Corona officially released their hard seltzer last week with a heavy marketing push even though the coronavirus threatens to push back on their brand a bit. And since we’re all about the hard seltzers here at Antifoodie, I decided to pick up a case and give them a try to see how they compared to other popular seltzers on the market.
I even went as far as to do videos of my first sips with all the flavor, and put together a review/reaction video for the YouTube channel that you can check out if you’re not up for reading about my thoughts here.
Corona Hard Seltzer Taste – First Impressions
Since I started putting out YouTube videos on the Antifoodie YouTube channel, I wanted to make sure that I recorded my first sips of all four flavors of the Corona Seltzer to ensure that I was giving a proper first reaction. However, seeing as how I usually make the videos during my lunch, or at night after the kids go to sleep, I didn’t really want to open up cans of all four flavors in order to make the video… nobody wants to waste alcohol. So instead, I decided to do three of the flavors “first impressions” on the Antifoodie Instagram story (and saved to the highlights), so you can check out those videos if you want to see my first impressions of the Cherry, Blackberry Lime, and Mango flavors.
If you want to see my first impression of the Tropical Lime, as well as my overall review video, you can check out the YouTube channel (or the video embedded below).
That being said, let’s talk about how they taste on their own before we compare them to White Claw.
First off, they aren’t bad. They are very light and very refreshing. Each can is only 90 calories and has 0 grams of sugar and carbs, which is less than the other leading brands. Those other popular brands like White Claw and Truly have 1-2 grams of sugar in their beverages. But in my case, that doesn’t really matter. Calorie counts and sugar content are not what I’m concerned about in my life right now. I’m actually trying to gain weight, not lose it, but I know those numbers are important to a lot of people, so I just wanted you to be aware of them.
In regards to alcohol content, the Corona Seltzers come in at 4.5% alcohol.
Now, regarding the flavors, they were all fairly decent. My only problem with them is they aren’t super flavorful. It reminded me a lot more of LaCroix than anything. There’s not really any sort of alcohol taste, which is nice, but there’s really only a slight hint of flavor within the cans. Even the mango flavor was weak, when most other brands mango flavor is super overpowering.
I will say that the Blackberry Lime and the Tropical Lime flavors were probably my favorite. I still prefer the Black Cherry flavors the other brands have over this normal Cherry flavor, and the mango was just alright.
That being said, let’s talk about how they stack up against the market leader – White Claw.
Corona Hard Seltzer vs. White Claw
I’m sorry Corona, but White Claw still reigns supreme in the world of hard seltzers… at least in my eyes.
As I mentioned above, the flavors of the Corona Seltzers was pretty weak. The drinks just taste like seltzer water with a very slight hint of flavor. I feel like the little bit of added sugar to the White Claw (2g) gives the flavors a little extra boost that the Corona Seltzer doesn’t have. I don’t think anyone is really going to throw a fit of 2 grams of sugar and 10 calories, so I think White Claw has the edge here still.
I did like the fact that Corona went a different route with their flavors and didn’t stick to the normal Black Cherry that everyone else has, so the Cherry flavor is a night little change. It’s still a very similar taste, but you can tell that it’s straight up Cherry flavor and not Black Cherry. And the Blackberry Lime is a nice little twist on the traditional lime flavor, which has quickly become my favorite flavor of hard seltzers. So that’s a plus.
Overall though I’m a bit disappointed in Corona. I thought they could see what White Claw was doing well and were going to come out of the gate swinging, but instead they came up with a soft bunch to the shoulder. The drinks are still tasty, don’t get me wrong, if they were the only thing in a cooler aside from beer, I would absolutely drink them, but there are lots of different hard seltzer options out there that are more flavorful that I would choose ahead of the Corona ones. Hell, even the Natty Light flavors pack more of a punch than the Corona ones… those things are delicious… don’t sleep on the Natty Light Seltzers.
So that’s about all I have to say about the Corona Hard Seltzers. They aren’t bad at all, I just don’t think they stack up to the other brands that have been dominating the market for the past year.
Are they worth a try? Absolutely, you may find that you like the toned down flavor a bit more than some of the other ones. Maybe you can drink more of them over the course of a day drinking session because they aren’t so sweet. Either way, I’m sure Corona will do ok in this space and I’m sure a lot of people will buy into the hype and try them out just to see how they compare. But I think most people are going to revert back to what they know is good in White Claw.
Let us know if you’ve tried the Corona Seltzers in the comments and let us know what you thought.
Also, we’ll be doing lots more hard seltzer reviews and random food reviews on the Antifoodie YouTube channel, so please subscribe if you haven’t already!
And if you want to see what other hard seltzers we’ve put up against White Claw, check out our Hard Seltzer Blind Taste Test article.
Update 3/17/20: We finally got a chance to try out White Claw’s Flavor Collection 2!
Don’t forget to grab one of the new Slim 12 oz. Yeti’s to help keep your hard seltzer cool this summer!
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hated Corona
I’m a big fan of White Claw
and I enjoy Truly, as well…in fact, all of them are good…EXCEPT CORONA!
