I Tried And Ranked Every Hard Seltzer At Aldi

Hard seltzers are some of my favorite warm-weather beverages. They're fresh and fizzy, made for sipping by the water or alongside dinner on the patio. They're perfectly portable, available in a can at most grocery stores, and, unlike many canned cocktails, hard seltzers can be sipped all day without getting completely inebriated.

I've had some killer hard seltzers from Aldi in the past, so I was eager to get my hands on its current seltzer offerings and put them to the test. I grabbed a couple of sampler packs and a few individual flavors, and got to work ranking them as methodically as possible. Though Aldi products are usually just as good as (if not better than) similar name-brand products, there are still a few misses, and these seltzers are no exception. But a few were mind-blowingly good, earning themselves a seasonal spot in my fridge. Which ones made the cut? Keep reading to find out!

I wanted to like the Vista Bay grape hard seltzer, but it just didn't work for me. The grape flavor tastes too medicinal — like the Dimetapp medicine I used to take as a child. In fact, the medical taste is so strong, despite the "all natural flavor" claim on the package, that I went on a bit of a research rabbit hole and found that methyl anthranilate, the compound most commonly used in grape-flavored products, can be considered a natural or artificial flavor, depending on where it comes from. Artificial methyl anthranilate can be derived from petroleum products, while natural methyl anthranilate can come from grapes themselves, or essential oils from other sources, which is why "natural grape flavor" can sometimes taste so artificial, as it does in Vista Bay's grape hard seltzer.

All that is to say — I was hoping that, like many of the other Vista Bay seltzers, the grape flavor would taste at least a little bit like fresh fruit. Unfortunately, it just tastes like grape cough syrup. This one's a hard no for me.

I'm always reluctant to buy cherry-flavored beverages, because some cherry flavoring, like Vista Bay's grape hard seltzer, tastes like cough syrup to me. So I dove into Vista Bay's variety pack headfirst, pouring the black cherry hard seltzer before all the others in hopes of getting it out of the way in case it was awful. Fortunately, it largely avoids the cough syrup flavor. It's a lightly sweetened seltzer that bears a strong resemblance to unsweetened sparkling waters, which I like.

At 5% ABV, it's refreshing and sippable — perfect for a lazy afternoon in a hammock or to sip with dinner at a backyard barbecue. I wouldn't say it's made a cherry convert out of me, but it's certainly better than I anticipated. I suspect it will still be one of the last flavors remaining in my variety pack, though.

I was really looking forward to the natural lime flavor of the Vista Bay variety pack. Normally, I'm a big fan of lime-flavored things, including sparkling water. It's one of my favorite things to sip alongside a plate of tacos de adobada, heaping with cilantro and diced onion, so I was really hoping I'd be able to add a boozy alternative to my taco night.

Unfortunately, Vista Bay's lime hard seltzer fell a little bit flat. It's just too subtle to rock my world. The flavor is definitely there, and it's a very pleasantly sippable seltzer overall, but I was really looking for an explosive lime flavor, like biting into a fresh slice. Instead, it's more like what the LaCroix memes describe — a hint of a hint of lime. Still yummy, but not up to my expectations.

I really expected to be more impressed with the Vista Bay Rush blood orange hard seltzer, but it just doesn't do enough to win my heart. It's lightly sweet and citrusy, for sure, but there are no flavor notes triggering the idea of oranges for me. There's not even much of an orange essence in the aroma.

I would maybe consider adding a splash of orange or even grapefruit juice to this seltzer to get a little bit more out of the flavor, and at 8% ABV, it would still have a bit of a boozy bite to it. But on its own, I don't see myself reaching for another one of these any time soon, unless I just need something fizzy to sip with dinner one night. Otherwise, I suspect these will be among the last straggling seltzers in my fridge.

I'm not exactly sure how to feel about the cranberry Vista Bay Rush hard seltzer. It definitely has a more intense flavor than some of the other Vista Bay seltzers I tried, including the Vista Bay Rush blood orange seltzer, but it still doesn't read as cranberry to me. There's a hint of cranberry in the aroma, and it does have cranberry's lip-puckering tartness, but the actual flavor of the cranberry seems to be missing.

It does pack a decent punch with its 8% ABV — by this point in the taste test, my head was starting to feel ever-so-slightly swimmy — so it would make a decent mixer. If you're a fan of cranberry vodka tonics looking for something portable to bring to a barbecue, then this might hit the spot for you. But for me, it lacks the fruity freshness that I'm looking for in a hard seltzer.

Having tried most of the other Vista Bay seltzers already, I wasn't expecting a whole lot out of the Vista Bay peach hard seltzer. And while it didn't blow my mind, I was pleasantly surprised. There seems to be a wide range of variance in flavor intensity in the Vista Bay hard seltzers, but the peach flavor was one of the most noticeable.

That being said, this seltzer tastes like peach in much the same way that peach rings taste like peach — the flavor is definitely peach-shaped, but it's not a real peach. That's not necessarily a bad thing — for a 100-calorie seltzer, it's pretty darn good. If I had tasted it independently, I probably would have been quite happy with it. It just can't compare to the more natural flavors I got to sip as part of this taste test.

Though not my favorite of all the seltzers I tried, the blackberry Vista Bay Rush is one of my favorite Vista Bay flavors. As with the regular Vista Bay seltzers, the Rush line seems to have a lot of variability in how much flavor goes into each version. This variety is definitely high in flavor, and it does taste like biting into a (slightly undersweet) blackberry, but it has a hint of artificiality in the aftertaste.

