<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> Alcohol has been consumed in New Zealand since the arrival of European settlers . The most popular alcoholic beverages are beer and wine . New Zealand has no minimum consumption age for alcohol, however the minimum purchase age is 18 . </P> <P> There is no oral tradition or archaeological evidence of Māori brewing beer before the arrival of Europeans . Major ingredients of beer were not introduced to New Zealand until Europeans arrived in the late - 18th century . Captain James Cook brewed a beer flavoured with local spruce tree needles while visiting New Zealand in 1773 in order to combat scurvy aboard ship . He brewed the beer while anchored in Ship Cove in the outer reaches of Queen Charlotte Sound in January 1770 . Here he experimented with the use of young rimu branches as a treatment against scurvy . It was brewed on Saturday 27 March 1773 on Resolution Island, in Dusky Sound, Fiordland . The beer was brewed using wort with the addition of molasses and rimu bark and leaves . James Cook wrote: </P>

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