Experience the story of Colony of NZ. NZ mead, liqueurs, honey & gifts.
13/03/2025
Show us for a fun evening of traditional games, costumes, mead and revelry with a full bar menu. Learn to play or just socialise and immerse yourself.
Brought to you by Colony at The Crossing, this is your chance to try mead and learn to play traditional games through our friends from Southron Gaard, or just to enjoy the welcoming atmosphere and have a knight out with a difference!
Dressing in theme is encouraged but optional. Registration includes a welcome mead tasting or non-alcohol option. A full menu is available.
Could I be right in assuming this is a native bee drinking the nectar from a Manuka flower, a leioproctus huakiwi perhaps? I will try and find out.
The photo was taken this morning while I was walking down Papamoa Hills in Tauranga.
The Huakiwi name is given because they are excellent pollinators of kiwifruit apparently, and beyond the hills lay the many kiwifruit orchards in and around Te Puke.
We only have 28 species of native bees in NZ and they have been here for millions of years, unlike the honey bee which was introduced 180 or so years ago.
They are solitary bees and live in sandy banks where they dig perfect round holes. This bee was about 2/3 of the size of a honey bee.
15/11/2024
Colony is at the Christchurch Show… and the number one best seller is our Bees Nees! Of course! This honey cream liqueur is so moorish. The cooler weather has our Winter Mead in a close second. My show discovery was mixing the Regal Commander whisky liqueur and Winter mead - blew my mind! Always great to see so many people at the very popular show.
02/06/2024
Come join us at Colony for a cozy evening of sampling delicious meads & mulled wine while learning about the history of Yule and winter solstice.
Whether you're a mead enthusiast or just curious to try something new, this relaxed event is perfect for you! Our knowledgeable staff will guide you through the tasting experience and history of these iconic beverages.
Indulge in the warmth and sweetness of this ancient beverage as we celebrate the longest night of the year. Don't miss out on this opportunity to sip, savor, and socialise with fellow mead lovers. Cheers to a festive Winter Solstice!
*R18 for alcohol tasting. Non-alcohol mulled-wine option available.
24/11/2023
We've got our Christmas on! We're already in the Christmas spirit at Colony, with lots of fresh gift ideas with a uniquely Kiwi flavour.
14/11/2023
All set up for the New Zealand Agricultural Show on a typically hot spring day in Christchurch! Looking forward to seeing as many of you as can make it over Weds/Thurs/Friday this week.
27/10/2023
Guess what has just arrived back at Colony?!
13/10/2023
Good news!
Our Original Honey, West Coast Cream Liqueur, Bees Nees will be back in stock soon!
We will keep you posted when it’s back in stock… but it should be just a couple of weeks away.
Great night again last night at our 'Mead & Read'! Maybe one more before summer madness kicks in?
26/07/2023
Winter is the perfect time to enjoy a mead tasting at Colony! We had a great time hosting the Christchurch Home Brewers Association, and discussing the various styles of mead and liqueurs.
01/07/2023
We had a great evening on Thursday for our first 'Mead & Read' with Scorpio books! After all, there's nothing quite like a great mead and a great book.
. Colony is proud to be partnering with Scorpio Books to bring together two of our favourite things - a great mead with a great book! Each month at our "Mead & Read", Scorpio will introduce three new books that we think our customers might enjoy, and we will provide tastes of matching meads &...
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My father opened NZ’s first honey tourist centre in Taupo back in the 1970’s and I spent my teenage years working in the store. It became very busy and grew into one of New Zealand’s biggest tourist attractions.
I opened my first store in 1995 at the Lindale Centre in Paraparaumu, complete with a live glass beehive. We were very honey-focused, but even then our infused honeys were the most popular, especially our Honey and Apricot (which we have recently rereleased under our Rob’s Heritage Country brand).
At that time, there were only a few hundred commercial beekeepers in New Zealand - but that was at the beginning of the manuka honey industry - now there are over 6000.
I always wanted to keep to authentic New Zealand made products but I knew it lacked the sophistication that our international customers expected, so I took the first step of opening a ‘Honeymeisters’ store in downtown Wellington in 2004. It has taken many years, but the store has slowly transformed into its own unique positioning with a boutique feel, with new locations in Mount Maunganui and Parnell - stores that our customers love.
With a growing number of our customers purchasing honey as gifts, both locals and international guests, we have evolved as ‘Colony’ from being a honey store to a bee-inspired gift store. Our emphasis is now firmly on New Zealand products and we are increasing our focus on environmental sustainability, including moving our own honey production to glass. We are also very selective in who we source from to align with our own values.
