Booze Review: Hey Hey

Posted 11:25pm Sunday 13th April 2025

Bye-bye distasteful, cheap RTDs and Hey Hey to the latest pathway to getting shitfaced. Hey Hey is a refreshing new take on the RTD phenomenon dominating the alcohol industry, and has now introduced us to a cool, fruity cocktail twist. Reduced daylight hours and drinking in a cold flat where you can Read more...

Booze Review: Speight’s Gold Medal

Posted 9:43pm Sunday 6th April 2025

Speight’s is culture. It was the first beer I ever had. Being underage, it was acquired through messaging unemployed 25-year-olds on the Dunedin Sober Driver’s Facebook page, where I and two other borderline prepubescent teens climbed into a random’s clapped-out Subaru Impreza to Read more...

Booze Review: Gonster

Posted 10:16pm Sunday 23rd March 2025

A Gonster in its ideal state (ideal is used loosely here) looks like a slightly disturbing black and green traffic light drink, with the two substances separating like oil and water. Critic’s first attempt at making one didn’t go quite to plan; we weren’t able to get our grubby Read more...

Booze Review: Protein Beer

Posted 6:01pm Sunday 16th March 2025

“Bro, my business creating 0 calorie lemon-flavoured RTDs has gone under, who knew the market was so flooded?”   “Bro, my DJing career has failed and my dad has cut me out of the trust fund because of my crippling weed dependency. How are we going to fuel this Read more...

Booze Review: Bay & Barnes Chardonnay

Posted 11:39pm Sunday 9th March 2025

A wise man once said to never start your wine drinking journey with expensive wines, because then the cheap shit will taste even worse.  Upon ignoring this advice, I quickly learned that the only thing better than an expensive bottle was a free one, especially when it’s stolen from Read more...

Booze Review: Woodstock Whiskey Lemonade

Posted 4:19pm Sunday 2nd March 2025

Woodstock have officially hopped on the ‘soft drinks made alcoholic’ bandwagon with the release of their Ginger Ale and Whiskey Lemonade. This move seems to follow on from the trend of brands making ‘healthy’ RTDs, which just taste like water that’s been left in your Read more...

Booze Review: Emerson’s Dirty Bird IPA

Posted 6:49pm Sunday 23rd February 2025

Welcome back to another year of booze. We’re kicking things off with a bang thanks to the new Emerson’s Dirty Bird, the latest member of the Bird Dog family for all you IPA nerds. Though new on the scene, Dirty Bird is sure to become a household name with its captivating taste, one Read more...

Girl Power, Girl ... Pilsner?: Critic's rejected booze reviewers

Posted 3:44pm Sunday 23rd February 2025

Critic Te Ārohi just found out about all this "feminism" stuff, and we think it's pretty neat. To show what great allies we are, for our hundredth year of publication Critic has our first ever female booze review moniker! Sometimes the reviewer behind the pseudonym is female, too. Read more...