Flight Details:
Flight #: 1734
Departure: SFO, 1:50 pm
Arrival: BOS, 10: pm
Duration: 5h 18m
Seat: 2A (single suite)
Class: Mint
Some things about this flight went very well. We boarded exactly on time, pushed back from the gate at right at 1:48pm, had a short taxi, and were quick to depart. My cabin crew was friendly and attentive, and had fun but not annoying personalities. The flight was pretty smooth, and my cabin mates all well behaved. No babies, dogs, or other "troublemakers".
The flight was not without issues though. No in seat power was working on the entire plane, which, for a 6 hour flight, meant my laptop battery did not last the entire time. There was also no water ... including in the bathrooms. No amenity kits were provided, and it seems the parting gift (previously chocolate covered cashews or looong ago Milk Bar cookies) has been eliminated.
Food & Drink
Drinks
As we settled in, pre-departure beverages were offered, as menus were distributed personally, and the FAs introduced themselves. I opted for just sparkling Bubly (lime), and was provided a full can, which I greatly appreciated.
 |
| Wine List. |
The wine lineup was all new (to me) wines, with the standard winter lineup of a sparkling, two whites, and two reds. They were from all over, including Portugal, Italy, and Oregon. I opted to try several throughout my flight. I do think the quality / price point of the wines served in Mint has gone down considerably in the past few years. The wines were all "fine" but not great, and were mostly in the $12 / bottle range. Basically, like most other business class offerings at this point.
 |
Muxagat Branco.
2021 Light White. |
"There’s no better time to drink Portuguese wine than now. This white made from native varieties is similar to the best Sancerre and Chablis. It’s salty and goes down very easily."
I asked for a small pour of the rather interesting sounding "light white", which seems to retail for nearly $40 and is well regarded. White isn't my regular choice, but it sounded worth a try.
It was interesting. Slightly sweet, not a sweet wine exactly, but it had more sweetness than I was expecting. Fairly high acid, but not in a harsh way. Somehow well rounded, even though it could easily come across as oddly sweet or acidic. I wouldn't get it again, and I didn't finish the larger-than-I-wanted pour, but it was nice to try something different.
***.
 |
Buona Notte Semifreddo.
2021 Light Red. |
"Semifreddo translates to ‘a little chilled’. This natural red wine from Oregon was made with the intention of being served cool and crisp. It’s light, peppery, and very delicious."
For my "real" glass of wine, I went for the also kinda interesting sounding "semifreddo", a term I am quite familiar with, but in very different context. I liked the description though - "peppery, and very delicious". I was in!
It was an ok wine, a light red for sure (reminded me of a light pinot). It didn't have much complexity to it, nor really much promised pepperyness, but, it was inoffensive, no real acid nor tannin to speak of. It was fine, and I finished my glass easily, but I wouldn't really opt for it given other choices.
***.
 |
Triennes Les Aureliens Rouge.
2019 Big Red. |
"Some of the most acclaimed winemakers of the century like to vacation in southern France. Good news, they also decided to make wine from their vacation spot too. This is a smoky and big red from the Mediterranean coast."
Later in the flight, I decided to continue my wine tasting journey, and tried the "big red". This was hands down the winner of the bunch. A big wine, as advertised, and reasonably complex. Balanced, bold, and quite enjoyable, and apparently not a particularly expensive bottle ($12-15). This is the one I'd definitely get again in the future.
****.
Food
 |
Menu.
|
The menu as always offered 5 choices for small plates, and we could pick 3. The first two were chilled dishes.
My choices were easy - JetBlue always does a nice job with the pork shoulder, so that was a given. I also wanted seafood, and thus, shrimp it was (although I was a bit let down to see shrimp rather than fish, and I wasn't really into the accompaniments). For my final dish, I wanted vegetables to round out the meal, and thus, carrots it was ... even though I'm not a huge fan of cooked carrots, and those would be served cold. I wasn't into the bulgar salad, and although I wanted the creamed fennel from the chicken dish, it seemed silly to get it just for the sides.
 |
| Welcome Snack: Grissini. |
With our drinks, we were brought the "Welcome snack", which had shifted back to the cheesy grissini. I preferred the spiced nuts, but my FA told me that too many people wrote in about them being too spicy. The grissini are good though, crispy, savory, lightly cheesy, and go great with red wine. ***.
 |
| Meal Tray. |
I'm always surprised by how long it takes for meal service on JetBlue Mint flights, just compared to other business class offerings. It was over 1.5 hours into our flight before my meal was served (which actually was totally fine, that was still only 3:30pm in my departure time zone, so an odd time for dinner), and over 2 hours for the back rows of the Mint cabin. Everything was served at once, with all my assorted toppings on the side in their own containers (which looked ridiculous, but is exactly what I wanted).
Meals normally come with a bread roll, but I never like it, and asked to just have it left off. I had my own bread with me just in case I wanted some. I still received the standard condiments of olive oil, chili oil, and salt, no pepper (why oh why?).
