White Claw: 7 Best Flavors + 3 Alternatives

Diana Barkley (Senior Editor)

White Claw is one of the most popular brands of hard seltzers in the US and beyond. In this article we’ll find out more about what flavors are available, which are the best ones, and some tasty alternatives you can buy or make at home.

It’s so well-received that it’s claimed 45% of the hard seltzer market. By comparison, Truly only shares 17.4 percent. What makes it so popular? White Claw crafts many different flavors, all of which gluten free and lower in calories than traditional beer.

Which is exactly why it was created in the first place. White Claw was launched as a ‘healthier’ alternative to beer and other alcoholic drinks.

Younger consumers tend to seek out more refreshing, lighter drinks options. White Claw caters to this as well as the many varied tastes out there by producing a huge range of flavors and options. 

What to Know about White Claw Flavors

What to Know about White Claw Flavors

White Claw is one of the original hard seltzer brands which first gained popularity in 2016.

Here are some fun facts about the brand and its history: White Claw isn’t just available in the US, but also in the UK, Canada, and Australia, among others.

This is largely because it’s made a huge mark on popular culture, increasing the trend of drinking hard seltzers rather than other alcoholic beverages. It’s a ‘young’ brand that really appeals to modern generations.

In 2019, White Claw was so popular and growing so rapidly in demand that the brand actually had supply problems. This was referred to by fans as the ‘White Claw summer shortage.’ First world problems, anyone?

White Claw hard seltzers are naturally gluten free, because they’re made with a fermented sugar base rather than one made with grains such as barley or wheat. This makes White Claw a particularly popular hard seltzer brand amongst people with a gluten intolerance.

Origin of White Claw

Origin of White Claw

White Claw was only launched in the US in 2016. It’s since taken the market by storm, with many choosing hard seltzers over more traditional beverage options.

The brand is originally from Canada, and was brought to life by Mark Anthony Brands, the brain-child of Canadian entrepreneur Anthony von Mandl.

Who Invented White Claw

Who Invented White Claw

There is no one person who invented White Claw (as was the case with Casey O’Neill of Truly hard seltzer fame.)

White Claw was produced by a team of clever brewers, developers, marketers, and company executives instead.

It was created as a direct response to growing demands for a gluten free alcoholic drink that was also low in calories, refreshing, and delicious.

Ingredients of Typical White Claw Drinks

Ingredients of Typical White Claw Drinks

White Claw are pretty open about the ingredients they use, and for good reason: typical White Claw drinks contain just purified carbonated water, alcohol, natural flavoring, cane sugar, citric acid, and sodium citrate.

The alcohol used is a basic malt liquor, made using fermented malted grain.

What White Claw Tastes Like

What White Claw Tastes Like

White Claw hard seltzers all have a crisp, light, and clean taste with added fruit flavors. There are around 30 flavors available, sub-divided into five yummy categories.

There are many fan favorites out there, but generally people seem to love the fruitiest, slightly tropical ones such as mango.

Alcohol in White Claw

Alcohol in White Claw

White Claw comes in 8%-5% ABV varieties in the US and Canada. Internationally you can get White Claw with 4.5% ABV only. The 8% range is called White Claw Surge, all other kinds of White Claw have 5% of alcohol regardless of flavor.

The Best White Claw Flavors Ranked

The Best White Claw Flavors Ranked

White Claw make quite a number of flavor variations, so it’s not the easiest task to pick out the best ones.

Interestingly, they obviously spent so much time planning and developing their original range that these still feature prominently. Below are the top flavors White Claw hard seltzer fans absolutely love.

Mango

Mango

Mango is usually quite a divisive flavor: it can come out too sweet, too thick, or too artificial-tasting.

The White Claw mango flavor is just refreshing, fruity, and not too sweet. That particular combo is why it’s a firm fan favorite. It’s one of the most-stocked flavors for this reason, too.

