Everyone has their own way of dealing with the coffee situation on planes. My approach is basic: I drink. I dip the cookie and drink it. Others choose something more involved. We are talking about pour-over and/or espresso systems here. However, there is a third path where we find none other than American meteorologist Al Roker. Apparently Roker is a bit picky when it comes to coffee, so to make sure his preferred dose of caffeine gets through airport security, he freezes it. And somehow it works.
Anyone who has had to sip warm coffee while checking a bag can attest that the TSA has some pretty strict rules about what they let through. Specifically, any liquid over three ounces. There’s no chance. But Al Roker assumes: what if it’s not a liquid? This seems like a solution that will get a TSA agent to give you a sideways glance, or at best, a “nice try” before they tell you to put the coffee cube in the trash can.
But as Roker tells Peopleit works. He initially tried it by freezing a bottle of water, and when he showed it during a screening, the promoter said it was “absolutely acceptable.” With the proof of concept in two parts, Roker took it a step further and froze his favorite coffee drink, which he says is Blue Bottle Iced Coffee. And the results were the same. Roker and his illiquid drink passed through security without a problem.
Then, according to Roker, “midway through the flight, it thaws out and I drink ice-cold iced coffee on the plane.”
A “Today Show” meteorologist notes that coffee must be frozen before being presented to security. If it begins to melt or turn into slush, it is subject to the TSA 3-1-1 Liquids Rule.
Roker’s ultimate MacGyvering doesn’t end with coffee, though. He also has, I don’t know what to call it, maybe a recipe for something like a key lime pie. Apparently, if you take Biscoff cookies and squeeze some lime from the drinks cart onto them, you’ll get a key lime pie crust-like effect. I mean, you can employ Biscoff to make non-tiramisu, so why not key lime pie as well?
It’s too much work for me, but I’m not mad at the creativity. Of course, you’re left with frigid coffee, so this isn’t ideal. Perhaps you could freeze the coffee concentrate and mix it with warm water during the flight, which may or may not be really gross. As for me, I’ll stick with my tried-and-true airplane coffee hack: I order a coffee. I drink coffee. I dip the cookie. I enjoy coffee.
