Kōrero: Tea, coffee and soft drinks

Commercially made carbonated drinks and cordials have been available in New Zealand since the 1830s. These labels show a range of drinks commonly available since then – some were still around in the early 2000s. Simmonds & Osborne was a Wellington-based drinks manufacturer.

Some of these drinks are easily made at home. Here is a recipe for lemon barley water from Tony Simpson's 1999 book A distant feast:

100 grams pearl barley; 2 lemons, zest and juice; Sugar to taste; 1 litre boiling water

Rinse the barley and put in a pot with all other ingredients. Boil for 5 minutes and then strain. Serve chilled.