We taste-tested hard seltzers from 9 popular brands and ranked them from worst to best

Crook & Marker was a confounding one for the group. There was an audible gasp when one colleague discovered that rather than being clear like its peers, this drink was pink. Others were stuck on the word "quinoa" written in large block lettering on the can. What was this drink trying to be?

"I was SHOOK by CROOK. Why is it colored? I mean, good for them," wrote one especially befuddled taster.

"Strong flavor but not in a good way! Also, not really seltzer?" another wrote.

Upon further investigation, I discovered the reason for the difference is that Crook & Marker uses an alcoholic base made from non-traditional grains that include amaranth, millet, cassava root, and yes, quinoa.

Interesting? Perhaps. Tasty? No. The general consensus was that it tasted overly syrupy, despite boasting zero grams of sugar and using natural sweeteners.

I had high hopes for Polar Arctic Summer, given that it's the only drink on this list that's actually produced by a seltzer water company.

However, Polar ended up being particularly deceiving — most of us enjoyed the first sip, but once that second swig hit the tongue we quickly discovered it had a pretty unpleasant aftertaste.

"Pass," wrote one colleague. "I don't know her," wrote another.

Despite being among the most popular brands of hard seltzer, the Business Insider team was largely ambivalent about Truly. Among the flavors we tested, lime was a particular favorite, but the general consensus was: "It's fine, but we like White Claw better."

Others mentioned it had a strange, sour aftertaste.

The group felt similarly vague in its feelings toward Bon & Viv. General thoughts were that it's fine, but nothing really to phone home about. One person noted it was "clean and fresh" while another said it had a "strange aftertaste."

"Fine, but I'd swap for a beer after my first can," wrote one taster.

"Very light flavor. Not sure I would choose it over anything else," wrote another.

An ongoing theme we found across the seltzers was it's hard to escape the tinny, metallic taste that often comes from aluminum cans. Henry's was no exception. Though we found it to be generally pleasant, it still left a bit of a bitter taste in our mouths, which as a result prevented it from standing out from the pack.

"Very mediocre, I wasn't blown away," wrote one taster.

Of all the hard seltzers, the group was the most vocal about Wild Basin. Though the only thing we agreed on was it had the best can design, it still ranked highly for its ability to spark such impassioned opinions.

Wild Basin sets itself apart from the rest for its especially unique flavors — it comes in cucumber peach, lemon agave hibiscus, melon basil, and classic lime — which was intriguing for some tasters and unpleasant for others. One likened it to tropical Starbursts, though said he wasn't sure he loved that. Another described the taste as "almost medicinal."

Meanwhile, more than one person described this drink as a "journey," and a couple of my colleagues walked away newly minted fans of Wild Basin.

"Really refreshing," wrote one taster. "It masked the alcohol best in my opinion, and it had unique, more sophisticated flavors. I'm buying a box for myself after trying this one."

Smirnoff Seltzer quickly became a fan favorite in the room. Though we were somewhat tentative to pop open these extremely pink, very stylized cans, nearly all of us felt positively about the taste. We especially loved the raspberry rosé flavor.

"Really good, it was kind of like Smirnoff Ice without the sugary flavors," wrote one taster.

"AMAZING. IT IS FLAVORFUL," shouted another.

Looks like the reigning leader of hard seltzer isn't leaving its throne anytime soon. We loved White Claw. On our very official taste testing form, it received a 100% 5-rating on a 1-5 scale of "terrible to awesome."

Though about half of the taste testers were already White Claw enthusiasts, the rest of the group became quick converts of the drink, which one colleague described as "kind of like LaCroix, but better."

"Much better than I expected! Crushable, chuggable, just perfect to drink and not overthink," another colleague wrote.

"Better than actual seltzer, love the real fruit taste," said another.

Long live the summer of White Claw.