Heading off on a dream holiday often calls for some in-flight indulgence, yet one woman has urged holidaymakers to steer clear of a particular beverage while in the air, labelling it as revolting. Influencer Kat Kamalani alarmed her TikTok following with the caution to “never consume any liquid that isn’t in a can or a bottle”.
Puzzled by this stark warning?
According to Kat, “The reason being, is that those water tanks are never cleaned, and they’re disgusting. Talk to a flight attendant. We rarely, rarely drink the coffee or tea. They come from the same water tank, so when you’re drinking that coffee and tea, it comes from that hot water, and it’s absolutely disgusting”.
Her startling revelations didn’t stop there. Her TikTok content, which was reposted by travel site @getlostwebsite, further claimed that these tanks are seldom clean unless malfunction necessitates it, and shockingly, are located near lavatories—a detail delivered with an expression of dismay.
Moreover, Kat has advised parents to avoid requesting hot water from these tanks for mixing baby bottles due to the questionable hygiene standards.
Echoing the sentiment, Arthur Gautier, a tea expert from Nio Teas, divulged: “The water used for tea and coffee on planes comes from large tanks that, let’s just say, don’t get the same level of attention as your kitchen tap at home”.
He too cautions: “If cleanliness is a priority for you, you might want to think twice before reaching for that in-flight cup of coffee”.
On Reddit, a user starkly warned: “THESE ARE THE TWO DRINKS YOU SHOULD NEVER ORDER ON A PLANE. Coffee and tea. The pipes are never cleaned”.
In response to the claim, some Redditors came to the defense of consuming hot beverages mid-flight, with one countering: “It’s scalding hot when it comes out of the pipes, which probably kills most germs.
“Also, if it wasn’t safe, we’d have an epidemic of sick people who recently drank coffee or tea on airliners, but we don’t”.
Another chimed in with a historical perspective: “Teapots in many traditions are never ‘cleaned’ in the western sense. Espresso machines are rarely cleaned in the sense that people think they are.
“It’s as safe as houses. There’s a reason people started drinking both, and from a health standpoint, it’s because boiling water is an excellent pathogen killer.”
Lightening the tone, someone added humorously: “It’s not about getting sick. It’s that the coffee tastes like garbage”.
Finally, a pragmatic Redditor remarked: “I’m too focused on the pain in my knees from being crammed into a tiny space to worry about the coffee anyway”.