Their first collab with their near neighbours at Slow Lane – Drop It Slow – wasn't the only new beer to see the light from One Drop in early November – not by a long way.
Their much loved We Jammin' double fruited smoothie sour has returned, and I can only assume the name is short for "We Jammin A Shit Ton Of Fruit Into This". Expect copious amounts of mango, guava, banana and Tahitian vanilla up front with a load of lactose, oats and icing sugar (yes, really) thrown in for good measure. Pouring thick and murky like some OTT fitness influencer’s breakfast juice, it’s fruity and funky AF, creamy and tingly on the tongue. That megamix may prove too much for some, but lovers of smoothie sours will certainly celebrate this jam’s triumphant return.
One Drop’s quest to put every fruit known to man into a brew continues with the exotic smoothie sour Call It Out. There’s coconut from the Pacific Islands, feijoa from NZ, banana from Far North Queensland and jabuticaba from Brazil (yes, I checked, this is a real fruit – One Drop aren’t just making them up now). Ruddy pink in colour, this sour is lighter on the palate than We Jammin' but still packs a zingy fruit wallop. The jabuticabas lend a sweet grape-berry bite to the flavour of feijoa (think guava, pineapple and strawberry), complemented by the creaminess of the coconut, banana and lactose. Fresh and tangy, it tastes like a desert island delicacy from a place you’d rather be.
After all these fruity free-for-alls, Combi Nation IPA might seem a tad conventional by comparison, but damn, it’s delicious. This hazy IPA is pillowy and punchy with a tantalising tropical hop hit that’s never too overblown or bitey. That’s thanks to two new New Zealand hops, Peacherine and Superdelic, which deliver big bursts of – you guessed it – peach and nectarine from the first, red fruit and candy from the second, combined with the classic citrus kick of US Citra.
The beer’s name may be just a play on words but I’m secretly hoping it’s a nod to the late-90s rave act Zombie Nation and his infectious anthem, Kernkraft 400. Either way, this IPA is a dead-set banger.
And then last but not least… from the makers of Hard Lemonade and Hard Naranja comes Hard Raspberry (why do I sound like I’m MCing a UFC fruit fight?). It’s a raging RTD that blends One Drop’s house spirit with a proclaimed 21 Tasmanian raspberries in every can and a 6 percent ABV.
The berry blast hits you swift in the nose while the high carbonation makes it explode on the tongue. It’s plenty sweet, a bit tart and probably the closest to mainlining red cordial I’ll ever get.
Jason Treuen
Published November 17, 2023 2023-11-17 00:00:00