Black Cherry

Black Cherry

Black Cherry is hands down one of White Claw’s most popular flavors — even in their own words. That’s because it tastes like well-balanced dark cherries that are both tart and sweet at the same time.

If you enjoy cherry-flavored treats, you’ll absolutely love this.

Pineapple

Pineapple

If you enjoy tropical flavors, White Claw Pineapple should be up there on your list of hard seltzers to try. It features a rather mild taste of pineapple that’s fresh but not sugary.

Add some fresh sprigs of mint to your ice cold pineapple-flavored White Claw hard seltzer. Perfect for a day on the beach or a summery party.

Ruby Grapefruit

Ruby Grapefruit

Ruby Grapefruit is another original White Claw flavor that’s still popular today (alongside Mango and Black Cherry.)

Ruby Grapefruit is bright, citrusy and really fresh in flavor. It delivers the zesty, slightly tart taste of grapefruit really well.

Fans of Campari will already know that alcohol and slightly bitter citrus tastes work well together, and this is no exception.

Raspberry

Raspberry

People seem to either love or dislike this one, though we couldn’t find anyone who actually expressed loathing for White Claw’s raspberry flavor.

It’s not the most natural and tastes a little bit like raspberry candy (which isn’t a bad thing, however.)

White Claw Raspberry is one of the sweeter flavors with just a hint of tartness.

Definitely drink this one very cold.

Lemon

Lemon

Lemon is one of those flavors anyone’s tried before, even if they haven’t tried THIS lemon flavor.

White Claw Lemon captures the basic idea of a vodka with soda and lemon.

This one’s citrusy, zesty, and a bit acidic. Perfect for those who prefer a more tart alcoholic beverage rather than something sweet.

Blackberry

Blackberry

White Claw’s blackberry flavor is sometimes compared to the Black Cherry flavor, minus the kind of almond-y, cherry cough syrup flavors that cherry inevitably has.

It’s full of dark berry richness, which makes it a popular flavor amongst those who enjoy a sweeter alcoholic drink.

The Surge variety of this with 8% alcohol seems to be quite popular, too.

The Original White Claw Flavors

The Original White Claw Flavors

White Claw started out with five distinctive flavors in 2016. As far as we could tell, all five flavors are still available today.

This goes to show just how well planned and executed the originals were — most of them are still amongst the top fan favorites, nearly a decade later.

Mango

Mango

As mentioned above, White Claw Mango is one of the top fan favorite flavors out there. Interestingly, it’s also one of the first flavors the brand ever introduced, and has steadily remained popular ever since. Enjoy your mango-flavored White Claw ice cold on a hot, sunny day.

Natural Lime

Natural Lime

The original ‘Natural Lime’ flavor tastes… not very natural, apparently. Some described it as smelling like a lime-scented cleaning product, though it tasted refreshing and zesty.

This particular lime flavor was a decent attempt at a classic, but nothing special, which is why few name it as a favorite.

Black Cherry

Black Cherry

Black Cherry is one of White Claw’s top flavors, alongside Mango. It’s also one of their original varieties from 2016.

This flavor is frequently stocked by bars as it’s so popular.

If you find cherry a little too sweet regardless (this is fairly well-balanced), you could add a wedge of fresh lime to make this even juicier.

Ruby Grapefruit

Ruby Grapefruit

As mentioned above, Ruby Grapefruit is zesty, refreshing, and citrusy.

It’s one of those classic flavors that works beautifully when done well.

White Claw obviously knew what they were doing when they developed this flavor, and it’s remained a fan favorite since its inception.

Raspberry

Raspberry

Raspberry is the only original White Claw flavor which isn’t frequently mentioned as a favorite.

It aims to balance sweetness and more acidic flavors in a satisfying way.

It is one of the sweeter flavors and people describe it as easy to drink and smooth… but not as particularly memorable, it would seem.

Types of White Claw Drinks

Types of White Claw Drinks

White Claw are one of the more creative hard seltzer brands. They appear to have a product line that caters to just about anybody.

