We're all about the personal recommendation, whether it's a new restaurant with brilliant service or a beauty product that someone has brought, finished and will buy again. Each month we'll be sharing a few of our own random finds. Discovered something new that you want to recommend? Let us know!‍

Twenty-seven Names x Garage Project Peached As beer, $13 for a can‍

These two wonderful Wellington-based brands regularly collaborate on seasonal beer releases; for winter, it’s a peach iced tea sour. For those who don’t know much about beer other than sometimes enjoying one on a sunny afternoon (aka us), it tastes very sweet and a little sour; a refreshing and unexpected combo. Cans also feature three groovy labels with prints from TSN’s new collection. For those who do know about beer, it’s 7.9 percent and a blend of Golden Queen peach purée, milk sugar, black tea and “spontaneously fermented oak barrel aged beer”.‍

Kōtare Avenue smokehouse salmon‍

It’s impossible to go back to store-bought salmon after trying this amazingly tender and rich fatty deliciousness, literally smoked in the backyard of the Westmere, Auckland house they sell it from. The fish itself is sourced from Rakiura Stewart Island, smoked using a blend of mānuka and pōhutukawa and sold fresh, wrapped in paper. It’s so unbelievably good we are loath to tell anyone about it, lest it jeopardise our ability to get our hands on it. But this is a public service announcement for anyone who thinks they don’t like smoked salmon.‍

ChomChom roller‍

If you’re a pet person and constantly covered in pet hair, we see you. This quite ugly but much-hyped roller has the potential to change your life™. Simply roll it back and forth (quite aggressively actually, so it’s great for stress release) and an internal brush traps any and all pet hair on rugs, sofas, beds, blankets and more. You will be equally horrified and happy about how much it picks up. It’s reusable too so you don’t end up going through endless, environmentally unfriendly lint roller sheets. It's one of those cult products with consistently good Amazon reviews; it was a life hack we discovered via TikTok.‍

Briogeo Scalp Revival Charcoal + Coconut Oil Micro-exfoliating Scalp Scrub Shampoo, $74, from Mecca

‍An easy first step into scalp care (the key to healthy hair), this shampoo will leave your hair actually clean without stripping it completely. It’s a dark shade of grey with a slimy and grainy texture, so at first may feel a little weird putting on your hair. But it works! Binchōtan charcoal and plant-based exfoliators help to get rid of dead skin, excess oil and product buildup - not great for your scalp and therefore not great for your hair - while peppermint, spearmint and tea tree oils refresh and smell bloody amazing. Good for those with itchy scalps. It's expensive, but a tub does last for a long time. ‍

Hastings Distillers Albertine Gin, $95‍

At a BBQ recently we overheard someone saying, “if you’re a true gin lover you need to try…, which sounded like a physical challenge quite frankly, and one that we were more than up for. Yes, they have an exemplary commitment to biodynamic farming and organic practices but most importantly it’s unbelievably good to drink without the modern embellishments of fancy tonics. We ordered ours online and it came within 24 hours.