![]() ![]() If we set aside 5 minutes for each of the 75 individual hard seltzer variations I imbibed, that would bring us to roughly 6 hours and 15 minutes of taste-testing. Not all hard seltzers are created equal, which is why I pursued this undertaking with a monk-like fervency. Inspired by Shakespeare, who is said to have written King Lear when he was under quarantine in the early 17th century, I decided to tackle my own personal King Lear: trying as many hard seltzers as I could in hopes of compiling a definitive power ranking. Then again, you need to feel comfortable with a little bit of foolishness to get on the hard seltzer journalism beat in the first place. Setting out to try every hard seltzer on the market is a fool’s errand. As more customers turn away from beer’s bloat, wine’s higher barrier to entry, and liquor’s propensity to deliver a punishing morning-after, they’re finding a lower-calorie beverage for the most part lacking in pretension and focusing on drinkability. ![]() The explosion of brands demonstrates hard seltzer’s staying power, with new players getting into to capitalize on a wide variety of market segments. In that same year, White Claw and Truly emerged on the scene, dominating the marketplace, but also opening the door for the proliferation of dozens upon dozens of competitors, from heavyweights like Bud Light Seltzer and Corona Hard Seltzer, to more craft-oriented brewers like Wild Basin and DC Brau, to hard seltzer brands targeting health-conscious consumers like Vizzy and Maha. Anheuser-Busch noticed the beverage’s popularity and acquired SpikedSeltzer, rebranding it as Bon & Viv in 2016. The current hard seltzer boom traces its origins back to 2013 when Nick Shields, a manager for a small beer brand, and his business partner, Dave Holmes, created SpikedSeltzer. And while we’ve been slugging the fizzy stuff for centuries, only within the last decade did human beings come up with the bright idea to brew carbonated water infused with alcohol. It’s been over 250 years since the English chemist Joseph Priestley invented seltzer after discovering a method he referred to as “impregnating water with air” (sounds kinda kinky, but go off, Joseph). ![]()
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