It’s definitely the worst out of White Claw, Truly, and Bud Light, that’s for sure… although I taste tested Four Loko’s hard seltzer yesterday on the YouTube channel and it was absolutely disgusting. I’m not sure how they can even call that a hard seltzer. But yeah, the Corona ones don’t have much flavor… just tastes like seltzer water.
Just grateful for a true zero carb seltzer. When you drink more than you should, all those 2 carbs per can add up real quick. I’ll stick with Corona. None of them taste good enough to sacrifice the carbs.
And I think that’s exactly what Corona was going for. It’s not the worst tasting hard seltzer I’ve ever had, that’s for sure, but I’m not really in a position where I need to watch my carbs (fortunately), so I’m just looking for quality taste, and I feel that White Claw still ranks higher.
My wife does like the Corona ones though, so I hope they survive through this whole coronavirus stuff… I know there are some idiots out there that are avoiding corona beer and stuff because they think it’s somehow related to the virus, and corona shut down their beer plants for the time being, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
Hope you’re staying healthy! Thanks for the comment.
I disagree, I like Corona the best for the reasons you don’t, they are lighter and the flavor is not as bold, White Claw is my 2nd favorite but has an artificial taste which is what I do not like about the spiked seltzers. I am a wine and scotch drinker and a huge fan of unflavored non spiked seltzer so was looking for an alternative alcoholic beverage and spiked seltzer seemed the obvious choice. I tried the unflavored White Claw thinking that would be just right but it still has a real artificial taste to me that I do not care for. Corona is the preferred spiked seltzer choice for me.
Thanks for the comment. Obviously everyone has their own opinion, so I’m glad you found a hard seltzer that you like. Of course, based on this review, I like the sweetness and the more flavorful versions of the hard seltzer as opposed to the lighter ones, which makes sense because I really don’t like drinks like LaCroix and Bubly. I have not had the unflavored White Claws, but those do not sound good at all haha.
I love hard seltzer but absolutely HATE anything malty. To me, the corona had a malty flavor like other flavored malt beverages. I just can’t get past it.
I feel like all of the hard seltzers have a little bit of an “off” taste to them… probably due to whatever they using for flavoring (or I guess it could be the alcohol process). I still enjoy them, but I definitely see why some people don’t. I had the Truly Lemonade flavors over the weekend (review coming soon) and those were pretty good… lots of flavor there.
To me the corona hard seltzer tastes like a corona beer with a hint of flavoring. The lime one though actually tastes pretty good but still like beer. Also it has the same % as a corona beer, 4.5%. Do you think they may have just tricked us and we are actually just drinking corona beer in a can?
White Claw is way better. Now I have 12 Coronas to drink. Oh well.
I prefer the more subtle taste of Corona over Claw. I also don’t have a hangover from Corona.
No hangover is an absolute plus!
I’ve tried White Claw, Truly, and Corona hard seltzer….out of the three White Claw is the best, Truly not far behind… The Corona leaves an aftertaste that reminds me of cough medicine..
Won’t be purchasing that one again…
have you tried the Vizzy Hard Seltzers? I thought those were pretty good, better than Corona for sure. Even the Bud Light Seltzers are better than the Corona ones.
I bought the variety pack yesterday. Let me tell you this was horrible! I would love to have a refund if they would… They had zero flavor! What is so bad there is no option to buy just one or two you have to buy the whole case. What a rip off!!
Yup, it’s not very good. And you’re right, at least some of the other brands have like 16 oz single cans you can buy, so at least if you don’t like it you’re not spending money on an entire variety pack.
Absolutely terrible. They taste just like cough syrup. I don’t know how anyone can drink them.
I’m a diabetic and adding a little sugar is a deal breaker for me. I look for zero sugar. I also look for drinks with low alcohol percent so I can drink more then 1 or 2 without being wasted. Truly is soooo sweet I can’t, and shouldn’t drink them. White claw is also very sweet for someone eating no sugar and in my opinion has abad after taste. I’ve never tried Bud or Coors. Jose Cuervo playa mar lime is also amazing but with tequila not vodka or whatever is used in Corona. Its great we have so many choices to choose from! I will stay with the low/no sugar selzers like Corona and Jose Cuervo.
Yeah, the Truly Lemonade is way too sweet for sure, but I’m glad there is a variety of options out there for you. They all seem to have the same alcohol content (about 5%, same as most beers), so it may be hard to find one with less. And as far as the Corona ones, and all these other hard seltzers, none of them are mixed with hard alcohol. It’s a common misconception that these types of hard seltzers are just flavored seltzer water mixed with hard alcohol, but the alcohol is actual derived from the fermentation of the sugars in the drink. There are some brands out there with actual mixed drinks in a can though, like High Noon has a variety of flavored vodka seltzer drinks, which is different than the White Claws, Coronas, Bud Seltzers, and Truly. But some of those mixed seltzer drinks are delicious as well, and may have less sugar for you. If you find one you really like, let us know!!
I LOVE CORONAS!!! The others are tooo sweet!!!