Japanese yuzu gin, spicy rosé, coconut water collabs – it was an exciting year for delicious new drinks.
Goodbye 2025 – you’ve been full of highlights. Oasis reformed and toured Australia. Brisbane won (almost) all the sports. Labubus hit the big time. And, of course, a whole lot of great new drinks got released which, for people like us, is a bit like all those other things rolled into one. We just love new flavours and delicious drinks, okay?
If you missed a few new releases, that’s okay – we’ve got you. Here, in no particular order, are 13 of the best new drinks from the past year.
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Beer
1. Stone and Wood Radler – Citrus and Peach
Everyone’s favourite Byron-based brewery Stone and Wood knows how to set us up for summer. With these two radlers (a traditional German mix of beer and lemonade) hitting shelves in October and November, Stone and Wood has given us light, fresh and zesty beers that will suit us just fine when the warm weather really sets in. The citrus version is lightly zingy while the peach is aromatic and fruity. Drink it with mates at every summer barbecue, and even though it’s a beer at its core, don’t be afraid to serve it over ice with a slice of lemon.
2. Mountain Culture Juice Trip
Can Mountain Culture just chill out for a quick second? It seems that every time we crack a can, the Blue Mountains brewery has already lined up another slice of hoppy heaven. And while we could never tire of those signature Mountain Culture hazy pale ales and IPAs, Juice Trip is a little different. They’re calling it a ‘Fruit Enhanced Hazy’ – basically, a hazy ale dialled way up with genuine fruit juice. If the psychedelic can art didn’t give it away, this is a seriously juicy, fruity beer. Enjoy it in the arvo sun with a platter of fresh fruit for peak summer goodness.
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Premixes
3. Hard Rated – Orange and Lemon Pineapple
The minds behind Hard Rated could have realised they’d perfected the alcoholic, lemon-flavoured soda and left it at that so they wouldn’t fly too close to the sun. Friends, they did not leave it at that – and it’s a good thing, too. This year, we were lucky enough to get new Hard Rated Orange and Lemon Pineapple flavours, which quickly made their way into our weekend rotation. You know what you’re getting here – sweet and juicy fruit flavours with just enough zip to hold it all together. These are drinks made for summer parties, without a doubt.
4. Rainbird H2coco Coconut Water Vodka & Passionfruit and Vodka & Pineapple
We absolutely love a crossover here at Dan’s Daily. Remember when the Jetsons and the Flintstones used to hang out? No? Well, it doesn’t matter – this crossover collab from seltzer kings Rainbird and coconut water legends H2coco is way better, anyway. Whereas a seltzer is essentially alcoholic sparkling water, this duo is based on alcoholic coconut water. H2coco supplies the fresh coconut water and Rainbird brings the vodka and tropical flavours like pineapple or passionfruit, giving us a light, easy-going, summery combo we didn’t know we needed (but we really do).
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Spirits
There are some who’ll happily tell you that blanco tequila – the unaged version, also called ‘silver’ – is the spirit’s purest and best form. With new bottles like this blanco from El Arquero, we’re reminded of just how true that statement can be. El Arquero is distilled from 100% Blue Weber agave from Jalisco and, even though this tequila is the unaged variety, those agave plants are an average of seven years old, so there’s plenty of mature flavour. The result is a crisp, clean, herbaceous blanco tequila that is as good in a Margarita as it is served over ice with a big squeeze of lime.
Why someone decided that ‘vanilla’ should be code for ‘boring’ is beyond us – especially when there are spirits out there like this vanilla vodka from Mishka. Here, vanilla adds a velvety smoothness and slightly sweet aroma that’s begging to become part of a cocktail. We reckon Mishka Vanilla Vodka would add a good bit of a depth to an Espresso Martini or a White Russian but, really, it’s hard to go wrong. This is proof that new drinks don’t have to reinvent the wheel to make it into our 2025 Hall of Fame.
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7. Never Never Oyster Shell Gin
When you think of refreshment, what comes to mind? We’ll go first – it’s the Australian coastline. A little sea spray, some crisp, cold drinks, that fresh breeze – it’s beautiful. Somehow, Never Never has captured it all in this Oyster Shell Gin, which harnesses the Aussie coastline to bring us one of the best gins we tried all year. There are notes of zippy citrus, a little hint of salt and the briney touch of oyster shell. It’s sophisticated, for sure, but not pretentious. Try it in a Gin and Tonic (with a slice of lime or grapefruit) or, ideally, a Martini with a couple of briney olives to really take it over the top.
Yes, we love the silky, smooth and subtle vanilla vodka from Mishka, but we have plenty of room in our lives for the punchier styles, too. Enter Suntory Haku Yuzu, a vodka infused with the spiky, zesty hit that is the signature of yuzu. The gnarly-looking Japanese citrus has quickly become a staple for drinks of all stripes, but we think it works really well in an infused vodka because you can put that complex citrus flavour wherever you want. Yuzu Vodka Martini? Yes please. DIY Alcoholic Lemonade punched up with yuzu? Heck yeah.
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Wine
9. RoRo
You know when you discover a new favourite band and you really hope they can keep the hits rolling? That’s us with Zonzo, the Yarra Valley winery whose now-legendary Zoncello has been a faithful companion through just about every soiree for the past two years. With Zonzo’s latest pre-batched Spritz RoRo, we needn’t have worried – it’s a smash hit. The inspiration comes from aperitivi made with bitter red liqueurs (like Cynar or Campari) but without the bitter edge. Instead, you’ve got a fruity, citrusy, slightly sweet aperitivo Spritz that only needs ice and a slice of orange. Bless you, Zonzo.
Forget shrinkflation – sometimes scaling down is actually the right call. Poco Vino (which means ‘little wine’) has solved a big problem for us – what to do when we only want one glass of wine. The solution from Poco Vino is to make single-serve bottles at 187mL, meaning nothing is going to waste. Instead, we get six different tiny wines to try – like pinot noir, rosé and pinot grigio – and a cute little bottle to boot. From picnics and parties to weeknights at home, Poco Vino is ticking a lot of boxes.
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11. Cupio Spicy Rosé
They say that you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone, but sometimes you don’t know what you want until it’s there right in front of you. This is how it works with Cupio Spicy Rosé, which answers a question we’d never asked before: What if wine was spicy? It turns out that cold, crisp, dry rosé works a treat with the (admittedly quite delicate) heat of chilli, much in the same way that a Spicy Margarita does. How good would this be on taco Tuesday?
12. House Of Arras E.J. Carr Late Disgorged 30th Anniversary Special Release 2006
We bang on about Ed Carr a lot over here, but we make absolutely no apologies for that. The founder and winemaker of Tassie’s legendary sparkling producer House of Arras makes wine that regularly fends off the best of Champagne, such is his talent. And this special-edition Late Disgorged might be the very best of the bunch. This wine was produced back in 2006 and has aged on lees (that’s yeast) for nearly 20 years, resulting in a sparkling wine with ridiculous depth and richness. If you’re looking for a special way to ring in 2026, there really is nothing else quite like it.
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This one is a very late addition to our list, but it was impossible not to include it. After all, EPC is a true one-off in the world of Champagne, focusing heavily on sustainability, carbon reduction and adding minimal preservatives. They are also all about traceability, listing all the wine and growers that contribute to the final cuvee on the label. Wines like this Brut NV are each made with a big focus on terroir (that is, the expression of where it comes from) – in this case, Épernay. The result is a Champagne that’s dry, fresh, a little rich and very unique.
