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Food & Drink

The Weekend Series: five must-try meat-alternative products

You’re seeing it in our cafes, bars and restaurants, and more and more on our grocery shelves – vegan-friendly and plant-based products are becoming a part of the norm. While many of us in The Weekend Edition office are still carnivorously inclined, we’re supportive of any environmentally sustainable and ethical change in our food industry. Meat-substitute products are becoming more prevalent as a part of home cooking, but which ones are the best? We’ve assembled a hit list of five meat alternatives that are well worth trying. more

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A Melbourne company has just released the world’s first-ever cannabis gin
Food & Drink

A Melbourne company has just released the world’s first-ever cannabis gin

There was a time in history when cannabis was written off pretty heavily – the plant was demonised, misrepresented and seemingly always associated with negative imagery. Thankfully, times have changed and public perception is slowly but surely shifting – people are beginning to come around to the many positive uses of the plant across food, medicine, textiles and more. The Cannabis Company is a Melbourne-based outfit that is leading this innovative charge towards change, having just released the world’s first-ever gin distilled using cannabis terpenes. more

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In the spirit – Four Pillars releases its annual limited-edition Christmas Gin right on cue
Food & Drink

In the spirit – Four Pillars releases its annual limited-edition Christmas Gin right on cue

The first weekend in November really cements the reality that we are officially at the pointy end of the year – it's all downhill from here. It's also the time of year when much-loved Australian distiller Four Pillars releases its annual Christmas gin, which goes on sale this Saturday November 3. Last year it sold out within weeks ... so consider this a friendly warning. more

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Summer sips – Sunlight Liquor brings ancient sparkling mead into the 21st century
Food & Drink

Summer sips – Sunlight Liquor brings ancient sparkling mead into the 21st century

Summer is just around the corner and it's getting rather balmy – and by balmy we mean it's already hitting 30-degrees celsius. We all know that the only way to really cool down is by sipping spritzes, ciders and other effervescent fruity concoctions. Though, we've uncovered another drinkable to put on your radar this summer – sparkling mead. It's an ancient beverage made from fermented honey, and it's being brought to life by South Australian company Sunlight Liquor. more

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Save the reef by cracking open a Great Barrier Beer
Food & Drink

Save the reef by cracking open a Great Barrier Beer

It's truly a good day when you learn that you can help the environment by cracking open a beer. In a call to action for Australian beer drinkers, social enterprise The Good Beer Co. has launched Great Barrier Beer to help fund the Australian Marine Conservation Society’s work to protect the Great Barrier Reef from climate change and pollution. more

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Smith & Deli-cious is the cookbook packed with (amazing) vegan versions of your favourite snacks
Food & Drink

Smith & Deli-cious is the cookbook packed with (amazing) vegan versions of your favourite snacks

If you’re still labouring under the misapprehension that vegan food just isn’t that good, you’ve obviously never paid a visit to Smith & Deli. The insanely popular Melbourne haunt has been feeding earthlings and fooling carnivores for years with its mouth-watering meals and treats, with people lining up around the block to get a taste. The masterminds behind this premier plant-based dining destination have been generous enough to reveal their secrets (read: pure sorcery) in the form of their new cookbook Smith & Deli-cious: Food from our Deli (That Happens to be Vegan). more


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The Weekend Series: be your own barista with these instant specialty coffee goodies
Food & Drink

The Weekend Series: be your own barista with these instant specialty coffee goodies

Don’t get it twisted – we’re never going to give up our barista-made coffee completely. The joy of sipping an expertly made cuppa is nearly unparalleled, but for convenience sake we’re open to the idea of getting a comparable caffeine hit at home or at work. Specialty coffee is expanding into the realm of instant brew – we're talking DIY brew kits, pods and sachets, which means we don’t need to spend energy grinding, brewing and pouring on our own whenever the energy levels dip. Here are some ingenious products that will bolster your coffee game considerably (and sustainably) – just don’t let the crew at your local coffee joint find out! more

