We taste-tested hard seltzers from 9 popular brands and ranked them from worst to best

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We taste-tested hard seltzers from 9 popular brands and ranked them from worst to best

hard seltzer

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  • As hard seltzer fever continues to sweep the nation, three new brands hit the market in the past two weeks alone, clamoring to capture a piece of a market anticipated to reach $2.5 billion by 2021.
  • Members of Business Insider's retail, transportation, and careers teams conducted a hard seltzer tasting of nine brands, spanning a collective 34 flavors.
  • White Claw was the near-unanimous winner. Here's what we thought.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

It's hard seltzer's world this summer, we're just living in it.

Seemingly overnight, this bubbly alcoholic concoction has become a nationwide sensation, prompting a smattering of memes and a legion of unabashed "bro" fans. Though brands like White Claw and Truly established themselves as early favorites within the hard seltzer canon, within just two weeks three new products have joined the market: Natural Light Seltzer, Pabst Blue Ribbon Stronger Seltzer, and Four Loko Seltzer.

With such an abundance of hard seltzer at our disposal, it can be difficult to sift through the noise. In order to help you navigate these strange new alcoholic waters, I put together a workplace taste-test of nine brands of hard seltzer currently available to the public.

Read more: 'Claw is the law': Why American 'bros' suddenly can't get enough of White Claw hard seltzer

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Eight of us from Business Insider's retail, transportation, and careers teams took over a conference room this week to sample the ever-growing array of beverages. Across these nine brands, we sipped a collective 34 flavors, in variations ranging from "lemon agave hibiscus" to "raspberry rosé." (Sadly, we were not able to get our hands on the just-announced PBR Stronger Seltzer in time for the test, and we all have to wait until the fourth quarter of 2019 for a taste of Four Loko Seltzer in all 14% of its ABV glory.)

Overall, we came to the unwavering conclusion that Claw really is the law, and we unanimously despised Natural Light Hard Seltzer. Check out the rest of our thoughts, below:

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We collectively hated Natural Light Seltzer.

We collectively hated Natural Light Seltzer.

As the brave soul who ventured to try this first, I will take the liberty to speak for the entire group when I say Natural Light hard seltzer is appallingly bad. After choking down a sip of the Aloha Beaches flavor, my senses felt completely and thoroughly assaulted by this beverage.

Watching the pained, puckered faces of my colleagues as they tried it only further affirmed my experience.

"It tastes metallic, hitting your tongue with a rude and horrible flavor," wrote one colleague.

"Absolutely disgusting," wrote another.

Let's just say we won't be drinking this one any time soon.

Crook & Marker seemed like it was going through an identity crisis.

Crook & Marker seemed like it was going through an identity crisis.

Crook & Marker was a confounding one for the group. There was an audible gasp when one colleague discovered that rather than being clear like its peers, this drink was pink. Others were stuck on the word "quinoa" written in large block lettering on the can. What was this drink trying to be?

"I was SHOOK by CROOK. Why is it colored? I mean, good for them," wrote one especially befuddled taster.

"Strong flavor but not in a good way! Also, not really seltzer?" another wrote.

Upon further investigation, I discovered the reason for the difference is that Crook & Marker uses an alcoholic base made from non-traditional grains that include amaranth, millet, cassava root, and yes, quinoa.

Interesting? Perhaps. Tasty? No. The general consensus was that it tasted overly syrupy, despite boasting zero grams of sugar and using natural sweeteners.

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Polar Arctic Summer tasted good upon first sip, but it quickly took a turn.

Polar Arctic Summer tasted good upon first sip, but it quickly took a turn.

I had high hopes for Polar Arctic Summer, given that it's the only drink on this list that's actually produced by a seltzer water company.

However, Polar ended up being particularly deceiving — most of us enjoyed the first sip, but once that second swig hit the tongue we quickly discovered it had a pretty unpleasant aftertaste.

"Pass," wrote one colleague. "I don't know her," wrote another.

Truly: "It's fine."

Truly: "It's fine."

Despite being among the most popular brands of hard seltzer, the Business Insider team was largely ambivalent about Truly. Among the flavors we tested, lime was a particular favorite, but the general consensus was: "It's fine, but we like White Claw better."

Others mentioned it had a strange, sour aftertaste.

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We wouldn't drink Bon & Viv all night, but still enjoyed it.

We wouldn't drink Bon & Viv all night, but still enjoyed it.

The group felt similarly vague in its feelings toward Bon & Viv. General thoughts were that it's fine, but nothing really to phone home about. One person noted it was "clean and fresh" while another said it had a "strange aftertaste."

"Fine, but I'd swap for a beer after my first can," wrote one taster.

"Very light flavor. Not sure I would choose it over anything else," wrote another.

Henry's Hard Sparkling Water was a mixed bag.

Henry's Hard Sparkling Water was a mixed bag.

An ongoing theme we found across the seltzers was it's hard to escape the tinny, metallic taste that often comes from aluminum cans. Henry's was no exception. Though we found it to be generally pleasant, it still left a bit of a bitter taste in our mouths, which as a result prevented it from standing out from the pack.

"Very mediocre, I wasn't blown away," wrote one taster.

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Wild Basin was by far the most divisive of the group.

Wild Basin was by far the most divisive of the group.

Of all the hard seltzers, the group was the most vocal about Wild Basin. Though the only thing we agreed on was it had the best can design, it still ranked highly for its ability to spark such impassioned opinions.

Wild Basin sets itself apart from the rest for its especially unique flavors — it comes in cucumber peach, lemon agave hibiscus, melon basil, and classic lime — which was intriguing for some tasters and unpleasant for others. One likened it to tropical Starbursts, though said he wasn't sure he loved that. Another described the taste as "almost medicinal."

Meanwhile, more than one person described this drink as a "journey," and a couple of my colleagues walked away newly minted fans of Wild Basin.

"Really refreshing," wrote one taster. "It masked the alcohol best in my opinion, and it had unique, more sophisticated flavors. I'm buying a box for myself after trying this one."

Smirnoff Hard Seltzer was an unexpected favorite.

Smirnoff Hard Seltzer was an unexpected favorite.

Smirnoff Seltzer quickly became a fan favorite in the room. Though we were somewhat tentative to pop open these extremely pink, very stylized cans, nearly all of us felt positively about the taste. We especially loved the raspberry rosé flavor.

"Really good, it was kind of like Smirnoff Ice without the sugary flavors," wrote one taster.

"AMAZING. IT IS FLAVORFUL," shouted another.

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Turns out Claw is actually the law.

Turns out Claw is actually the law.

Looks like the reigning leader of hard seltzer isn't leaving its throne anytime soon. We loved White Claw. On our very official taste testing form, it received a 100% 5-rating on a 1-5 scale of "terrible to awesome."

Though about half of the taste testers were already White Claw enthusiasts, the rest of the group became quick converts of the drink, which one colleague described as "kind of like LaCroix, but better."

"Much better than I expected! Crushable, chuggable, just perfect to drink and not overthink," another colleague wrote.

"Better than actual seltzer, love the real fruit taste," said another.

Long live the summer of White Claw.