Tabu - Brasserie de Tahiti S.A.

laituegonflable

Australia

1.95/5  rDev -31.8%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 2

Pours a golden metallic colour, with white bubbly head. Steady bead; complete lack of lace. Lagery-looking and pretty flat to boot.

Smells lagery: carbonic with light grain notes. Not very sweet, mostly that forced carbonation note with a touch of dour acidity. Bland.

Taste is similar. Bland bitterness with forced carbonation acidity. Not a lot of grain flavour, all subdued and tastes minerally more than anything else. Finishes with a big flourish of nothing. It's dull and drinkable. Big load of nothing, really.

Mouthfeel is listless, a bit of body but it just feels gluggy because there's nothing cutting it. Could be a lot lighter to go down more easily.

I guess it's something you drink on Tahitian beaches, maybe instead of water. I'd prefer something with a touch more flavour, like seawater.

Serving type: bottle

05-19-2012 01:58:47 | More by laituegonflable

drpimento

Wisconsin

1.75/5  rDev -38.8%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1.5

Not neary as good as its sister product Hinano. Poured with a foaming agent type, white head that soon settled to a light cover and a little lace. Color is a clear yellow no bubble trails. Aroma is adjunct beery, hint skunk/hop, grain. Flavor is like nose, but bland sweet, with little carbonic tang. Body is dull and a bit flat. Finish is like flavor and long on sweet. Bleh.

Serving type: bottle

01-10-2012 04:48:31 | More by drpimento

lacqueredmouse

Australia

2.63/5  rDev -8%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Pours a lagery yellow colour, very clear and quite light in the body. Fins, slightly frothy head of white that leaves no lace as it goes down. Fast forming carbonation speeds through the light body. It's not a bad looking beer for the style.

Nose is again, very generic and lagery, but clean and bright as well. Slight faint grain aroma, and at least it doesn't have the huge adjunct character I was expecting, except perhaps a slight rice-like sweetness. Again, nothing great, but not bad.

Taste is less dry and crisp as it should be, containing a slight estery sweetness. Here, there is a definite rice character, giving an underfermented sweetness to mingle with the slight carbonic acidity. It's clean enough in some ways, but the sweetness makes it feel slightly too thick.

Not great. It's a beer without much character, and with a few flaws that take the shine off further. It's clean enough, though, and better than Hinano, BdT's other offering.

Serving type: bottle

12-15-2011 04:28:06 | More by lacqueredmouse

RodBurg

California

3.73/5  rDev +30.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

On my honeymoon back in June, my beautiful wife and I headed to the island of Moorea. Needless to say I was extremely disappointed by the beer selection on the lovely Tahitian islands. Unless you wanted a basic macro from the states or Mexico, you were limited to two Tahitian brews, Hinano and Tabu, which weren't much different.

Tabu had that basic macro look, light colored with a small white head. Smells lightly of a sweet maltiness and corn. Very small hop presence with a grassy undertone. Tastes like a macro should, skunky malt with a bit of bitterness to boot. Because of the clear bottle I ended up putting lime wedges in these after the fist two or three.

In the states this brew is nothing special. In French Polynesia on your honeymoon, its frickin great. As mediocre as it may be, this one will always hold a place in my heart.

Serving type: bottle

08-21-2008 01:30:19 | More by RodBurg

dstc

Florida

3.43/5  rDev +19.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A friend brought me some beers to sample from a recent trip to Tahiti, bless him.

Tabu "The Tiki Lager" as the bottle says. Has a funky little tiki character on the neck, clear bottle, 5% ABV.

Pours a bright, clear golden color with a huge bright white head. Head retention is nice and leaves a fair amount of lacing.

Smells like a typical macro lager, clean, light and a bit sweet.

Distinctive taste. Light and crisp as expected but with a surprising earthy undertone. What is it? Grassy, root vegetable taste? Not bad though. Slight bitter hop finish.

Smooth and light to medium bodied in the mouth with a little less carbonation than the typical lager.

I can drink this. Would like it more if I was chillin' in Tahiti but am please I have the opportunity to try it.

Serving type: bottle

06-12-2008 18:59:13 | More by dstc