Tara Ward transcends the cat v dog debate with a list that also includes a goat, a duckling, and a butcher who likes to share his meat. New Zealand bloody loves Hairy Maclary. We’ve made films about his life, erected statues in his honour, and turned Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy into the bestselling book … Read more
After years of hearing Aucklanders bicker over who has the least horrific school uniform, Tauranga-born Janaye Henry decides once and for all who is serving the best looks at the inter-school events. Spoiler alert: Contains pinstripes, skorts and cufflinks. Who knew there were so many colleges in Auckland? Certainly not me when I embarked on … Read more
Alcoholic seltzers are all the rage this summer, but are any of them any good? The dedicated beverage enthusiasts of The Spinoff took it upon themselves to find out. We saw the first glimpse of the hard seltzer craze in Aotearoa last summer, when an array of supposedly better-for-you fizzy alcoholic beverages that tasted of, … Read more
The recent hysteria over Smeg knives is far from the first time New Zealanders have lost their minds over a supermarket promo. Alex Casey reminisces. This week, New World’s Smeg knife stamp-collecting scheme came to a close to rapturous applause. And when I say applause, I of course mean a horde of furious, feral New … Read more
Summer reissue: Kind-of vegetarian Alex Casey brings you the only meat-free fast food burger ranking you’ll ever need. First published October 31 2020 At the start of the year, several centuries ago, I went vegetarian. Kind of. As a coward with commitment issues, I decided to enter into a dietary Yes Man situation, where I … Read more
Summer reissue: In an effort to bring The Spinoff’s favourite format – the ranking – to its knees, Alice Webb-Liddall ranks the most boring thing she can think of: borers. First published October 29, 2020. If something is to be named after me when I have passed away after a lifetime of goodwill and national … Read more
Summer reissue: Summer is the time for buying dollar bags at the dairy. It’s also the time for Madeleine Chapman to rank every single one of them. First published February 14 2020 In a feeble attempt to pre-empt the outrage, I’d like to make some disclaimers. Firstly, the lollies were limited to those sold in … Read more
Oat milk is so hot right now, so we bought a whole bunch and conducted a good old-fashioned blind taste test. Here are the results. Non-western cultures have always known milk doesn’t have to come from a mammal’s mammary gland, but in New Zealand, dairy-devoted nation that we are, we’ve taken a while to catch … Read more
Kind-of vegetarian Alex Casey brings you the only meat-free fast food burger ranking you’ll ever need. At the start of the year, several centuries ago, I went vegetarian. Kind of. As a coward with commitment issues, I decided to enter into a dietary Yes Man situation, where I would always say “yes” to eating vegetarian … Read more
In an effort to bring The Spinoff’s favourite format – the ranking – to its knees, Alice Webb-Liddall ranks the most boring thing she can think of: borers. If something is to be named after me when I have passed away after a lifetime of goodwill and national recognition, I would want a high-density housing … Read more
Summer is the time for buying dollar bags at the dairy. It’s also the time for Madeleine Chapman to rank every single one of them. In a feeble attempt to pre-empt the outrage, I’d like to make some disclaimers. Firstly, the lollies were limited to those sold in dollar bags. Items sold individually (such as … Read more