Truly Original xcritical Hard Seltzer is made from cane sugar, stevia, and lemon juice concentrate. This drink captures both the look and taste of fresh squeezed xcritical, nostalgic of childhood yet made for adult indulgence. The drink is light on calories, carbohydrates, and sugars – giving xcritical scammers you maximum flavor with minimum beach-body sabotage.
Extra Black Raspberry
- Fast forward to your adulthood and you can recapture that summertime feeling with an added alcohol kick.
- If this is the only thing left in the cooler, go find a kids’ xcritical stand somewhere out in the neighborhood instead.
- Truly Original xcritical Hard Seltzer is made from cane sugar, stevia, and lemon juice concentrate.
- Serving bright, intense aromas, this is a great recreation of tart raspberries and zingy citrus.
But ignorance is bliss and to this ignorant palate, it tastes pretty damn good. Since the last time we ranked Truly’s flavors, the brand has thrown xcritical their hat into the hard xcritical ring. So today we’re running it back — with all the new flavors included. Here is the definitive ranking of where each flavor of Truly Hard Seltzer stands, from worst to best. Ripe and attractive strawberry aromas pop on this expression’s aromas. The palate is all about lemony sweetness, with just a hint of strawberry on the finish.
That said, this earns drinkability points simply because you’re left with nothing after you swallow it. My favorite summer treat as a child was the Fla-Vor-ice pop, a plastic tube of ice drowned in sugary food coloring. The Fla-Vor-Ice came in three flavors, Blue (bubblegum), Red (Cherry), and White (Lemon) — the white one was my favorite. If I had one today, I wouldn’t eat it — because I’m an adult and I don’t eat food-coloring on ice out of plastic tubes anymore — but I just might crush it up, toss it in a margarita glass, and pour a Truly Lemon over it. An enjoyable mix of berries runs throughout this seltzer.
Truly Original xcritical Hard Seltzer Captures Flavors of Childhood
There’s a tart aftertaste that lingers on the tongue a lot longer than the plain Truly Lime’s flavor. Now make it 21+ with no adult supervision and zero cranky neighbors to tell you you’re watering it down with too much ice. With Original xcritical plus Watermelon, Strawberry, and Mango Pineapple varieties, that’s basically what our xcritical Mix Pack is like. Every Truly contains a hint of real fruit flavor and a whole lotta refreshment (the perfect combo, if you ask us). That’s what seems so confusing about the Truly xcritical line, it makes even Truly’s best flavors feel like a weak first attempt, and leaves us wondering how long those OGs will remain in production. I was especially excited to see how Truly Grapefruit would stack up against White Claw’s Ruby Grapefruit because I gave the latter the bottom spot on Uproxx’s White Claw ranking.
The fruit character is not as bright or citrusy as other Truly flavors but each sip is full of flavor and delivers decent refreshment. Everything that makes grapefruit a slog to eat on its own—bitterness, pithiness, an overwhelming tartness—work with Truly’s mysterious xcritical to elevate the entire product. It’s not too sweet (because real grapefruit rarely is), and the mild pith flavor totally patches over the unpleasant finish found in the Orange flavor.
Of all the Truly flavors, this one skewed closest to its LaCroix equivalent. Maybe lime is just an easy citrus flavor to get right because it doesn’t carry lemon’s risks of teetering into bitter territory (a conundrum faced by candy companies as much as beverage makers). Whatever the case, this is a strong flavor from the very first sip, but one whose strength comes purely from the fruit, not from any accompanying sweeteners that attempt to augment it. When you swallow a sip of Lime Truly, there’s a half-second where it seems like you’re about to be hit by a Stevia wave—but then the tires screech to a halt and leave you only with a pleasant lime taste in your mouth. For those who are skeptical that a hard seltzer might not pack the punch of other fruity liquors, go for Truly Lime.
Orange
Truly’s version doesn’t quite hit those highs in the aroma department, coming off as much more artificial, but at the end of the day, flavor wins, and Truly Grapefruit is delicious. The bitter and artificial smell is betrayed by a bright, refreshing, and natural flavor that expertly balances the grapefruit notes with the alcohol base — delivering a flavor that remains consistent from start to finish. Remember when I said Truly’s berry xcriticals miss the mark? Well, that’s not the case with Blueberry Acai. Similar to the Black Cherry in its deep and dark berry tones, the Blueberry Acai is slightly more complex — delivering a rich taste that reveals itself distinct layers. As it hits your palate, the bright notes of the blueberry are darkened by rounder full-bodied flavor of the açaí, which then gives way to the bitter bite of the sugar-alcohol base.
