Hard Seltzer Tasting

It seems as soon as the weather gets warmer, you see swarms of ladies and their White Claws on patios enjoying the summer sun. But if you have the internet, perhaps you’ve noticed it’s not just the ladies drinking Trulys and White Claws anymore. We’ve personally encountered plenty of dudes sipping on hard seltzers, and why not? They’re damned refreshing, they don’t make you feel full or gross, and they still help you achieve your goal of getting buzzed. We only recently tried them this summer and we have to admit, they aren’t as terrible as we thought they might be. This got us thinking: there are so many different brands and flavors out there, I wonder if any crazy asshole has tried them all. Enter: us. So, we grabbed a bunch of friends (some more game than others) and put the seltzers to the test. Did White Claw come out on top in our super scientific taste test? Read on to find out!

The Seltzers 

• White Claw: Black cherry, lime and mango. We also discovered that White Claw had a “pure” flavor which we purchased for everyone to try.
• Truly: Grapefruit and lime.
• Press: Grapefruit cardamom, lime lemongrass and pomegranate ginger.
• Bon & Viv: Grapefruit, clementine hibiscus and pear elderflower.
• Mighty Swell: Grapefruit, peach and watermelon mint.
• Platform:  Tropical punch and strawberry lemonade.
• Crook & Marker: Grapefruit and blackberry lime.
• Smirnoff: Raspberry rosé and berry lemonade.
• Henry’s: Blueberry lemon and lemon lime.

The Process
We tried to develop a tasting protocol that made as much sense as possible, and would allow us to adequately compare everything we had. It was easy at first. We started grouping my similar flavors, starting with lime, then grapefruit, then lemonade, then berry. This became a bit more challenging as we started to delve into the fancier flavors, so we started picking at random and alternating between brands.

The Results
As expected, people had different flavor preferences but there were some similar themes overall. We generally agreed that White Claw was the best for “simple” flavors, such as lime, grapefruit, black cherry or mango. Truly was a VERY close second, and we found these had just a touch less flavor than White Claw. These reminded us more of an alcoholic La Croix. As for the fancy flavors, most of the group really loved Press. They were light, bubbly and just very easy to drink. Their flavors were also the most unique without going over the top or tasting like fake fruit garbage.

As a group we agreed that the least preferred were Smirnoff and Henry’s, which were just too sweet and artificial tasting. Mighty Swell and Bon & Viv were high up there on the list that people would buy again. Mighty Swell probably had the strongest fruit flavor, but although they were super tasty, it’d be hard to just drink that brand during an entire day in the sun. Platform’s had mixed results along with Crook and Marker. Both of Platform’s flavors had distinct sulfur aromas from the can. Crook & Marker, though they contain zero grams of sugar, they do contain Stevia which contributed to a rather “diet” taste.

So, if you’re still holding out from trying alcoholic fruity bubble water, what are you waiting for?! Summer is almost over! Throw on your tank top and flip flops, snag a case of skinny cans, and discover the wondrous refreshment of these low calorie summer sippers chuggers. There’s bound to be a brand out there you’ll enjoy.