At least some of the credit goes to comedian Trevor Wallace (of the “Kyle” Monster Energy-chugging viral fame), who released the following YouTube parody on June 25. It’s not a simple task to pinpoint exactly how and when White Claw became a cultural phenomenon.
(A “pure” flavor, likened to a vodka soda, was also available for a limited time in 2019.) In 2020, White Claw released a second variety pack which featured the mango flavor, and three brand new flavors: watermelon, lemon, and tangerine. When the brand first launched, it came in five flavors: black cherry, ruby grapefruit, natural lime, and raspberry, which was sold in a variety pack as well as mango, which was typically sold separately. White Claw (which is owned by Mark Anthony Brands, the same company that makes Mike’s Hard Lemonade) is also generally regarded as one of the better-tasting of the hard seltzers. The Takeout noted that people are using the phrase “White Claw lifestyle” mostly sans irony-and that the brand has transcended its competition by becoming synonymous with hard seltzer, “like Band-Aid stands in for adhesive bandages.” Why White Claw?Īs RuinMyWeek pointed out, White Claw has developed a cultural presence similar to other brands of beverages such as Four Loko and LaCroix. But beyond the phenomenon that was referred to as the “ summer of hard seltzer,” White Claw Hard Seltzer unarguably reigns supreme. Eventually, even big brands such as Bud Light, Coors, and Corona got into the hard seltzer game. It didn’t take long before the market became saturated with competing hard seltzers from brands such as Henry’s, Smirnoff, and even offerings from small craft breweries. Yet, the result yields an alcoholic beverage low in sugar and carbs with a manageable ABV (averaging around five percent) that makes it the ideal, versatile beverage for anything from a day at the beach to a night out on the town. (Or you know, “seltzer.”) Brewed with a cold, natural fermentation process in a similar way to traditional beer, hard seltzers are typically fermented with sugar instead of malted barley. When White Claw hard seltzer broke into the scene in 2016, it joined Bon & Viv’s Spiked Seltzer as a “healthy” low-calorie alternative to boozing that capitalized off of the millennial obsession with non-alcoholic seltzers.