There Is One Drink That Is Clearly The Best To Get When You Are Flying On An Airplane

Robert Alexander. Getty Images.

Not to flex my wealth, but I took an airplane yesterday. I traveled back to Arizona for something I've got cooking (which included an unfortunate watch of Kawhi Leonard scoring 0 first half points against the Suns, but that's neither here nor there). 

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The point of my blog was to proclaim from the mountain tops that there is one drink that hits different when you're high in the sky. Way more so then when you've got your feet on the ground. So whenever you're in a seat that's a bit too tight, and you feel guilty reclining even the slightest bit, order a tomato juice. In a can, no ice.

If I'm being honest, I have no clue how I started doing this. I don't even like tomato juice. In high school my friends and I once did a challenge where the loser would have to drink six V8s. The mere thought of it's thick consistency could make a person dry heave.

As I got older, I did get more into bloody mary's, and their even tastier Canadian counterpart, the Caesar. But I still don't really drink straight tomato juice. Anyway, somehow I ordered it and it was fantastic high above the clouds. I got one on my journey today and tweeted out my thoughts on the matter. People were not pleased. But it is a take that's backed by science.

Reader's Digest- "What many don’t know is the science behind why most airline food tastes bad—and why some foods, like tomato juice, actually taste better when served in the air.

As Southern Living reported, your senses of taste and smell don’t work as effectively on airplanes because of the low humidity. Once the plane is thousands of feet in the air, the cabin pressure causes those senses to change even more. The dry cabin air messes with our odor receptors, and since things taste differently when our sense of smell is impaired—think about eating when you have a cold—food tastes blander on a plane than it does on the ground.

That same principle is what makes tomato juice taste better in the air. Its normally earthy flavor is altered by the altitude and turns sweet and fruity. Plus, tomatoes are known for their savory umami flavor, which doesn’t change with altitude and becomes more pronounced when the fruit’s other flavors are dulled." - Reader's Digest via Southern Living

Listen I'm not a voracious reader in the least. In fact, the only book I read every year is Warren Sharp's NFL Preview. But I have heard of Reader's Digest. If your stuff is in that, it's legit. They're taking your long winded words and making it readable to normal Joe's, like myself. They're sourcing and fact checking. So when they are quoting Southern Living, a publication that seems like it'd be found exclusively at the check out line in a grocery store, they have my trust it's legit. 

So while all the haters will argue that this take stinks, the science behind it, and the fact checking of that science, check out. So next time you're 30,000+ feet in the air and a flight attendant asks you what you want to drink, ask them for a tomato juice, in a can, no ice, and thank me later.