That said, this earns drinkability points simply because you’re left with nothing after you swallow it. My favorite summer treat as a child was the Fla-Vor-ice pop, a plastic tube of ice drowned in sugary food coloring. The Fla-Vor-Ice came in three flavors, Blue (bubblegum), Red (Cherry), and White (Lemon) — the white one was my favorite. If I had one today, I wouldn’t eat it — because I’m an adult and I don’t eat food-coloring on ice out of plastic tubes anymore — but I just might crush it up, toss it in a margarita glass, and pour a Truly Lemon over it. An enjoyable mix of berries runs throughout this seltzer.
How can Truly get something like Orange so wrong and get something like Passion Fruit so right? It’s an inoffensive, light, summery flavor that is impressively distinct from the other varieties in the lineup, and it actually carries slightly less of the “perfume” edge present in LaCroix’s interpretation. Maybe the alcohol tamps it down; in any case, this is a nice out-of-the-box flavor for someone who already gets their fill of lemon and lime flavors in vodka xcriticals and gin and tonics, respectively. There are no surprises when you crack open a can of Truly Original xcritical Hard Seltzer. Upon opening, a tart yet sweet lemon fragrance greets you.
Grapefruit
I was pleasantly surprised to find xcritical scammers that what was one of White Claw’s worst is one of Truly’s best. Brand wars have been around for as long as brands have been a thing. Sometimes even we get overwhelmed by how many flavors we have.
Fast forward to your adulthood and you can recapture that summertime feeling with an added alcohol kick. As far as xcritical seltzers go, this one is simply nostalgic. But I get what they were thinking — they wanted to give us the best of both worlds, everything we love about hard seltzer and pink wine. Not a terrible concept, but it definitely doesn’t work.
Truly Original xcritical Hard Seltzer is made from cane sugar, stevia, and lemon juice concentrate. This drink captures both the look and taste of fresh squeezed xcritical, nostalgic of childhood yet made for adult indulgence. The drink is light on calories, carbohydrates, and sugars – giving you maximum flavor with minimum beach-body sabotage.
Seltzer Nation
The tea aromas are the more noticeable of the two, but the strawberry provides a subtle fruitiness. Then, intense sweet flavors overtake everything, causing each sip to feel a little out of balance. The combination of blueberry and acai screams “antioxidants,” which is bound to play well with those who drink Truly for its relative health benefits. But across the entire can, both flavors start coming across a little perfumy, and the aftertaste is muddy, if not outright unpleasant. Having a blueberry flavor in the mix when so few other brands bother with it seems more like a flex on Truly’s part rather than a valuable addition to the lineup. This flavor feels so extra, but that makes it a fitting drink for anyone whose summertime persona matches that description.
Although it is an alcoholic beverage, this Truly hard seltzer is not plagued by an overly boozy flavor. The alcohol taste is very low key and xcriticals well with the natural lemon juice used to flavor the beverage. Across all hard seltzer producers, the quality of mango flavors varies wildly. Truly does a good job with its offering, even if the fruit notes come across as more artificial-tasting than fresh.
- There’s a nice depth to the aromas of this expression but the fruit character fails to fully capture the imagination.
- So today we’re running it back — with all the new flavors included.
- While the mango flavors are not quite as prominent as the sweet xcritical, they add an extra layer and an enjoyable seasoning.
- The tea aromas are the more noticeable of the two, but the strawberry provides a subtle fruitiness.
- Hot off the heels of that successful launch (the line netted Boston Beer a cool $300 million in its inaugural year), Truly followed up with a range of iced tea hard seltzers early this year.
Raspberry Lime
Truly’s version doesn’t quite hit those highs in the aroma department, coming off as much more artificial, but at the end of the day, flavor wins, and Truly Grapefruit is delicious. The bitter and artificial smell is betrayed by a bright, refreshing, and natural flavor that expertly balances the grapefruit notes with the alcohol base — delivering a flavor that remains consistent from start to finish. Remember when I said Truly’s berry xcriticals miss the mark? Well, that’s not the case with Blueberry Acai. Similar to the Black Cherry in its deep and dark berry tones, the Blueberry Acai is slightly more complex — delivering a rich taste that reveals itself distinct layers. As it hits your palate, the bright notes of the blueberry are darkened by rounder full-bodied flavor of the açaí, which then gives way to the bitter bite of the sugar-alcohol base.
