Al Roker Has a Wild Method for Avoiding Crappy Coffee on Airplanes

Al Roker knows what he wants out of life. Nice weather in “your neck of the woods.” A jaunty chapeau at the Thanksgiving Day Parade. And a good cup of coffee on a damn airplane for a change. The Today Show icon isn’t about to settle for the swill flight attendants serve you in a little paper cup, and he recently revealed a hack for smuggling the good stuff onto a plane with a little help from changing states of matter. 

Hey, I also hate airplane coffee! 

Yeah, we all do! And it isn’t just a matter of taste or the fact that most of us have become accustomed to fancy espresso-based beverages versus the regular ol’ drip you get on a plane. A few years ago, a flight attendant went viral when she warned travelers that they should avoid consuming any beverage on an airplane that doesn’t come from a bottle or can because the tanks where they keep the water for making coffee and tea are rarely cleaned. An airline mechanic disputed this claim, saying the tanks are cleaned with bleach pretty regularly (not to mention that water used for coffee or tea would be heated to a temp that would kill bacteria), but even if airplane coffee is technically safe, that doesn’t mean it’s good enough for Al. No, no. 

So does he buy a coffee at the airport terminal and bring it on board like everyone else? 

C’maaan. That would be too easy. America’s Weatherman has other ideas. As he recently told People, he buys his favorite coffee in advance—Blue Bottle iced coffee—and then smuggles it through security by freezing it. “I fill up a jug of coffee and freeze it,” he said. “I can take it with me through TSA because it’s a solid … Halfway through the flight, it’s defrosted, and I have ice-cold iced coffee on the plane.”

Wait, is there really a frozen liquids TSA loophole??

According to Roker, yeah, there is. He first tested the premise with a frozen bottle of water a few years ago. “I took it out when we got to baggage check, just to see … [and] the supervisor said this is absolutely allowable.” In fact, the official TSA website says, “Frozen liquid items are allowed through the checkpoint as long as they are frozen solid when presented for screening. If frozen liquid items are partially melted, slushy, or have any liquid at the bottom of the container, they must meet 3-1-1 liquids requirements.” 

I know what you’re thinking and I’m sorry to report that this probably isn’t going to help you smuggle booze on the plane—80 proof spirits have a freezing point of -17 degrees Fahrenheit, which is much lower than what you can achieve in your freezer at home. But hey, if you’re as passionate about Blue Bottle Coffee as Al Roker, go off!