Entry #2: Fiji: Beer in Paradise

As mentioned previously, many of my blog entries will feature a flashback to my trip around the world. In this case I’m warping back to Jan. 27, 2009 when Bianca and I arrived in Fiji, the first stop on our journey. Getting to Fiji from LA requires a 13 plus hour flight, and a loss of one day. If you’re flying during cyclone season like we were, it also means quite a bit of turbulence. For some reason I didn’t check the weather until two days before our flight and was surprised to see that Fiji had been rocked by a cyclone about 10 days prior which had stranded numerous tourists and wiped out the already shoddy Fijian infrastructure. Luckily when we arrived, the main island looked to be very functional with only a few lingering signs of flooding.

Before arriving in Fiji I envisioned an island paradise very much like Hawaii, what we found was far less developed, but in a good way. It wasn’t all beach resorts and tourist traps—it was mainly small villages filled with huts and raw coastline. When we arrived at our destination called the Beachouse on the Coral Coast, we truly felt like we had our own little slice of paradise. More like a back-packers getaway than a resort, the Beachouse was tranquil, relaxing and most importantly easy on our wallets.

We were surprised to meet a few couples that were planning on travelling for a year similar to us. After listening to all the people back home telling us we were crazy, it was nice to find like-minded comrades. We spent many hours drinking beer and playing games with our new found friends—all of us wondering what our journeys ahead held for us. Drinking, playing cards and board games is a great way to pass the time during heavy downpours of rain—I swear I’ve never seen it rain so hard for so long, but after all I guess that’s what cyclone season means. It wasn’t all rain though, we were blessed with gorgeous weather for about 60% of our stay on the island.

My memories of Fijian beer are very fond, but I’ll be honest, you can’t go wrong sipping a cool one while lounging in a hammock and watching an amazing sunset on a tropical island. I imagine even Bud Light may have tasted good in that scenario. One thing I was unaware of is many Fijian men wear skirts—it’s a native custom. There also seems to be a disproportionate amount of effeminate men in Fiji which makes me wonder, what came first—men wearing skirts or effeminate men? Hmmmm. Regardless, I bring this all up because it’s hard to take a country’s beer seriously when it’s drunk by men who wear skirts.

In Fiji, there are three kinds of beer to choose from: Fiji Gold, Fiji Bitter and Fiji Premium. Fiji Bitter is fairly smooth with a malty flavor finished with a hoppy bite, Fiji Gold is a watered down version of Bitter and therefore less of a bite, and Fiji Premium was less watered down than Gold, but still maintained a smooth finish resulting from a less hoppy aftertaste. Although Fiji Premium may taste slightly better, it also cost a little bit more, which means we stuck to Fiji Bitter. If you’ve ever tried Foster’s (or VB in Australia), then you’ve tried Fiji Bitter because it’s brewed by the same company. These are decent beers—I’d prefer them over American macro-brews, but that’s the best compliment I can give.

Since coming home, I’ve read many online reviews of the Fiji brews mentioned above, and it’s amazing how many people rave about them. I came across far too many “drinkers” that said Fiji Bitter or Gold was the best beer they’ve ever tasted in their lives. I feel sorry for these people because they’ve either never tried quality beer, or they’re incapable of appreciating a good beer when they find one. One thing I keep in mind looking back on my trip is to keep my beer drinking experience in perspective. I mentioned before anything you drink in a hammock watching a sunset in Fiji is bound to bring back fond memories, but that has more to do with the setting than anything. Therefore I’ve taken it upon myself whenever possible to drink a brew that I loved from the road here at home to verify if it tastes as good as I remember. In summary, below are my ratings for Fijian beer, and Fiji as a place to drink beer (on a scale of 1 to 10):

Fiji Bitter: Malty taste with hoppy finish. It’s Fijian for beer. 4.0
Fiji Gold: Should be called Fiji Lite. 3.5
Fiji Premium: Taste good, but not worth the premium cost. 4.0

Fiji Overall: 3.5. As you’ll see in future entries, I’ll rate beers individually and countries overall. Overall country ratings are based on quality of local brews and available variety to choose from. The three beers listed above were the only ones I saw available in Fiji.