The gelato was served at the same time as our meals, which wasn't ideal, and I'm not sure why this crew chose to do that. I prefer it offered after, so I don't have to rush eat to avoid it getting too melty, plus, the topping is served warm, and it would cool down.
The meal was a mixed success - two excellent dishes, one ok, and one eh.
 |
Roasted Carrots.
|
"Carrot puree, cumin yogurt."
The chilled roasted carrot dish was a mixed bag for me. As I kinda expected, I didn't really care for the cooked, chilled carrots (the menu said "roasted", but these didn't seem really roasted). They tasted like, well, cold cooked carrots. Not my thing, hot nor cold. They seemed well prepared though, not too mushy, not underdone.
Nor did I care for the cumin yogurt, as I don't really like cumin. But it was nice creamy yogurt. The carrot puree was tasty, and I used it with my shrimp and with some celery sticks I had with me as a dip.
So, tasty puree, but the rest was a miss for me. If you like cooked carrots and cumin though, I think this would be a nice dish. **+.
 |
Shrimp.
(No pine nut crumble). |
"Salsa verde, pine nut crumble, herbs."
If you know me, you know that I have a pretty strong aversion to pine nuts (I got pine nut syndrome once about 12 years ago, and I entirely avoided pine nuts until earlier this year. Yes, it was that awful that I just avoided them entirely for more than a decade.) I still am very, very cautious with pine nuts, and pine nut crumble on a flight absolutely did not seem worth the risk, so I asked to have that left off, which was no problem (it is an option even listed on the menu to make it nut free for allergies anyway).
The shrimp was pretty "eh". A decent portion of 5 shrimp (particularly considering the sizable pork shoulder I had as well). It was a bit of an odd, soft texture and only lukewarm. It wasn't rubbery, nor fishy, but, the texture was just a bit off for me. I also didn't care for the very oily salsa verde. Again, not a flavor profile I tend to go for, but also, wow, it was oily. I extracted my shrimp from the pool and dipped them in the carrot puree instead. As requested, the crumble was left off (I meant that I didn't want it at all, but it was provided on the side).
Overall, it was ok, I did eat all the shrimp with the other sauce, but, it did let me down. **+.
 |
Pork Shoulder.
(Cracklings on the side). |
"Almond romesco, jus, cracklin."
The pork shoulder however was glorious. Glorious. Wowzer. I knew to expect it, having had great pork shoulder on previous JetBlue flights, but, it really was wonderous.
The portion was quite sizable. Imagine having that, plus the chicken dish, plus the 5 shrimp? That would be a mega-meal. It was piping hot - not too hot, but considerably warmer than the shrimp. All good things.
The pork was tender, flavorful, and just kinda melted in my mouth, the fat rendered well. Just really nicely prepared, and shocking to have on a flight (unless, of course, you've had it on JetBlue flights before, and know how good it can be). Definitely restaurant quality, and better than you find many places.
The almond romesco was also glorious. Very flavorful, nicely seasoned, and it went great with both the pork and the shrimp. While I left all the salsa verde behind from the shrimp, the same was not the case with this. I lapped up every last bit, and if I had pulled out my bread, I certainly would have used it to get every last bit. So good.
The cracklings I had on the side so they wouldn't get soggy, and they were again excellent. Crispy, fatty, porky, and I'd gladly eat a bag full of them. It is a good thing they are just used as a garnish!
A fabulous dish, restaurant quality, and totally redeemed the others. I'll continue to get the pork shoulder whenever offered, and this sauce was a particularly good one too. ****+.
 |
Vanilla Gelato
(Toppings on the side). |
"Bananas foster, almond honey granola."
The gelato was served with our main dishes, which wasn't ideal, but since I asked for my toppings on the side, it didn't melt too badly, and the granola didn't get soggy. I was warned that the bananas foster topping was quite hot, and indeed, it was.
This was definitely one of the better gelato creations I've had with the new catering. I do still miss the special ice cream flavors from the port of departure that JetBlue used to have, but, these toppings were a step above the others since the changeover.
The gelato was standard vanilla bean gelato, fairly high quality. It melted nicely, and was quite creamy. No freezer burn nor ice crystals. Visible vanilla bean specks. A good base for a sundae.
The bananas foster was very sweet, but, with enough gelato, it balanced out nicely. This was a topping that worked really well warm, and honestly felt quite fancy. The banana pieces were soft and mushy, but in a way that works for a dessert topping. There was plenty of warm flavorful sauce as well, again, sweet, but it worked with the gelato. Previous versions of different warm fruit toppings were always an unbalanced sweet, and just not that great, but this was a winner. If I could improve it in one way, I'd add whipped cream for further balance.
The almond honey granola was nice for a bit of crunch, and had slices of almond in it. Fairly average granola, no more, no less.
Overall, one of the best of the new catering, ***+.
