(Post theme: Rain by Dragon)
Last time, Aroha Sparkling Feijoa, this time Hakanoa Dry Ginger Beer.
This comes in a glass bottle with a twist top, a decent 330ml. I had never seen or heard of this before it was featured in the Spinoff Ginger Beer Ranking (spoiler: it came second, behind my favourite ginger beer, which won’t be reviewed here since it’s Australian). Once again, though, no issues with having it delivered, even with rural post.
The bottle’s label has the tagline “the way it used to be”, and that feels pretty accurate to me. Dad would regularly brew ginger beer when I was a kid, and I even did for a few years in my early twenties. This tastes a lot like I remember that tasting (more Dad’s than mine; I was never great at it). The ginger beer of my youth was maybe a touch sweeter, but this is still way more like that than any other commercial ginger beer I can recall.
So perhaps it’s a bit of nostalgia, but I do very much enjoy this drink. It hasn’t taken my number one ginger beer spot, but it’d be the top local one, and probably second overall. Good with ice, but I like it most straight from the bottle.
I’d happily have this again, and would love to see it available in more places, like local cafes, restaurants, and service stations. 8.3 / 10.
TonyAndrewMeyer 