Canned Cocktails Vs Hard Seltzer: Which Is Stronger?

Scan the booze fridge at your local convenience store or supermarket: Hard seltzers and canned cocktails have seemingly cemented their spot. Fans have been turning to these trendy (and enduring) canned beverages as flavorful alternatives to beer en masse. So, for consumers who value varied, complex flavors as much as punchy potency, which type of drink is stronger?

Hard seltzers are made from a sugar and fermented malt liquor base, and typically clock in around the 4%-8% ABV range. To achieve this industry-standard strength, many seltzer brewers will produce a stronger batch around 10% ABV and cut it with distilled water. Conversely, because canned cocktails have a spirit base (i.e. vodka, whiskey, etc.) rather than malt liquor, they tend to be stronger than hard seltzers as a general rule. At 6%-13% ABV, they can be as punchy as a cocktail you'd serve in a glass. Cutwater's ultra-strong canned White Russian, for instance, clocks in at 13% ABV, packing two or more shots of real vodka per can. (The typical amount is about 15%.)

Still, there can be exceptions to the potency rule. The hard seltzer White Claw Surge packs 8% ABV, which is stronger than some lower-proof RTDs like Soke and Soula, whose canned cocktails clock in at 5%.

In addition to higher potency, canned cocktails offer greater potential for flavor variation. Hard seltzers follow the format of malt liquor plus mixer, yielding fruit-forward offerings like White Claw (5%ABV), Topo Chico (4.5%-4.7% ABV) and Spindrift Spiked (4% ABV), among others. In hard seltzers, that universal malt liquor base offers a common flavor note from one brand to the next. In RTDs, the different base spirits of whiskey versus vodka versus Malibu all impart a drastically different taste into their respective canned beverage.

A prime example of this potential for range is the variety packs from Cutwater, whose popular canned cocktails include rum-based Mai Tais, vodka-based mules and espresso martinis, tequila-based palomas and margaritas, whiskey sours, and more. Pernod Ricard also released a line of canned cocktails with spirits bases of Absolut vodka, Jameson whiskey, and Malibu coconut rum. There could be huge potential for the industry as an established, revered spirits brand expands into the RTD market in 2024.

With canned cocktails, boozy punchiness meets complexity. Although, this isn't to say that hard seltzers lack dimensionality. Lone River Ranch Water (4% ABV), for instance, is a hard seltzer, not a cocktail. It's agave-flavored but contains no actual tequila. Meanwhile, Ranch Rider Ranch Water is classified as a canned cocktail because it's made with real reposado tequila (5.99% ABV), and both drinks taste like tequila soda.