Alaska Airlines Partners with Stumptown Coffee to Offer a New Inflight Coffee Experience

Alaska Airlines has partnered with Stumptown Coffee Roasters, a specialty coffee company based in Portland, to create a unique coffee blend specifically designed to taste better at high altitudes. This custom blend, based on Stumptown’s popular organic coffee “Holler Mountain,” will be exclusively available on all Alaska flights starting from December 1, 2023.

The collaboration between these two Pacific Northwest brands began in the fall of 2022 when Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci visited Stumptown’s headquarters and experienced their exceptional coffee. Minicucci stated, “Having flown millions of miles fueled by countless cups of coffee, Stumptown stands out as first class. Like travel, coffee has a remarkable way of bringing people together. I can’t wait for our guests and employees to enjoy a cup of Stumptown when they fly with us.”

Stumptown Coffee Roasters is renowned for its high-quality, ethically sourced, and freshly roasted coffee beans. The company is a pioneer in the third-wave coffee movement, which focuses on treating coffee as a culinary art and emphasizes factors like the origin, flavor, and brewing methods of the beans. Stumptown is also recognized for its sustainability initiatives, including the use of compostable packaging, support for organic farming practices, and carbon footprint reduction.

To create the custom blend for Alaska Airlines, Stumptown conducted experiments with various roast profiles and brewing methods to find the ideal flavor and balance for in-flight consumption. The result is an organic medium-dark roast with flavor notes of toasted marshmallow, browned butter, and toffee, complemented by hints of citrus and cherry. The blend is intended to be enjoyable both when consumed black and when enhanced with creamer or oat milk.

In addition to serving the custom blend on board, Alaska Airlines will offer Stumptown’s “Holler Mountain” for brewed coffee and “Hair Bender” for espresso beverages in its lounges at Portland and JFK airports. The airline plans to celebrate this partnership by giving away gift boxes that include the custom blend, a co-branded camp cup by MiiR, and two flight vouchers to any Alaska Airlines destination. These gift boxes will be awarded to the 100th customer at each Stumptown-owned cafe and the PDX airport cafe on October 12.

Sources: AirGuide Business airguide.info, msn.com, tumptowncoffee.com, news.alaskaair.com