This isn’t surprising, given that White Claw are America’s favorite brand of hard seltzer.

Here we list the various product lines currently available under the White Claw brand.

Original

Original

The original line up of White Claw hard seltzers is still their most popular range available today. It’s made with a gluten-free malted alcohol ‘base’, seltzer water, and fruit flavoring.

Vodka

Vodka

Vodka is White Claw’s newest creation: they offer a range of flavored vodkas, including pineapple, black cherry, and mango. They also have a premium ‘triple wave filtered’ vodka.

Vodka + Soda

Vodka + Soda

The Vodka + Soda range of White Claw contains 100 calories per can, as well as 2 grams of sugar, and 4.5% ABV. There’s a watermelon, wild cherry, peach, and pineapple flavor. Perfect for those who like their seltzer a little bit less sweet.

Surf Hard Seltzer

Surf Hard Seltzer

The Surf Hard range offers more tropical flavors, perfect for beach parties and vacation time. There’s currently a Tropical Pomelo Smash flavor, Citrus Yuzu Smash, Watermelon Lime Smash, and Wildberry Açai Smash.

Surge Hard Seltzer

Surge Hard Seltzer

White Claw Surge Hard Seltzer contains, as the name may suggest, more alcohol at 8% ABV.

There’s a blood orange flavor, a cranberry, blackberry, and lime flavor. We’re not entirely sure why these exist except to get you drunk that much faster.

With that said, they’re also gluten free and contain the same amount of sugar as the other White Claw seltzers, so there’s that.

Refrshr Lemonade Hard Seltzer

Refrshr Lemonade Hard Seltzer

On their website, White Claw call this ‘lemonade reinvented’ and it’s just that: lemonade paired with the signature refreshment of hard seltzer.

It comes in the flavors Limón with a Hint of Calamansi, Blood Orange with a Hint of Raspberry, Blackberry with a Hint of Red Cherry, Strawberry with a Hint of Kiwi.

Refrshr Iced Tea

Refrshr Iced Tea

Lastly, there’s White Claw’s Refrshr Iced Tea, which is currently available in a lemon flavor. It’s essentially a hard seltzer lemon iced tea blend, which sounds deliciously refreshing. Truly did a range of iced tea flavors for a while, which sounded similarly tasty.

Tasty Alternatives to White Claw

Tasty Alternatives to White Claw

White Claw is arguably the most popular brand of hard seltzers available today, but there are other brands out there. Here we’ve rounded up the top two alternatives to White Claw, plus a DIY home recipe hack to make your own hard seltzer-style drink.

Truly

Truly

Truly hard seltzers contain less sugar than White Claw for a start. Beyond this, the flavors and branding is actually not all that different (though die hard fans of either may disagree.)

Truly make a lot of limited edition flavors, which makes them a fun one to try from time to time. There’s always something new.

Arctic Chill

Arctic Chill

Arctic Chill is another popular hard seltzer brand. Their modern branding and simple designs make them appealing to some.

The different mix packs are also really fun, with boxes branded ‘the Weekender’ and ‘the Daytripper’ for example.

Fun fact: Arctic Chill hard seltzers are made by and with Polar Seltzers. So you can readily cater to your non-drinking friends too by stocking up on both.

DIY Hard Seltzer

DIY Hard Seltzer

If you like the taste of White Claw or your favorite other hard seltzers, you’ll love this: you can easily make your own hard seltzer drinks at home.

It’s no more difficult than preparing any other type of cocktail or mocktail. All you need is around ½ cup of carbonated water, 1.5 fl oz of vodka, ice, and some ingredients to flavor your DIY hard seltzer.

Honey, fresh mint, lime juice (and extra wedges) make for a delicious lime and mint flavor, for example.

Alternatively, you could add a fresh juice of your choice, some frozen berries or watermelon cubes, or even experiment with ingredients like vanilla syrup or mint cordial.

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