Summer reissue: Dietary Requirements is The Spinoff’s monthly podcast in which we eat, drink and talk about it too, with special thanks to Freedom Farms. In this episode, we’re joined by food writer Ginny Grant and a whole lot of babies for our first podcast of 2020. First published February 2, 2020. Independent journalism depends … Read more
Sam Brooks shares central Auckland’s best-kept drinking secret, the bowling alley bastion that has become his ‘third place’. One of the first pieces I wrote for The Spinoff was a review of Metrolanes, the bowling alley bar that had quickly found a place in my heart. It is, in my mind, the best bar in … Read more
Sure, the new wave of RTDs might have cool labels and no carbs or whatever, but for Sam Brooks, none come close to the perfection held within that little yellow can. RTDs are coming back, if they were ever really gone. I remember the halcyon days of getting drunk off Purple Goannas, off Taboos, even … Read more
They’re ‘clean’, they’re ‘natural’, they’ll get you lit but not make you fat – or at least that’s the aim. Premixed spirit-based drinks have shed their low-brow reputation and are taking over a summer barbecue near you. But are they any good? The Spinoff finds out. For many years, RTDs had a terrible reputation: brightly … Read more
Dietary Requirements is The Spinoff’s monthly podcast in which we eat, drink and talk about it too, with special thanks to Freedom Farms. This month, we’re joined by food writer Ginny Grant and a whole lot of babies for our first podcast of 2020. We’re back for 2020 and the Dietary Requirements whānau has magically expanded! … Read more
For a brief moment, New Zealand was home to Big Foot, a mythically potent RTD served in a giant bottle and apparently aimed squarely at teens. Don Rowe talks to the brain behind it. This post was originally published 5 January 2018. Gather round children, I’m going to speak to you of the days before … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Don Rowe gets out the duct tape and cracks into a bottle of Scrumpy. For almost thirty years, only one word has been synonymous with both duct tape and drinking. That word is Scrumpy, the people’s cider. With 8% … Read more
For a brief moment, New Zealand was home to Big Foot, a mythically potent RTD served in a giant bottle and apparently aimed squarely at teens. Don Rowe talks to the brain behind it. Gather round children, I’m going to speak to you of the days before the voluntary RTD code. A time when Billy … Read more