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United Airlines flight attendants create new cocktails - passengers pick the best

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Sep 7th 2010 at 1:30PM

Last week, United airlines held an event for their most important passengers, and presented them with ten different cocktails, all designed by flight attendants. In total, United crew members submitted 64 different cocktails, and the top ten entries ended up on a table at Trader Vic's in Chicago.

The ten finalists:

Sunset-Sunrise : Finlandia Vodka, cranberry apple cocktail, splash of orange juice, lime wedge
Sky High Delight : Finlandia Vodka, orange juice, cranberry apple cocktail, sprite, lime wedge
Friendly Skies Spritzer : Finlandia Vodka, ginger ale, orange juice, cranberry apple cocktail, seltzer, lime wedge
Cloud 9 Cosmo : Finlandia Vodka, Sprite, cranberry apple cocktail, lime wedge
Jack and the Bean Stock : Jack Daniels, Ginger Ale
My Style High : Courvoisier VSOP Cognac, orange juice, cranberry apple cocktail, sprite
Bon Voyage! : Bacardi Rum, orange juice, cranberry apple cocktail
Flirty Smile : Finlandia Vodka, cranberry apple cocktail, ginger ale, lime wedge
Island Dream : Bacardi Rum, cranberry apple cocktail, ginger ale, lime wedge
Gin Buck : Tanqueray Gin, ginger ale, lime wedge

The event was very casual and was attended by several members of the United Airlines management in charge of the in-flight service. As for the drinks, I actually managed to try all ten of them, and found it very hard to pick a favorite. The lime wedge was a very nice touch, and made for delightful drinks.

The winning cocktail will end up on all United Airlines flights with full beverage service towards the end of the year. In addition to drinks, United also served some of the newest food choices from their coast to coast P.S. service.

The winning drink as picked by members of Flyertalk.com and the United Fliers Community is drink number 1 - Sunset Sunrise. If you'd like to make one of these for yourself, here are the instructions:

Pour 25 ml Finlandia vodka over ice
Fill glass with Minute Maid Cranberry Apple Cocktail
Add a splash of Orange Juice
Finish with a Lime wedge

Sunset-Sunrise was created by LAX based flight attendant Tita Martin. Events like this show a new thinking within United Airlines, and I have to say that I'm quite impressed by the time and effort put into listening to their customers. Granted, the event was not really open to everyone, but an airline that is open to ideas from its customers is one that deserves a pat on the back, especially if it involves serving free cocktails.

Filed under: Airlines