Foam and fly: Maria has spilt the beans on Qantas’ flyers coffee habits. She’s the authority because she’s from Melbourne.
Coffee is the lifeblood of the early morning traveller.
We serve 130,000 coffees a week in our domestic and international lounge.
Maria, one of the baristas in our Melbourne Business Lounge, makes hundreds of coffees a day for her frequent flyers.
She’s passionate about coffee and also her passengers, remembering the names and coffee types of her regular customers.
Maria, along with the 265 trained baristas have dished the beans on our customers’ caffeine habits.
MELBOURNE
Melbourne always has to be a bit different, doesn’t it?
The number one coffee order in our Tullamarine lounges is a Piccolo.
That, itself, was unique among the cities – but the runner-up order was even more so.
Coming in at number two is a blend called the ‘Melbourne Magic’ – a double ristretto with ¾ milk.
In case you were wondering, a ristretto is the first half of a shot of coffee only. It’s purer. And the Magic is strictly served in a smaller cup, giving it an optimum coffee-to-milk ratio.
According to goodfood.com.au, the blend was invented at the grungy Brunswick café Ray in the early 2000s.
We visited our Sydney lounge this week and did a random survey of patrons to see if they’d ever heard of this Victorian concoction.
Only one customer had heard of it. He was from Melbourne.
SYDNEY
Sydneysiders prefer their cappuccinos – like they do in ADELAIDE.
We can also report that requests for almond milk have doubled in the last six months at Kingsford Smith.
PERTH
Perth baristas have reported a recent surge in requests for matcha powder, but not enough to change the final tally.
The humble flat white came in first, followed by a local West Australian delicacy: the ‘long mac topped up’.
Flat whites also led the pack in our BRISBANE and CANBERRA lounges.
SINGAPORE
At the Changi lounge, our customers don’t mind a little liqueur – often opting for a dash of Baileys or cognac in their morning cup.
Black coffee with a squeeze of lemon is also popular, but not enough to beat the cappuccino.
LONDON
The flat white’s in first place at Heathrow – but with a surprisingly low take-up of sugar.
Our baristas haven’t had to replenish the sugar supply in months.
And while we haven’t got the data to prove it, we presume the number of coffee orders in England’s capital comes in behind 148 different varieties of tea.
LOS ANGELES
The cappuccino still rules among Business customers at LAX, but the plain long black has taken the lead in our First lounge – perhaps it’s all the celebs on strict keto diets.
In LA, there’s been a big bump in requests for cold brew, too.
THE BEST BIT
Our baristas have reported one clear, global trend across all our lounges:
More customers are bringing their own cups.
Some are even sporting the flying kangaroo.
You can grab your own Qantas-branded reusable glass cup here – fit for your next Melbourne Magic.