The closest thing I can think of to compare it to is the Clearly Canadian blackberry sparkling water, though that soft drink is quite a bit sweeter than Vista Bay's lightly sweetened seltzers. For a clear, low-ish-calorie hard seltzer, Vista Bay Rush blackberry is surprisingly good. It will just have to wait in my fridge until I've finished off my favorite ultra-fresh tasting seltzers, first.

Another installment from Vista Bay's hard seltzer variety pack, collection one, the raspberry seltzer was shockingly fresh. The first sip totally captures the essence of popping a cool, fresh raspberry into your mouth on a hot summer day. It even gets the sweetness level exactly right — not like the sweetest of the berries, but like the ones left behind after you've picked all the big, bright, juicy ones out of the pack.

I especially like that it's sweetened with cane sugar. I've been burned by too many seltzers — hard and soft — that appear to be unsweetened or lightly sweetened, but turn out to be overwhelmingly sweetened with aspartame or stevia. But Vista Bay's raspberry seltzer has just the right amount of sweetness with two grams of real sugar and 5% ABV.

Out of all the flavors in collection one of the Vista Bay hard seltzer variety pack, pineapple was the one I was most excited for. It's my favorite flavor to add to just about anything — including pizza. And thankfully, Vista Bay nailed the pineapple flavor perfectly. Like the raspberry flavor, it's very much like biting into a slightly underripe pineapple spear — mildly sweet, but tangy and mouthwatering.

One sip, and I was immediately transported to the beach, sitting in a Lowboy while the rising tide swirls around my legs. The relatively low 5% ABV is perfect for sipping in the sunshine. With the weather finally warming up, I can see myself with this seltzer in hand at my upcoming outdoor adventures.

The natural lime flavor is the only one duplicated between the two Vista Bay variety packs I tried, and while you might expect that they would taste the same (I certainly did), they couldn't be more different. Whereas the original Vista Bay natural lime seltzer tasted like a hint-of-a-hint-of lime, the Vista Bay Rush version has lots of intense lime flavor, and because it's only slightly sweetened with cane sugar, it even has the tang that comes from fresh lime juice.

The Vista Bay Rush lime seltzer also has 8% ABV, which is roughly 50% more than the regular Vista Bay seltzers — so I wouldn't quite consider it to be an all-day sipper. But I can definitely imagine cracking one of these open with a plate of tacos, so it's everything I could hope for from a lime hard seltzer.

Hard seltzers have come a long way in just a few years since White Claw's many flavors popularized the beverage, with artisanal seltzer brands taking things to a whole new level. Fieldcraft's white peach and strawberry extra-fruited hard seltzer is a perfect example of that evolution. It tastes like summertime in a glass, made with 23% fruit — peach puree and strawberry juice — and pours out of the can in a delicious golden color with just a hint of pink. The visual aesthetic only adds to the appeal of this seltzer.

My only complaint is that it could be a hair sweeter. I love unsweetened seltzers, don't get me wrong, but if it's sweetened with fresh fruit, I want to taste the sweetness of the fruit itself. Though the peach and strawberry flavors are all there, they taste ever so slightly underripe — just a little bit sour. I'll have no problems finishing off this four-pack, but it's not the one that has me rushing back to Aldi for more.

Fieldcraft's extra-fruited hard seltzers are insanely fresh and fruity, and this pear and pomegranate version is no exception. Made with 31% fruit from pear puree and pomegranate juice, it's one of the freshest-tasting seltzers I've ever had. The real fruit flavors are front and center, leaving absolutely no doubt whatsoever on what flavor this seltzer is meant to be, and it has a gorgeous hue reminiscent of a peach Bellini that boosts the overall vibe. You can definitely sip this seltzer from a can, but it's worth pouring into a glass just so you can see it for yourself.

At 9% ABV, this is the hardest of the hard seltzers I tried for this article, and at 16 ounces, one can pack a similar punch to two light beers. But because there's so much fruit in the can, you could almost miss the fact that this seltzer is spiked. So sip this one carefully, lest you find yourself slightly more intoxicated than you intended to be.

I'm not saying mangoes can cure depression, but I am saying that every time I've eaten a mango, I've been grateful to be alive and eating a mango. And that's exactly how my first sip of the Fieldcraft double mango extra-fruited hard seltzer made me feel. Which makes sense, since it's sweetened and flavored with 15% real mango puree.

The can instructs you to "gently flip, then sip" to ensure the fruit puree is evenly distributed, or you can pour it out into a pint glass if you'd rather not drink straight from the can. Unlike the Vista Bay seltzers, all of which are crystal clear, the Fieldcraft mango seltzer has a gorgeous golden mango color. Though not technically part of the flavor, it does add to the overall tropical vibe of the beverage. I'm looking forward to sipping this one in the hammock on my porch this summer while imagining myself on a tropical beach somewhere.

To determine which of Aldi's hard seltzers is the best, taste was the only factor I considered. I tried each one cold, straight from the fridge after chilling overnight. Then I evaluated each one's flavor along three main axes — intensity, realness, and freshness. Subtlety wasn't necessarily a dealbreaker — I do enjoy so-called "lightly essenced" sparkling waters like LaCroix — but regardless of how intense the flavor was, it had to at least be noticeable and identifiable. If it didn't at least taste like the fruit on the can, though, that was a huge negative.

While all the hard seltzers I tried were naturally flavored, some tasted more natural than others, and those were the ones that rose to the top of the rankings. The best of the best were as real as it gets — exploding with flavor from real fruit juices and purees.