航空公司推出“在空中更好喝的”新型咖啡

人们经常抱怨飞机餐难吃，飞机上的咖啡也不好喝，其实是因为在飞机上人们的味觉和嗅觉都会暂时“失灵”。针对这一痛点，阿拉斯加航空公司推出了一种新咖啡，据称在飞机上“更好喝”。

Alaska Airlines is making a custom coffee. Credit: Alaska Airlines

Drinking bad coffee is just one of the many downsides of flying. Alaska Airlines thinks it has a solution.

咖啡难喝只是乘坐飞机的众多痛点之一。关于这一点，阿拉斯加航空公司认为自己找到了解决办法。

Alaska has created a custom blend with Portland-based roaster Stumptown to make a coffee that’s immune from the altitude-changing effects that airborne-served coffee typically creates, including tasting bitter and weak.

阿拉斯加航空公司与总部在美国波特兰市的咖啡品牌“树墩城”合作推出了一种定制混合咖啡，这种咖啡不受海拔变化的影响。在飞机上冲泡出的咖啡通常都会受高海拔的影响变得苦涩，咖啡味也会变淡。

The custom coffee, a first for a major airline, will exclusively be served on every Alaska flight by December 1.

这是大型航空公司首次推出这种定制咖啡，从12月1日起将会在阿拉斯加航空公司的每个航班上专门供应。

Taste and smell are inextricably combined and people’s sense of smell is significantly altered in the sky. Food and drinks taste different because pressurized cabins lower blood oxygen levels, which reduces the ability of olfactory receptors (i.e. the ability to smell). The extremely dry air of the cabin, with its humidity levels lower than that of the Sahara Desert, also affects the nose.

口感和气味之间有一种密不可分的联系，人们的嗅觉在高空中会发生很大改变。由于密封机舱会降低血氧水平，从而降低嗅觉能力，这会让食物和饮料的味道变得不同。机舱内的空气极度干燥，湿度水平比撒哈拉沙漠还要低，这也会影响嗅觉。

To combat those effects, Alaska turned to Stumptown’s Holler Mountain, a medium-dark blend, for the base, then infused it with punchier notes that taste like marshmallows, browned butter and toffee as well as a “delicate hint” of citrus oils and cherry essence. As a result, the coffee’s notes have a more “complex” taste when consumed in the air.

为了对抗这些影响，阿拉斯加航空公司选择用树墩城的中深度烘培咖啡豆Holler Mountain打底，加入吃起来像棉花糖、焦黄油和太妃糖的、味道更强烈的咖啡豆，以及带有柑橘油和樱桃香精的清香的浅烘咖啡豆。这样加工而成的咖啡在高空中饮用时有一种更为“复杂”的口感。

The coffee has been in development for a year, with the airline telling CNN that 20 different versions were tested, including during flights and with blind surveys. Alaska even taste-tested the blend with creamer and Biscoff cookies to “ensure the best combination.”

阿拉斯加航空公司告诉美国有线电视网，这款咖啡的开发持续了一年，他们对20种不同版本进行了测试，包括在飞行途中的测评和不记名调查。该航空公司甚至将这种混合咖啡与奶精和比斯考夫饼干一起试味，来“确定最佳组合”。

However, the freshly brewed partnership with Stumptown means that Alaska is ending its decade-long partnership with fellow Seattle-based coffee company, Starbucks. Alaska said it is “grateful to our friends at Starbucks and proud to have served their coffee on board our flights for years.”

不过，阿拉斯加航空公司与树墩城咖啡的新合作关系意味着阿拉斯加航空结束了与总部在美国西雅图的星巴克咖啡长达十年的合作。阿拉斯加航空公司表示：“感恩星巴克的朋友们，也为多年来在我们的航班上供应星巴克咖啡而感到自豪。”