We Tried Over 20 New Hard Seltzers So You Don't Have To
With all the new hard seltzers hitting the market we decided we needed to perform the noble act of trying them so you can know which ones should be invited to your summer barbecue.
So, here’s what happened. We tried every single flavor from six different packs. The contenders were:
Corona
Bud Light
Scofflaw Brewing Co.
Wild Basin
Social Club
Monday Night Brewing
From there, we decided which was the best flavor from each pack and sent it off to compete in the official coffee.water.wine hard seltzer show down. This was a pretty intense undertaking so we recruited the husbands to co-judge with us. This might be TMI, but there was quite a bit of burping.
So below I am going to give you details from each pack and then we’ll go through the CWW bracket.
Corona
Blackberry Lime: We all thought this one was light, very crisp. Does not pack a punch.
Mango: The taste is better than the smell. We all agreed it was very tropical, and better than some other mango seltzers but not a fan favorite. Lynward definitely didn’t like it.
Tropical Lime: This was great! We all really liked it. I thought it tasted like real lime, it reminded me of being in Mexico. Also, I would have to do a side by side to be sure, but this one might be better than the lime White Claw.
Cherry: Lynward was the only one that liked this one. My only note for this one was “not a fan.”
Winner: Tropical Lime
Budlight
Strawberry: This one tastes like those little strawberry candies that your grandma or someone might have in a bowl. John liked it, but the rest of us did not.
Mango: This was a hard pass from all four of us!
Lemon Lime: John, Lynward and I all enjoyed this flavor, it kind of tastes like Sprite, however, mom did not like this at all and said it reminded her of Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold.
Black Cherry: This one tastes like Capri Sun Wild Cherry in my opinion.
Before I get to the winner I’ll say this, it was a hard choice. John and I liked Lemon Lime and my mom and Lynward both liked the Black Cherry.
Winner: Black Cherry
Scofflaw Brewing Co.
Tropical Pog: This. Was. Tart. My mom said it made her pucker, I fully agree, this one is SOUR! Lynward, who was the only one of us who enjoyed these even agreed that this one was tart.
Georgia Peach: “Nope” and “yuck,” those are the only notes from my mom and I. John didn’t make any notes at all for this entire pack. Lynward said he found this flavor be, “lighter.”
Tahitian Lime: I typically love a lime seltzer so I was super disappointed when this one was not good at all. Personally I think it tasted like a spoiled lime. Lynward again enjoyed this one. He thought it was “brisk, tart, and tasty.”
Black Cherry: Lynward thought this flavor was also, “tasty, tart, and brisk.” My mom, John and I didn’t really like any of these flavors, but we decided Black Cherry was the best of them.
Winner: Black Cherry
Wild Basin
Melon Basil: To me this one smelled okay and had a decent aftertaste, but the flavor itself was a no from me dawg. John agreed that the aftertaste was better than the beverage itself, but mom found it to be sweet and Lynward loved this one. He said that it was “tasty and had a good smell.”
Cucumber Peach: Ugh. Artificial peach flavor is the worst! Mom and Lynward both thought it was “too peachy.” I didn’t like it at all and John said it reminded him of a hard candy.
Classic Lime: This was is really good, it’s pretty similar to White Claw’s lime flavor. It didn’t leave your mouth dry either like some citrus seltzers will do. This one smelled really good and was very enjoyable. Two thumbs up!
Lemon Agave Hibiscus: My mom and I loved this one! It was so different! It had just the right amount of sweetness from the agave, but still tart from the lemon and hibiscus. It kind of reminded me of Tazo’s Passion Tea. This was easily mom’s and my favorite from the bunch, but Lynward and John did not agree.
Social Club
Old Fashioned: This one is very bourbon forward. So if you like bourbon, we think you’ll like this one too. This pack is a really cool twist on hard seltzers taking classic cocktails and summerizing them. I don’t even enjoy bourbon but still didn’t mind this one, however it was not my favorite. Mom and I both said it reminded us of cream soda. Overall we liked it, just not our fave.
Citrus Gimlet: John and I love gimlets so we were' super excited to try this one. It was tasty, refreshing, and like a classier White Claw. I couldn’t layout by the lake sucking these bad boys down, but they would be great to drink with a low country boil! Another cool thing about this drink is you can taste the tonic- truly a different but delicious choice to take to a party.
Side Car: Okay, so I think I might like side cars. I have never had one before, butI really liked this and so did my mom! John wasn’t really a huge fan and Lynward said it was okay.
Winner: Citrus Gimlet
Monday Night Brewing
Mango Guava: These are very beer-like, which makes sense since Monday Night is a brewery. They were all very frothy. We called this one “best of mango” because it had the best mango flavor of all the ones we had tried, but overall we didn’t like it that much.
Grapefruit Pineapple: This one was light, pretty pineappley. Lynward also called this one, “brisk.” Personally, I thought the flavor was super light and I didn’t detect much grapefruit.
Blueberry Raspberry: I’d had high hopes for this one. It was a pretty red color and I was hoping some Millennial brewer tried to create an adult version of the blue raspberry slushie flavor we used to suck down at the occasional skate night. Nope. It was very light flavor-wise and just okay overall.
Winner: Grapefruit Pineapple
Time for a showdown!
Round One | Part One: Bud Light Black Cherry vs. Corona Tropical Lime
Winner: Corona Tropical Lime
Round One | Part Two: Monday Night Brewing Grapefruit Pineapple vs. Scofflaw Brewing Co. Black Cherry
Winner: Monday Night Brewing Grapefruit Pineapple
Round Two | Part One: Wild Basin Classic Lime vs. Corona Tropical Lime
Winner: Corona Tropical Lime
Round Two | Part Two: Monday Night Brewing Grapefruit Pineapple vs. Social Club Citrus Gimlet
Winner: Social Club Citrus Gimlet
Final Round: Corona Tropical Lime vs. Social Club Citrus Gimlet
The Official CWW New Seltzer Winner is:
Corona Tropical Lime
This seltzer is so good guys! It’s clean, and refreshing, and light, and just everything you want from an ice cold beverage. I can easily see us drinking these on the lake this summer. Plus I feel like Corona can really use the win right now.
Here is our official bracket! This was a lot of fun to do and we hope you enjoy trying some of these new hard seltzers. If you want to play along we created a Six Seltzer Single Elimination bracket you can download.