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Pord brings art and wine to the head of the table
Food & Drink

Pord brings art and wine to the head of the table

Although we've all considered doing it, cask wine is certainly not appropriate at a dinner party. While they are generally filled with undrinkable headache-inducing wines, these cardboard dispensers do have one thing going for them – convenience. That's why we were delighted to come across Pord, an Australian company that has combined top-end wines with art to create a series of mini wine barrels that are worthy as the dinner table centrepiece. more

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The Weekend Series: feed your brain with these five must-listen food podcasts
Food & Drink

The Weekend Series: feed your brain with these five must-listen food podcasts

No matter how niche your interests and hobbies, there’s a big chance there’s a podcast dedicated to it. Now, the culinary arts are far from niche, but there’s still plenty of scope to delve deep into the nitty-gritty elements depending on where our food passion lies. If you’re curious about the inner workings of a restaurant, or are simply a die-hard lover of tasty treats, someone is currently making a podcast that caters to your tastes. If you’re looking to expand your podcast palate to include a foodie-centric offering, we’ve assembled a selection of five that are bound to tantalise your mental tastebuds (and maybe stir up your hunger). more

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Elevate your morning – Byron Bay's Sipp is making instant coffee cool again
Food & Drink

Elevate your morning – Byron Bay’s Sipp is making instant coffee cool again

Let's be honest (we're all friends here), instant coffee doesn't have the best reputation. Scooping freeze-dried granules from a 1.5-kilogram communal tin and mixing it with long-life milk in the office lunch room isn't exactly the most appealing option for a caffeine hit. If you're picking up what we're putting down, then you need to know about Sipp – it's instant coffee, but not as you know it. more

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Bittersweet sips – get a flight of bottled negroni delivered to your door
Food & Drink

Bittersweet sips – get a flight of bottled negroni delivered to your door

Can you imagine life without negronis? We'd rather not even try. If you too are an appreciator of this classic Italian aperitif, then hear this – you can now get a tasting flight of pre-bottled negronis from around Australia delivered to your door. That's six different negroni styles from various boutique bars and distilleries, all made by hand before being bottled (or tinned) and shipped for your sipping pleasure. more

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Sauces to soaps – get to know Church Farm General Store from the ground up
Food & Drink

Sauces to soaps – get to know Church Farm General Store from the ground up

Back in 2012, the old church in Billinudgel changed hands. Its purchasers were Andrew Morris and Amanda Callan, who soon moved in and turned the dreamy half-acre parcel into an organic vegetable garden. There was a bit of excess produce left over from their garden like herbs, habanero chillis, tomatoes, turmeric and ginger, so they decided to make a few of their own soaps and sauces. Then, to paraphrase Paul Kelly – from little things, big things grew. more

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Just add water – you can now get jacked up on ST. ALi coffee without going to Melbourne
Food & Drink

Just add water – you can now get jacked up on ST. ALi coffee without going to Melbourne

If you've ever been to Melbourne, there's a very high chance that you've been to or are familiar with famed coffee roaster and cafe ST ALi. If you've longed for their coffee since your last visit, then we've got good (nay, great) news – ST ALi has released Nespresso-compatible pods and instant coffee satchels, so you can now enjoy its delicious brews and blends without even leaving the house. more

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Guilt-free plant-based probiotic Rice Cream is here to satisfy your sweet tooth
Food & Drink

Guilt-free plant-based probiotic Rice Cream is here to satisfy your sweet tooth

We'll let you in on a little secret – we have a real weakness for ice-cream. Like, put a pint of the good stuff in front of us (chocolate flavour will do) and it will not last the night. It's a love-hate relationship though. We're oh-so fond of ice-cream but the reality is all that sugar, dairy and cream mixed together is not great for gut health and does zero to help our summer bods. Well, we might have found a solution – Rice Cream. more