Not Quite Beer, Not Quite Seltzer: 13 Non-Alcoholic Hop Waters and Teas, Ranked

Sparkling water trends come and go these days, with everything from spiked, non-alcoholic, and cannabis-based seltzers blowing up in popularity. The latest craze? Hop water, a cross somewhere between sparkling water and non-alcoholic beer. 

Curious if hop water is for you? Most grocery stores these days have at least a few brands on deck, so I tried 13 different kinds of sparkling hop water — including tea — and ranked them based on taste and drinkability. Here are my findings.

Prices and availability subject to change.

Hop water is alcohol-free sparkling water flavored with different hop varieties. This is not a brewed beer by any means; at its best, it’s a nice, refreshing beverage that you can drink during just about any occasion. In my opinion, it’s perfect for that last drink you were considering having at the end of the night, the one that might put you over the edge. A good hop water will fully do the trick.

$10.99 for a six-pack from Target

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The best thing about this Lagunitas hop water is that it’s really nothing like beer. It’s not even like a beer-flavored seltzer. It’s hop-forward and perfectly balanced with unplaceable citrusy flavors. There’s a little zing at the end of each sip — kind of like the pleasant feeling you get when you taste a crisp beer, but without any of the heaviness. This is going to be a staple beverage in my house. You nailed this one, Lagunitas.

$35.99 for a 12-pack from Walmart

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The top of the can says “crisp, citrusy, piney,” and that’s exactly it. This is almost like taking a sip of the woods (in a good way). I feel like I’m dipping my head into a bucket of hops, or like I’m leaning into a portal straight to the Pacific Northwest. What a refreshing treat this is. I'm a fan.

$10.99 for a six-pack from Target

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This is, by far, the most mild and subtle hop water I tried. It’s an easy enough introduction to the world of sparkling hop water, but I am not kidding when I say this thing is subtle. So, so subtle. You-might-as-well-just-grab-a-plain-La Croix levels of subtlety. 

Luckily, I’m a fan of bland sparkling water. I like this very much.

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$35.99 for a 12-pack from Walmart

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This brand is doing a great job.  These seltzers are not like other beverages I’ve had, and after the first sip of each one, I really had to take a minute to think about it. That doesn’t happen very often with canned, non-alcoholic beverages. This is more tart and hoppy than the classic flavor, but it works. It’s far more balanced and uplifting than Hopfin’s lime flavor, and might even make an interesting mixer for a clear spirit.

Related: 10 Spindrift Sparkling Water Flavors, Ranked

$35.99 for a 12-pack from Walmart

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I can see why this brand is so popular. Every one of Hop Wtr’s beverages perfectly nails the line between hop and non-hop flavor. Each one tastes new and different, and even though I’ve had plenty of blood orange sparkling waters before, this one excites me. It’s so bright and warm, and absolutely begging to be drunk by the side of a lake. Take my money, Hop Wtr.

Related: The Best Bubly Sparkling Water Flavors, Ranked

$3.49 per can on Amazon

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After tasting the Citra tea first, I was worried that I wasn’t going to like these very much. After I tasted the black tea, I was afraid to even open the chamomile. 

I was wrong! I love being wrong. The chamomile is actually pretty nice and works with the citra hops in this case. There’s a little diagram of a hop meter on the can, and Hoplark has this marked as the least hoppy of their products. Seems like there’s a clear correlation between hoppy-ness and drinkability here. 

$8 per can from New Creation Soda Works

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This is way tastier than the Sabro in my opinion. There’s a little bit of sage flowing through this guy that really binds everything together in a nice way. There's a bit of a THC seltzer vibe that’s hard to shake, but it’s a tasty drink all the same.

$41.99 for a 24-can variety pack from Amazon

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I would never have predicted that DayPack’s mango flavor would be significantly less full of funky aroma than the black cherry flavor, but here we are. Somehow this gives me more tropical flavors than just specifically mango, and I think that works in its favor. These are really bold, so if the milder flavors aren’t for you, this might be what you’re looking for.

$35.99 for a 12-pack from Walmart

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Mango, alas, is Hop Wtr’s only miss. It doesn’t even really taste like mango, which I sort of thought I’d celebrate, but I can’t really get behind this. There’s a sunscreen-ish feeling here not unlike Malibu Rum, as though coconut snuck its way in. Get outta here, coconut.

$8 per can from New Creation Soda Works

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Yeah, this is OK. Nothing to write home about, but I could finish a can. I taste lime more than I taste the Sabro hops, and I feel like we could squeeze a little more balance out of this thing if we tried. If Hop Wtr is too subtle for you, look Hopfin’s way.

$3.49 per can on Amazon

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One of my favorite things about sparkling hop water is that it doesn’t taste like beer. It’s an entirely new beverage, full of new flavors I haven’t tasted very often. Citra HopTea, unfortunately, tastes like beer. Like boiled beer, even. Boiled beer that’s been cooled down and mixed with a little bit of AriZona iced tea. This isn’t for me.

$41.99 for a 24-can variety pack from Amazon

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This is almost there, and the black cherry flavor is spot-on, but there’s a bit of a funk from the hop oil after each sip. This kind of funk works when you have the afterbite that alcohol brings, but without it, it just sort of lingers there. It’s not the kind of thing that makes me want to go back for another sip.

$3.49 per can on Amazon

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What we’ve got here is essentially all the bad parts of an IPA and none of the good parts. I don’t taste any tea at all in this drink; I only taste the bitter flavor profile that comes with a hoppy IPA. Only instead of the juicy, nutty, or roasty notes that come to round it all out, nothing happens. It just stays there. There's no world where I could finish one of these cans.