champagne. When Lufthansa celebrated its semicentennial in 2004, the German carrier dusted off the old cocktail for first- and business-class customers. Lufthansa found that passengers associated the drink with the rather antiquated notion that flying was glamorous.

Airlines can use drinks to give tourists a taste of the destination ahead (or at least a taste of the destination as it is imaged in legend and lore). This summer United Airlines started serving a Trader Vic's menu, including Mai Tais, on its flights to Hawaii. Singapore Airlines anchors its cocktail menu with the Singapore Sling.

Or, an airline can use a good drink simply to signal that the flight will aspire to be something out of the ordinary. Champagne cocktails are a key part of the service on Eos, one of the new airlines eschewing coach to focus on the lucrative business-class trade. The airline rotates its menus, including the drinks list, changing them every six weeks so that frequent fliers don't get bored. Depending on the flight, you might be offered a Caribbean Cocktail of Champagne and mango juice, a Bellini (Champagne and peach puree), a Kir Royale (Champagne and creme de cassis), or a racy Maserati -- made by mixing two parts Champagne to one part Campari, with a splash of fresh lime juice for good measure.

He missed that Delta is also doing a signature cocktail program with Randy Gerber. From their press release:

New co-branded signature beverage line, set to launch in early 2007, will feature specialty cocktails created exclusively for Delta by Rande Gerber’s After Midnight Company

If I were really clever, I'd figure out a way to have these airlines give me free flights so I could do comparison tastings.