Carbon Nation
Support your local with these 6 Canadian hard seltzers and sodas we love.
Since White Claw swept up from the U.S. several summers ago, it has been dominating social media, popping up in memes and touting itself as the best alcoholic seltzer out here. But why should White Claw get all the love?
Local bottle shops are bubbling, toiling and troubling over brandnew brews to quench your thirst. This sip consists of carbonated water, flavouring and alcohol—typically from fermented cane sugar or malted barley, but some go straight for the vodka shot. Delicately flavoured and bursting with bubbles that snap, crackle and pop, hard seltzers go down like, well—water. Just be sure to mix in some real H2O when enjoying.
Water is boring. These cans aren’t. Here are the NEXT Test Kitchen’s favourite bubblies.
Cherry Sploosh Craft Seltzer
Longslice Brewery
Brewed in Ontario, available in Toronto
longslice.com
Addicted to sour cherry blasters? This is the seltzer for you, friend. Think of it as the clean eating version of those scrumptious gummies—but liquid form, lightly flavoured and infused with alcohol. It’s pretty much a diet.
Orange’sicle Vodka Soda
Wize Spirits
Brewed in Vancouver, available in Vancouver and Calgary
wizespirits.com
This all-natural orange and vanilla-spiked recipe scratches all those nostalgic Popsicle itches. With a fuller, creamier-tasting flavour than the straight-up fruity versions on the list, it’s the closest you can get to an actual Creamsicle without cheating on those #fitspo #goals.
Grape Lemon Vodka Soda
Burwood Distillery
Brewed in Calgary, ships to Vancouver and Toronto
burwooddistillery.ca
Call it grape soda for grown-ups. Infusing carbonated water and vodka with fresh pressed grapes and lemons, Burwood Distillery serves up a fruity and fresh cocktail ripe for the crushing. We’ll take a flat of this, please!
Squish Hard Pineapple Seltzer
Parallel 49 Brewing Company
Brewed in Vancouver, available in Vancouver and Calgary
parallel49brewing.com
Oh, who lives in a pineapple under the sea? You do, imbibing this tropical seltzer from Vancouver’s Parallel 49, also known for its damn good beer. None of that fake aspartame flavour lurking in the shadows here—natural flavours saturate this refreshingly sunny quaff.
Watermelon Vodka Soda
Nude Beverages
Brewed in Vancouver, available in Vancouver and Calgary
nudebeverages.com
Get that Watermelon Sugar high—without the sugar. From Vancouver- based Nude Beverages, this minimalist can packs a burst of never-ending summer flavour while also being sugar-free. Sparkling, crisp and refreshing, it will almost quench that burning thirst for Harry Styles.
Raspberry Vodka Soda
Ace Hill
Brewed in Ontario, available in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver
drinkacehill.com
With splashes of real raspberry juice siphoned into the soda, this can earns points for its bright and jammy fruit flavours. If Anne of Green Gables (an avid fan of a drink called raspberry cordial) ever went to a bar, she’d no doubt order a tall glass of this stuff.
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