Yvonne’s pick . . .

Go with me here. Inject a little bit of grown-up edginess into your afternoon tea by rinsing down a slice of this sticky, citrusy, nutty niceness with a glass of the rare, cask-aged Kereru Paloma NZ barrel-aged barley wine 2018 ($37, 500ml). Barley wine is actually a type of beer and the casks (French and American oak) originally held red wines from Mills Reef before creating special releases from the NZ Whisky Co. It’s incredibly rich, caramelised, nutty, and smooth, with notes of dried fruit, Christmas cake, and tawny port, so serve it in a wine glass and be careful, it’s 14 per cent ABV. Only 1000 individually numbered bottles exist and because of the way each vintage is brewed, the casks can be used only once, so each bottle is a unique experience that can’t be repeated. The beer will age gracefully for aeons. kererubrewing.co.nz