By: Sara Wong, Peak Associate

It’s officially summer, which means it should be time to cut up some watermelon and bring out the lemonade — though Mother Nature doesn’t always appear to have gotten the memo. However, the rare sunny days she does grace us with can be enjoyed even more with these three new, locally-made drinks!

Dickie’s Ginger ginger beer

I have a confession to make: I generally dislike carbonated drinks. However, the ginger beer from Dickie’s Ginger is so good it transcends this dislike. My first taste of Dickie’s Ginger was incredibly special. After interviewing Vincent Garcia about Kasama Chocolate, he offered me a tour of their workshop. 

SEE MORE: SFU grad’s business venture is a delightful culmination of chocolate and friendship

I happily accepted, and while I was there, I discovered Dickie’s workspace just around the corner from Kasama’s. An employee showed me how they make their ginger beer and gave me a sample. I learned that the ginger beer was made with four simple ingredients: water, ginger, lemons, and organic cane sugar. This simplicity makes it taste refreshing — perfect for hot days. Additionally, the process and ingredients Dickie’s Ginger uses are instrumental in making the flavour of the ginger prominent. Their ginger beer stands out for multiple reasons: it’s real ginger and not an extract, it’s put through a cold press juicer, and it’s unpasteurized, preserving the flavour for longer. However, this dedication to freshness means that the product has to be refrigerated. 

A four pack of the original ginger beer is offered for $16 or can be purchased in single, 1L bottles for $12. 

Dickie’s Ginger ginger beer can be found at select retailers across Metro Vancouver (see their website), at the Trout Lake and Kitsilano Farmer’s Markets, or online at BeerVan  — where you can have it delivered to you at home! Besides the original flavour, they also currently sell strawberry and raspberry varieties.

Taps & Tacos margarita kits

Remember when quarantinis were a thing? It’s in this spirit that Taps & Tacos came up with the genius idea of selling margarita kits. I purchased the coconut-flavoured kit for myself and loved how affordable it was and how easy the margaritas were to make. Aside from coconut, the other core flavours offered are lime and jalapeño. Additionally, they have feature flavours like mango and spicy watermelon — you have to keep up with them on social media to find out what flavours will be featured and when.

Each kit comes with the margarita mix (which is made in-house using real fruit and no preservatives), a package of dehydrated limes, and a cute little recipe card. The tequila is not provided, but they sell some on the side. A small kit costs $6 and makes three single margaritas, while a large costs $11 and makes six. I enjoyed that the coconut flavour was tangy as opposed to sweet — it tasted more refreshing that way. If I order another kit, I would probably select a more fruit-forward flavour.

Taps & Tacos margarita kits are available at their restaurant, food truck, Port Moody Farmer’s Market, and Coquitlam Farmer’s Market. They currently only allow pre-orders but a delivery service is in the works too, so stay tuned for further announcements on their Instagram at @tapsandtacos and Facebook at Taps & Tacos.

Teaspoons & Co five-minute bubble tea kits

Okay, so bubble tea is more of a year-round (rather than a seasonal) drink, but with people spending more time at home, DIY bubble tea has become increasingly more popular. Passion Tearoom was the first shop to sell bubble tea kits in Metro Vancouver and now they’re defending their trendsetter status with their new outpost, Teaspoons & Co. This online store sells all your bubble tea essentials —  teas, flavour powders (for taro and coconut), syrups, creamers, jelly toppings, and accessories like metal straws.

And of course, the pearls. 

These are what make Teaspoons & Co the place to shop at. Traditionally, tapioca pearls take about 40 minutes to cook, but Teaspoons & Co has created packages of pearls that are ready in just five minutes. I tried out one of their packs and can confirm that the pearls are done cooking in five minutes, and they taste as soft and chewy as the regular ones I had purchased previously! Their standard bubble tea kit is $23 and makes ten servings. If you want the five minute pearls in your bubble tea kit, it will cost an extra $3.

Teaspoons & Co is an online shop. They deliver across Metro Vancouver, but there’s a delivery fee involved unless you spend over $35 and live in Burnaby, Port Moody, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Vancouver, North Vancouver, New West, or Richmond. A more cost-effective way to eliminate a delivery fee is to select pickup at checkout, but that means you will have to make a trip downtown to Passion Tearoom.