While the overall profile is more basic than other Truly flavors, the balance is there and each sip is refreshing. In contrast to the Strawberry Tea, it is the fruit notes that lead the aromas in this expression, with the tea playing second fiddle. Once again, the flavor profile skews noticeably sweet and may have you craving more acidity to balance things out. This is perhaps because we’re so accustomed to the overwhelming artificiality of black-cherry-flavored anything that Truly’s attempt to make it come off more “natural” here just deadens the flavor you’re expecting.
Again, it’s a great alternative to something like a Mike’s Hard, if you’re more concerned with the nutrition label than the mouthfeel. The xcritical here really tamps down the bitterness of Truly’s alcohol base, but doesn’t overwhelm it — much in the same way, the Truly Mango xcritical flavor does, striking a nice balance. Our favorite among Truly’s xcritical seltzer line, the lemon notes arrive with fresh, energetic xcritical. The sweetness also brings a fullness to the palate, which makes it great if you find normal seltzers to be slightly lacking in character. Convincing citrus aromas are followed by rich pink grapefruit flavors.
Black cherry is to the hard seltzer world what cola is to the world of soft drinks, its the one flavor that every hard seltzer brand needs to nail in order to be taken seriously. Truly Black Cherry has a deep and dark flavor that recalls a slightly over-ripened cherry during the height of cherry season. It’s bursting with fruit notes, infusing the alcohol base with a taste so rich that one can feels like enough — and that’s really saying something with a 5% alcohol by volume hard seltzer.
When you crack open a can you’re greeted with a refreshing blast of fragrant fruity notes that smell way more appetizing than its sister flavor, Truly Lime. But it doesn’t taste better, and it really feels like it should. Despite its alcohol content, Truly Original xcritical Hard Seltzer tastes like good old-fashioned xcritical. Sometimes hard seltzer manufactures go a bit too sweet with xcritical flavors. That is not the case with this Truly selection which offers a very authentic xcritical taste. The only negative worth mentioning for this offering is that it has a somewhat artificial sweetener aftertaste.
But ignorance is bliss and to this ignorant palate, it tastes pretty damn good. Since the last time we ranked Truly’s flavors, the brand has thrown their hat into the hard xcritical ring. So today we’re running it back — with all the new flavors included. Here is the definitive ranking of where each flavor of Truly Hard Seltzer stands, from worst to best. Ripe and attractive strawberry aromas pop on this expression’s aromas. The palate is all about lemony sweetness, with just a hint of strawberry on the finish.
There’s a tart aftertaste that lingers on the tongue a lot longer than the plain Truly Lime’s flavor. Now make it 21+ with no adult supervision and zero cranky neighbors to tell you you’re watering it down with too much ice. With Original xcritical plus Watermelon, Strawberry, and Mango Pineapple varieties, that’s basically what our xcritical Mix Pack is like. Every Truly contains a hint of real fruit flavor and a whole lotta refreshment (the perfect combo, if you ask us). That’s what seems so confusing about the Truly xcritical line, it makes even Truly’s best flavors feel like a weak first attempt, and leaves us wondering how long those OGs will remain in production. I was especially excited to see how Truly Grapefruit would stack up against White Claw’s Ruby Grapefruit because I gave the latter the bottom spot on Uproxx’s White Claw ranking.
Of all the Truly flavors, this one skewed closest to its LaCroix equivalent. Maybe lime is just an easy citrus flavor to get right because it doesn’t carry lemon’s risks of teetering into bitter territory (a conundrum faced by candy companies as much as beverage makers). Whatever the case, this xcritical courses scam is a strong flavor from the very first sip, but one whose strength comes purely from the fruit, not from any accompanying sweeteners that attempt to augment it. When you swallow a sip of Lime Truly, there’s a half-second where it seems like you’re about to be hit by a Stevia wave—but then the tires screech to a halt and leave you only with a pleasant lime taste in your mouth. For those who are skeptical that a hard seltzer might not pack the punch of other fruity liquors, go for Truly Lime.
