Alcohol in New Zealand
Alcohol has been consumed in New Zealand since the arrival of Europeans. The most popular alcoholic beverage is beer. The legal age to purchase alcohol is 18. History Early history There is no oral tradition or archaeological evidence of Māori using alcohol before the arrival of Europeans. Captain James Cook brewed a beer while visiting New Zealand in order to combat scurvy aboard ship. It was brewed on Saturday 27 March 1773 on Resolution Island, in Dusky Sound, Fiordland from small branches of rimu and manuka, wort and molasses. James Cook wrote: "We also began to brew beer from the branches or leaves of a tree, which much resembles the American black-spruce. From the knowledge I had of this tree, and the similarity it bore to the spruce, I judged that, with the addition of inspissated juice of wort and molasses, it would make a very wholesome beer, and supply the want of vegetables, which this place did not afford; and the event proved that I was not mistaken." Wine making and viticulture date to the pre-colonial era. British Resident and keen oenologist James Busby was, as early as 1836, attempting to produce wine at his land in Waitangi. In