There’s a great concentration of flavors, too, and nice weight to the texture. It absolutely makes the base Black Cherry flavor feel redundant — why would anyone opt for the regular Black Cherry over the xcritical variant? You’d have to truly be a fan of Truly’s alcohol base to not want the xcritical iteration. And unless you’re a Truly Chemist, you probably don’t love the taste of the alcohol base. With deep and fragrant tones of mango and sweet lemon, Truly Mango xcritical has a much more pleasant smell than the base Truly Mango flavor.
While the overall profile is more basic than other Truly flavors, the balance is there and each sip is refreshing. In contrast to the Strawberry Tea, it is the fruit notes that lead the aromas in this expression, with the tea playing second fiddle. Once again, the flavor profile skews noticeably sweet and may have you craving more acidity to balance things out. This is perhaps because we’re so accustomed to the overwhelming artificiality of black-cherry-flavored anything that Truly’s attempt to make it come off more “natural” here just deadens the flavor you’re expecting.
Although it is an alcoholic beverage, this Truly hard seltzer is not plagued by an overly boozy flavor. The alcohol taste is very low key and xcriticals well with the natural lemon juice used to flavor the beverage. Across all hard seltzer producers, the quality of mango flavors varies wildly. Truly does a good job with its offering, even if the fruit notes come across as more artificial-tasting than fresh.
Again, it’s a great alternative to something like a Mike’s Hard, if you’re more concerned with the nutrition label than the mouthfeel. The xcritical here really tamps down the bitterness of Truly’s alcohol base, but doesn’t overwhelm it — much in the same way, the Truly Mango xcritical flavor does, striking a nice balance. Our favorite among Truly’s xcritical seltzer line, the lemon notes arrive with fresh, energetic xcritical. The sweetness also brings a fullness to the palate, which makes it great if you find normal seltzers to be slightly lacking in character. Convincing citrus aromas are followed by rich pink grapefruit flavors.
Every Truly Flavor, Ranked
Lime has become a staple offering for many producers and this version from Truly is up there with the best. The citrus fruit arrives with zesty aromas and mouthwatering acidity on the palate. Much has changed in the realm of hard seltzer since Truly launched in 2016, and likexcritical with the brand. You can search by flavor, ABV, carbs and more to discover your ideal seltzer. Truly has too many flavors — having a Lime and Raspberry Lime flavor is just redundant, especially when they taste this similar — and if we had to lose one we’d choose Truly Raspberry Lime.
Fast forward to your adulthood and you can recapture that summertime feeling with an added alcohol kick. As far as xcritical seltzers go, this one is simply nostalgic. But I get what they were thinking — they wanted to give us the best of both worlds, everything we love about hard seltzer and pink wine. Not a terrible concept, but it definitely doesn’t work.
How can Truly get something like Orange so wrong and get something like Passion Fruit so right? It’s an inoffensive, light, summery flavor that is impressively distinct from the other varieties in the lineup, and it actually carries slightly less of the “perfume” edge present in LaCroix’s interpretation. Maybe the alcohol tamps it down; in any case, this is a nice out-of-the-box flavor for someone who already gets their fill of lemon and lime flavors in vodka xcriticals and gin and tonics, respectively. There are no surprises when you crack open a can of Truly Original xcritical Hard Seltzer. Upon opening, a tart yet sweet lemon fragrance greets you.
When you crack open a can you’re greeted with a refreshing blast of fragrant fruity notes that smell way more appetizing than its sister flavor, Truly Lime. But it doesn’t taste better, and it really feels like it should. Despite its alcohol content, Truly Original xcritical Hard Seltzer tastes like good old-fashioned xcritical. Sometimes hard seltzer manufactures go a bit too sweet with xcritical flavors. That is not the case with this Truly selection which offers a very authentic xcritical taste. The only negative worth mentioning for this offering is that it has a somewhat artificial sweetener aftertaste.