The Worst Hard Seltzer Brand Costs Too Much For How Bad It Tastes

Classic Bud Light beer pulled a dismal 32nd-place in our ranking of the 45 most popular beer brands – so it's perhaps no wonder that the brand's hard seltzers also failed to wow us. In Tasting Table's ranking of 21 popular hard seltzer brands, Bud Light Seltzer fell to the dreaded last place position. In 2023, Bud Light lost its crown as the number-one beer in America. But, to clear up any confusion, the brand advertises its hard seltzers as "100% hard seltzer, 0% beer." These seltzers are made from a straightforward combination of real cane sugar, sparkling water, and natural flavors, which sounds appealing enough on paper. In can, however, there were no juicy, fruity flavors, no lively mouthfeel, and nothing especially memorable.

Flavor-wise, Bud Light Seltzer takes a cue from competitors' playbooks with White Claw-inspired flavors like mango and black cherry. Completing the variety four-pack are tangerine and watermelon. All four flavors clock in at an industry-standard 5% ABV, and all four flavors kind of just, like, taste bad. Over the past five years since its inception in 2020, Bud Light Seltzer has also released lemon-lime, strawberry, grapefruit, cranberry, and pineapple flavors; only the mango, black cherry, tangerine, and watermelon flavors have endured in its "Classics" lineup. Still, a little more R&D seems to be in order. As we mentioned in our review, "These cans range from bitter to subtly sweet with each fruit tasting more like what the company thinks cherry or apple should taste like rather than what it actually does."

Even frequent Bud Light drinkers would likely describe the beer as "a good beer." It isn't anyone's enthusiastic favorite, and if it is, then it likely cinched that title for being crushable, affordable, and better-tasting than budget competitors like Natty and Busch Light. Alas, when it comes to Bud Light Seltzers, the same appeal does not apply. These seltzers are pricey; we might have forgiven the lousy taste had they come at a lower cost.

Bud Light Seltzers are sold as variety multi-packs or as individual 25-ounce tallboy cans, and as we noted in our review, the variety packs "[range] in price from $17 to $27 depending on how many cans you buy." For reference, 12-packs of White Claw, Truly, and Topo Chico all clock in at $16.99 at a Target in Chicago, and they all taste better. The only hard-seltzer-adjacent offering close to Bud Light Seltzers' $27 mark is High Noon, at $26.99 per 12-pack. However, High Noon is spiked with real vodka, whereas Bud Light Seltzers are spiked with lower-quality malt liquor made from fermented cane sugar. 

Bud Light seems to be resting on its giant name-brand laurels here, but any friendly degree of brand familiarity doesn't change the fact that this is a bad-tasting seltzer. To discerning imbibers who don't normally drink hard seltzer, but were drawn in by the Bud Light name, we urge: "Not all hard seltzers taste like this. Give another brand a try."