Just peachy: unique new beverage ticks many hipster boxes

Three big trends in the drinks space right now are now/no alcohol beverages; small-batch production and the use of indigenous ingredients.

A new collaboration between indigenous bush foods specialist Kakadu Kitchen and Sydney's ALTD Spirits ticks all three of those hipster boxes.

The two have paired to create the first an-marabula native peach Bellini - a Kakadu interpretation of an Italian classic.

The new limited-edition non-alcoholic beverage is based on an-marabula, the Kakadu native peach and is being promoted as the first beverage to use an-marabula.

The native peaches were harvested by Kakadu Kitchen owner and Bininj man Ben Tyler and his extended family at their Murdudjurl community on Murumburr country in the heart of Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory.

The fruit has been combined with botanical extracts and a de-alcoholised Australian sparkling wine.

The debut run is limited to just 300 cases, with small quantities available at Kakadu’s two premier hotels -Cooinda Lodge and Mercure Kakadu Crocodile Hotel - as well as at specialist retailers including PNV Merchants in Newtown and Paddington (NSW) in Sydney, and online.

Kakadu Kitchen’s Ben Tyler said that while Kakadu plum had become known world-wide for its rich vitamin C content and health credentials, the an-marabula native peach - which is fuzzy, like a peach, but the size of a grape - had never been harvested for use in commercial products.

“Fortunately, the bush around our remote family community at Murdudjurl produces large quantities of an-marabula, so my mum and respected senior Murumburr Elder, Jessie Alderson, her great-grandson Ngarridj (Dave), and I were able to harvest a considerable quantity which I brought to Sydney for the production,” Tyler said.

“Tim Triggs from ALTD and I experimented with a range of recipes before coming up with the final version, and I really think it makes the most of the native ingredient, an-marabula.

"This was the first commercial production of Kakadu native peaches, so we had to work out the best way of using such an exotic bush food while creating a Bellini-style drink.

“Unlike most peaches, the an-marabula is not very fruity, rather it is earthy in taste with distinct botanical tones. Almost bittersweet.

“We created an extract from the Kakadu native peaches to capture the unique flavour and then combined it with peach and vanilla flavours to create a really distinctive, native and refreshing Bellini.

“It really is a ‘taste of Kakadu’ – wild, aromatic and a beautiful mouthfeel.

“Importantly, the production and ingredients are totally in line with our sustainable principles. That’s how my family have lived in Kakadu for generations, and I wanted to bring that heritage to this product.”

The pair is now working on the next drink in the line-up, a smoked bush white apple with native spices.

Cartons of 4 x 250ml cans are available from $25.00 from ALTD Spirits at https://altdspirits.com/

Meet a range of beers with a powerful message

Sobah, a non-alcoholic craft brewery on the Gold Coast, hopes it can teach Australians there are different ways of drinking.

Sobah is the extension of creator Clinton Schultz’s personal journey and he says he's aiming to prove it is possible for a non-alcoholic beer to offer a real alternative for beer drinkers when they’re out with mates.

As someone who who has never found a low- or no-alcohol beer that really satisfies, I am sceptical but willing to be convinced.

Schulz says that by infusing the beer with Australian bush tucker, it also offers a flavourful education in Australian indigenous foods and culture.

The native foods and flavours range from the zing of lemon aspen and finger limes to boab, and spicy pepperberry.

Schultz and his wife Lozen brought the product to market in 2017, just ahead of the rise of the global "better-for-you" drinking trend.

From its Gold Coast base, Sobah has grown to the point it is sold in bars, restaurants, cafes and around 900 retailers across Australia.

In an equity crowdfunding campaign last October, Sobah raised $1 million in nine days for 9% of the company. A total of 586 investors now have a share of the company with a valuation of over $11 million.

Schultz says Sobah is building Australia’s first non-alcoholic craft brewery on Gold Coast in Kombumerri country, a part of the Yugambeh language regions.

“We were the first non-alcoholic craft beer company in Australia; I think we were the first non-alcoholic adult beverage produced in Australia,” Schultz said.

“There was no acceptance for non-alcoholic beverages when we started, it was a lot of work.

“There were a couple of ‘non-alc’ spirit business that started up around the same time or just after we did, and collectively we had to do a lot of re-education with the Australian public about accepting non-alc and that non-alc was just as good, if not better, than their alcoholic cousins.

“We’re really stoked that we’ve literally played a significant part in shifting the Australian drink culture in four years.”

Schultz said Sobah emerged from his own experience, which included quitting drinking.

“I stopped drinking seven years ago,” he said.

“After I’d had a big night drinking I was lying on the bed hungover and my boy rattled his little finger in my face and he just went, ‘Dad, can you stop drinking silly drink.’ That was the last time I touched alcohol.”

It led, however, to frustration with alternative options available on the market.

“I quickly realised when I stopped drinking that when you’re an adult and you’re choosing not to drink, there’s not many choices out there," Schultz said.

“I got frustrated that there were no decent options for people who were choosing not to drink for whatever reason at the time, so I started making non-alcohol beer for myself.”

A Gamilaraay man who grew up on the Gold Coast, Schultz said the company tries to highlight where the native ingredients used in the beer were originally from, the language groups that they were associated with and tried to lead people to want to learn more about those areas and the First Nations people of those areas.

For details see https://sobah.com.au/