The growing trend of lighter drinks led by Mark Anthony Group’s White Claw hard seltzer has now arrived in the UK after experiencing huge growth in the USA. This Ready to Drink (RTD) format made up of boozy sparkling water is an evolution away from the alcopops full of sugar or sweeteners, colours and flavourings. It also typically contains 80% less sugar than fruit ciders.
Other hard seltzer brands coming from the USA include Mike’s, Drty, Balans amongst others as well as known brands such as Smirnoff and Kopparberg. Some of these have been highlighted already on Inside the Cask, check out the blog post below.
Over the next five years, IWSR predicts that hard seltzers will likely witness the highest growth rate within the UK’s ready-to-drink category, with a forecast volume compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 71.7% from 2019 to 2024.
For an Inside the Cask previous blog post on ‘RTD 2.0: Boozy Sparkling Water’ – click here.
Hard Seltzer taps into multiple consumers trends and this is the reason for its success to date. The new luxury is Wellness & well-being and these products are deemed (but not promoted as) “healthier” and lower ABV than beer. The variation of flavours taps into the need for Experimentation (and allows the possibility to even be considered as a premium alcoholic mixer) and the all natural ingredients taps into the trend of Premiumisation. Most of the products tend to be sold in cans, which are Convenient, and the recyclable aspect of these make it Sustainable. The hard seltzers are likely to appeal to nearly every demographic with the female:male split based on experience to date at 60:40, making them very Accessible.
The latest hard seltzer launch into the UK market comes courtesy of Forrit, a Scottish Botanic hard seltzer crafted from distilled alcohol, blended with sparkling water and containing only 90 calories at 4.5% abv.
As part of the pre-launch of Forrit, once signed up, you’ll be taken to a hidden pre-launch page where you can buy the 3-pack of flavours for the price of two – dispatched straight to your doorstep.
Other Hard Seltzers already available in the UK market include:
58Gin Hard Seltzer – made using the distillery’s 58 London Dry Gin, natural ingredients and at 4% abv.
Barefoot Wine Seltzer – made using white wine, sparkling water and natural fruit flavours at 4% abv.
Bodega Bay – Europe’s No.1 Hard Seltzer, a blend of CraftedClear alcohol, sparkling water and natural flavours at 4% abv.
Chase’s Gin Seltzers – a blend of Chase gins and locally sourced water at 4% abv.
Clean & Press Hard Seltzer – made of sparkling Scottish water, spiked with BrewDog’s own vodka and infused with all natural fruit flavours at 5% abv.
Dalston’s Hard Seltzer – made by combining its existing non-alcoholic seltzer recipe with triple distilled pure malt vodka at 4% abv.
East London Liquor Co Hard Seltzer – made with vodka produced at the distillery, blended with a selection of fruit extracts and essences sourced from around the world at 4% abv.
Echo Falls Rosé Seltzers – made with Rosé wine, sparkling water and natural fruit flavours at 4.5% abv.
Fountain Hard Seltzer – made from a gluten-free alcohol base, sparkling water from the Adirondacks Mountains in northern New York, and ‘natural’ flavouring at 4.5% abv.
Gigglewater Seltzer – made with a base of apple wine at 5% abv.
Good One Hard Soda – brewed with Northumberland spring water and small-batch distilled with real fruit alcohol in East London at 4% abv.
Island Bay Hard Seltzer – made with a continuously distilled alcohol base and natural fruit flavours at 5% abv.
Keepr’s Hard Seltzer – made with a potato vodka base and 100% natural ingredients, including a hint of British honey from the company’s own hives at 4.2% abv.
Long Shot Drinks Hard Seltzer – a blend of fruit, sparkling water and alcohol at 4% abv.
Mélange Premium Alcoholic Soda – the ‘alcoholic sparkling water with a touch of class’ is bottled and the drinks feature a vodka base at 4% abv.
NATRL Alcoholic Sparkling Water – a blend of filtered alcohol derived from sugar beet, sparkling water and a hint of natural fruit flavouring made from real fruit at 4% abv.
Nordic Wolf Hard Seltzer – Aldi’s very own hard seltzer at 4% abv, made using a mixture of sparkling water, a gluten-free alcohol base and a hint of natural fruit flavourings.
Ride Hard Seltzer – are crafted and canned in small batches from the Heart of the Northumbrian Pennines, this is alcoholic sparkling water with a hint of natural fruit flavours at 4% abv.
Sence Hard Seltzer – made with sparkling natural spring water with an essence of purified alcohol and an essence of natural fruit extract at 4.5% abv.
Served Hard Seltzer – made from British sparkling water and ‘wonky’ fruit that would have otherwise gone to waste at 4% abv.
Sparkl Hard Seltzer – naturally flavoured and packaged in transparent, glass bottles at 4% abv.
Topo Chico Hard Seltzer – Coca-Cola is entering the hard seltzer category with this blend of sparkling water with alcohol and natural flavours, and inspired by American sparkling mineral water brand Topo Chico at 4.7% abv.
TWIST Hard Seltzer – made using a triple distilled spirit with nano filtered sparkling water with natural fruit flavour at 5% abv and packaged in aluminium bottles.
Two Brooks Alcoholic Sparkling Water – made using a fruit spirit base derived from British apples with filtered sparkling water, and natural fruit flavours at 4% abv.
For Reference – previous Inside the Cask blog posts:
- M&S and the popular in canned cocktails
- What next, Cocktails on Tap?
- It’s Summer…time for a frozen cocktail?
For Reference – The Economist 1843 Magazine article ‘The case against hard seltzer’
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