Star Trek: the next generation It was a different show from its predecessor. Few knew this better than Star TrekThe most dedicated fans. After crowding their televisions to watch the 1987 premiere, fans quickly realized the changes in stage design, cinematography, and even the Business itself, but perhaps the most jarring change came in the form of a certain Jean-Luc Picard.
At that point, Star Trek fans had grown accustomed to William Shatner’s Captain Kirk, a character reminiscent of the swordsman merchant princes described in Isaac Asimov Foundation novels But Patrick Stewart’s portrayal of a Starfleet captain was not a merchant prince. Instead, Jean-Luc Picard was reserved, thoughtful, literally a student of history and, above all, a diplomat.
It took a while, but fans were finally excited not only by Captain Picard but by the showrunners’ decision to give each new captain his own unique personality. For a franchise that covers a myriad of stories across multiple shows, this is important. Each new series brings completely different characters and team dynamics. It’s hard to imagine anything more detrimental to the development of your character than the presence of a captain who adapts to a single cast. One of the most subtle representations of this is in each captain’s preferred beverage choice.
In fact, having an exclusive drink seems to be the common denominator among all the great captains of the Starfleet. Despite access to a beverage catalog as varied as the space is vast, we rarely see Starfleet captains stray from their favorite beverage.
Perhaps the great individuals, those beloved captains so well established that we simply refer to them by one name: Kirk, Picard, Janeway, are simply inclined to follow their established routines. Or, perhaps, showrunners destined for signature drinks to serve as pathological shorthands to better understand these larger-than-life characters.
Ambassador V’lar: Have you tried iced tea?
Subcommander T’pol: I do not care
Ambassador V’lar: Captain Archer certainly does. It is flavored with passion fruit, an appropriate ingredient for it. Don’t you think
Throw a stone at any of Star Trek: Enterpriseepisodes and you’re likely to find one in which Captain Archer (Scott Bakula) is drinking his favorite: sugary iced tea.
As Ambassador V’Lar commented, it is a drink that speaks to the captain’s personality in several ways. Often enjoyed with traditional southern food, iced tea can be considered comfort food in itself. One could imagine that the first captain of the spacecraft and the farthest explorer of humanity, at that time, consider comfort food to be very important.
Sweet tea is both a flavor of the home and emblematic of Captain Archer’s lack of experience with other cultures. Of all the prominent captains, he is the least likely to achieve something that is not worked out here on Earth. It’s a quirk that Captain Kirk doesn’t seem to share.
“Romulan ale! Why, Bones, do you know this is illegal?
-Captain James T. Kirk
Kirk is perhaps the only captain whose name is not so much synonymous with a particular drink as it is with the legal status of a particular drink. Whether it’s Saurian Brandy or the dreaded Romulan Ale, Captain Kirk prefers drinks that would scandalize his fellow officers and disagree with Federation rules.
Given Kirk’s status as the pioneer of “cowboy diplomacy,” his preference for illegal drinks makes sense. It perfectly represents a career dedicated to flexing Federation rules rather than stubbornly maintaining them.
“Tea, Earl Gray, hot!”
-Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Perhaps the most iconic order of replicators in the series, Earl Gray Tea oozes sophistication while avoiding the pitfalls of classism, a perfect reflection of Captain Picard’s personality and sensitivity.
And the way Picard enjoys his favorite drink underscores his status as a diplomatic drink. Throughout The next generationThroughout the race, Picard is rarely seen participating in the drink unless in the presence of another. It is as if he knew the impression that comes from choosing to drink something so worthy. This could give the impression that his preference for the drink is a kind of affectation, but it cannot be denied that Earl Gray is essentially Picard.
“I love raktajino.”
-Captain Benjamin Sisko
Whatever is Deep Space Nine The engineers who got into the water clearly had the unwanted effect of the Raktajino addiction. Captain Benjamin Sisko, played by Avery Brooks, was one of several characters with an extreme preference for the drink, also known as Klingon coffee. Commander Kira had at least a couple of cups a day, Chief O’Brien liked his candy, and Jake drank it with a mint foam, but few could match Captain Sisko’s devotion to the drink. Just ask your second-in-command, who was deeply disturbed to see you go through a morning without the second season episode “Second Sight.”
Described as superior and significantly stronger than human coffee, Raktajino is one of the few delights of Klingon cuisine that humans find tasty. Captain Sisko’s love for drinking speaks to his openness to other cultures, an important personality trait for anyone running an interstellar center like Deep Space Nine.
In fact, Captain Sisko’s cultural receptivity manifests throughout the series, whether it’s cooking and enjoying a meal of Ferengi worms (“Blaze of Glory”) or his willingness to serve as the spiritual icon of an alien race ( “Emissary”). Sisko’s preference for alien coffee only underscores his status as perhaps the most culturally tolerant of Starfleet captains.
Listen carefully, because I’m only going to say this once. Black coffee.
-Captain KATHRYN Janeway
While Captain Sisko preferred it to the Klingon style, Kate Mulgrew Captain Kathryn Janeway likes her no-frills black coffee, a reflection of her senseless command style. It’s a commando style that was probably born out of necessity, given that she and her team were stranded and without the help of Federation resources. Is it any wonder that her affection for coffee became a true addiction as the series progressed?
But why coffee specifically? If a stimulant was what you needed, wouldn’t it have served you better with Raktajino, which is a much stronger drink? As a captain, Janeway, more than anyone, had to be relentless. Perhaps coffee came to symbolize her longing for home, or at least her longing for something familiar. As it turned out, coffee could provide you with that and give you the boost you need to get your crew home at once. Coffee is a pragmatic drink, and Janeway is essentially a pragmatic one.
“The drink of a warrior”.
-Worf
Honorable mention goes to Worf (Michael Dorn). Although technically not depicted as a captain, onscreen, background information from the latest series, Star Trek: Picard, shows that Mogh’s son took over the captain’s chair after Picard’s promotion to admiral.
So why not take a moment to consider Worf’s love for plum juice and how he is emblematic of the character’s self-confidence?
Worf is a Klingon who, for much of his life, was estranged from Klingon life due to the frankly absurd political machinations of his culture. Despite his status as an outcast and physical marginalization of Klingon life, Worf managed to rise to the rank of Chancellor only to immediately relinquish the title for the sake of the empire that once rejected him. Worf always knew that he is a special Klingon, and the only time he allowed himself to enjoy this knowledge was when he proclaimed that plum juice became “a warrior’s drink”.
Because he said that? Plum juice is not part of the Klingon culture, and yet the first time you taste it, it proclaims it a warrior drink. Does Worf know of a great warrior race that drank prune juice before battle? Not likely. He called plum juice a warrior drink specifically because he finds it tasty.
This implies that everything he enjoys rises to warrior status simply by virtue of his taste. Only one installed in his own mythology would think this way.
Attention to detail is the cornerstone of good television. It shows that the creators are not only confident that their work will inspire fans to dig deeper than what is presented on screen. If a show is good, fans will look for little details, like a captain’s choice of drinks, to add to the mythology. It gives fans a chance to play a role, albeit a small one, in creating their favorite shows and makes these stories as much theirs as they are the creators.
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