Fifteen plus hours is a lot of time to kill and as great as the in-flight entertainment and tiny glasses of champagne can be sometimes you just need something a little harder and a tad more exclusive while your work email and secretary is beyond your reach. Why not make your very own mini bar - with an emphasis on mini? A tiny bit of planning and 5 minutes of prep can last you hours up in the sky and we did the fieldwork to prove it.

BEFORE YOU FLY

You will need:
Tiny tupperware
Celery tops
Fresh mint leaves
A lime
An orange
Empty tiny bottle
Bitters
A bottle of Tabasco

For bonus points:
The mini liquor bottles of your choice

Prep:
Cut up the limes and oranges into wedges and put them in separate containers so as to not mix up the flavors. Make sure to capture all the stray bits of juice - you’re going need it later. Bruise the mint leaves ahead of time to release the sent and put in the same tupperware as the celery to save space. Decant some bitters into the empty tiny bottle, you only need a few drops so don’t get too heavy handed. Put all of it in a plastic ziploc to make security fool proof.

By packing your own tiny bottles you not only guarantee you the liquor you want but will also annoy the airhostess less. You’re going to be quite demanding with all your requests as it is, the less you ask for the better.

UP IN THE AIR

MOJITO:

You will need
From the airhostess:
Sugar
Ice
Soda water
Coffee Stirrer

From your mini bar:
Mint
Lime
Rum

Talk about a party of one, nothing says laid back (albeit reclined) quite like a mojito. Squeeze lime wedges into the glass and whatever left over juice form cutting the wedges in the first place. Use the coffee stirrer and ice as a muddler and beat and stir the sugar, lime juice, lime wedges and mint together. Add in rum and top off with soda water. You’re not always going to have the perfect provisions, in this case we had dark rum and  were given Perrier, neither of which is ideal but by using extra lime juice and tad more sugar we got more than favourable results.

Mojito
Mojito
Image: Supplied

MICHELADA (a Mexican Bloody Mary)

You will need
From the airhostess:
Tomato Juice
A beer
Salt and pepper

From your mini bar:
Celery
Orange
Vodka or Tequila
Tabasco sauce

With the abundance of tomato juice going around on the airplane trolley we’re sure you’ve made the most basic of versions of a Bloody Mary on a plane at some but we assure you going the extra mile makes this airplane mix astoundingly better. Top your cup of tomato juice up with the beer to make your cocktail base and spike it with your preferred hard tack. Then squeeze your orange slices to add an extra depth of flavor to the mix and season and stir. The added bonus of Tabasco coming in 60ml is that there is no excuse for you to have lack luster tomato juice or scrambled eggs on the plane again.

Michelada
Michelada
Image: Supplied

OLD FASHIONED

You will need
From the airhostess:
Ice
Water
Sugar
Coffee Stirrer

From your mini bar:
Bitters
Rum, Bourbon or Whiskey

The simplest of the lot but by far the most fashionable, this cocktail is making a mighty comeback across the globe so you may as well enjoy it while you cross it. Let the sugar, a dash of water and a few dashes of bitters come together and in a glass and muddle a little till sugar is dissolved. Add the ice and preferred hard liquor and garnish with an orange slice. You can even squeeze the orange slice a little too if you want, we won’t tell if you won’t.

Old Fashioned
Old Fashioned
Image: Supplied

BONUS ROUND: To be completed after dinner service

TEA, ORANGE AND BLACK PEPPER GIN & TONIC

You will need
From the airhostess:
Tea
Tonic
Pepper
Ice

From your mini bar:
Orange
Mint
Gin

Yes, yes, we know a G&T is literally just gin and tonic and literally anyone can pull this off on a plane with zero effort but you have hours to kill and why not be fancy about it and give those Bree Street kids a run for their money. Nab some tea from the cart after dinner service and pore one part in a glass with your squeezed orange slices, mint and gin. Let the flavours soak together as you wait for the tea to cool down. Once sufficiently cooled and infused add the ice, tonic and pepper. It’s a proven fact that planes dulls your taste and the pepper is there to bring out the flavours of the gin, a neat trick that works in any altitude.

Tea, orange and black pepper Gin and Tonic
Tea, orange and black pepper Gin and Tonic
Image: Supplied

OTHER TIPS:

What did you need the charm for? For the airhostess, of course, and the other jealous passengers because, be warned, people will notice you and your fancy drinks, save even those behind you. So always pack a little extra as sharing is caring and it makes the world a nicer place. Just get them to provide their own requested tiny liquor bottles from the airhostess.

With this mini kit you can also happily make a negroni, a pink g&t, and a dark and stormy in addition to the ones above but there is only so much we can taste test on one flight without starting to sing Dancing Queen out loud. But have fun with it, try different things such as substituting the bitters with vermouth and the oranges with olives to make a makeshift martini and if you have a firm enough grip over two over turned glasses with some ice you can even have your martini shaken, not stirred.

We encourage you to go wild and let us know what you mix up on our twitter and Instagram.

We would like to thank the staff of Air France flight AF0995 from Joburg to Paris for their many cups of ice and mix, sugar packets, and most of all for their patience. 

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