The first in a new series, Dish craft beer enthusiast Alice Galletly reviews Mata Mataccino.

I have had some lousy jobs in my life (proofreading phone manuals, selling earrings in a mall), but this one really takes the cake. No more than three weeks into my new role as Deputy Editor of Dish, and they’re asking me to write about delicious craft beer.

Enough to satisfy any chocolate craving 

Some others around the office, presumably as a result of blackmail, have agreed to write about delicious craft beer, too. Together we will be finding new and noteworthy brews each week, begrudgingly sipping our way through the smoothest stouts, the spiciest saisons and the fruitiest, juiciest IPAs. It’s a dirty job but, as they say, somebody’s got to do it.

The Mataccino – a 6% chocolate-coffee porter brewed by Tammy Viitakangas at Mata beer – was an easy pick for first Beer of the Week. Not only did it win gold at last month’s Brewer’s Guild awards, but I happened to come across it at exactly 3:30pm. This, of course, is the time of day when if I don’t have something chocolate I morph into a Vermicious Knid.

Chocolate I needed, and chocolate I got. With masses of warm, melted dark chocolate and sweet fudge on the nose, this was a beer fit for Augustus Gloop. In the mouth there was a big hit of cold brew coffee – fresh and flavourful without being too bitter – as well as a little raw cacao, wood and vanilla. Smooth, medium-bodied and highly quaffable, I’d happily drink one every afternoon.

Instead, I must venture bravely into unchartered territory, trying new beers every day in order to bring you the best each week. Honestly, will this nightmare ever end? 

Mata Mataccino is available in good liquor stores around the country. See www.mata.net.nz for more information.