There are more hard seltzer brands today than anybody could have ever imagined, but much respect has to go to Bud Light. The beverage behemoth jumped in early on the hard seltzer craze and has continually pumped out wild flavors since 2020. With everything from retro collections to seasonal variety packs, there are a lot of flavors under Bud’s belt (and psst, they all taste best poured over a glass of crushed ice). So I grabbed every Bud Light seltzer I could — including Bud’s new Apple Slices variety pack — and ranked them, just for you.
Prices and availability are subject to change.
Related: Here’s How Kirkland Hard Seltzer Stacks Up Against White Claw
1. Black Cherry (Classic)
$16 for a 12-pack from Instacart
Black cherry has been a reliable Bud Light seltzer favorite since very early on. While other members of the classic variety pack have come and gone, black cherry has stood the test of time. This is a perfect hard seltzer: not too sweet and incredibly refreshing. It’s really not far off from a Dr. Brown’s black cherry soda. There’s a reason it’s been around this long, and there’s a reason black cherry is sold in its own 12-pack. Bud Light knows what we all know: This is the best flavor.
Related: 20 Cheap Imported Beers Better Than Budweiser
2. Mango (Classic)
$17 for a 12-pack variety pack from Instacart
Mango, like black cherry, has been on the scene since 2020, making it one of Bud’s most tried-and-true flavors. The mango flavor itself is not as artificial as you’d expect, and is just balanced enough to make this a crushable competitor to any 5% beer.
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3. Cherry Cola (Hard Soda)
$16 for a 12-pack variety pack from Instacart
Bud Light has clearly figured out the dark cherry flavor combo. With cherry Cola and black cherry in the top three, the formula is a major winner. This tastes a lot like black cherry, just sweeter and speckled with syrupy soda flavor. Bud Light’s hard sodas taste shockingly non-alcoholic, and that will probably end up being dangerous.
4. Classic Cola (Hard Soda)
$16 for a 12-pack variety pack from Instacart
I’ve tasted this over and over again, and I don’t know what to say. This tastes just like Diet Coke, which is interesting considering there doesn’t appear to be any artificial sweetener in the ingredients. In fact, cane sugar is clearly listed, so I haven’t the faintest clue where the aspartame vibes are coming from. All that is to say, this is among the better hard sodas I’ve tasted. Don’t sleep on it.
5. Tangerine (Classic)
$17 for a 12-pack variety pack from Instacart
There is almost a bitter, peel-like taste going on here, but it really works. Tangerine is just as crushable as the mango flavor, and it’s easy to drink and never overwhelming.
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6. Orange Soda (Hard Soda)
$16 for a 12-pack variety pack from Instacart
There was a time in my life when orange soda was my favorite treat in the world. Then Kel came along and ruined everything by putting orange soda on the map, consequently causing everybody at school to tell me I was only into orange soda because of Kel, but as you can see, I barely ever think about that and am completely over it.
This tastes exactly like orange soda. Kel would love it.
7. Crisp Apple
$16 for a 12-pack variety pack from Instacart
Bud Light Apple Slices is taking a lot of swings in this variety pack, and unsurprisingly, the baseline is the most successful. “Crisp apple” is precisely what this tastes like: sharp at first, with cider-like flavor. The aftertaste isn’t as pleasant as the first half of your sip, but I like this all the same.
8. Twisted Berry (Retro Tie Dye)
$17 for a 12-pack variety pack from Instacart
Bud Light is nimble; every time I think I have it figured out, it zags the opposite direction and leaves me in the dust. I see a flavor like citrus, and I assume that’s the easiest one to nail. Wrong. Then I see a flavor like Twisted Berry, and I assume it’s going to be a dumpster fire. Twisted Berry is all fire and no dumpster, refreshing and not nearly as much like a juice box as you’d expect.
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9. Cranberry Apple
$16 for a 12-pack variety pack from Instacart
I love cranberry juice. What I don’t love is cran-apple juice, and that’s what I’m tasting here. It’s OK, but it could be kicked up many, many notches by ditching the apple altogether. That’s tough in an apple-based variety pack, I know, but still. It seems worth a look.
10. Tropical Punch (Cocktail Hour)
$16 for a 12-pack variety pack from Instacart
It seems to me that Bud Light is going for a tiki bar vibe here, and I am once again surprised to say that this isn’t nearly as sweet as it seems. Tropical Punch is far more reminiscent of a scorpion bowl than you’d expect. Not bad at all.
11. Lime Margarita (Cocktail Hour)
$16 for a 12-pack variety pack from Instacart
Of all the margarita flavored seltzers on the scene today, Bud Light’s is unquestionably the best. While most of them tend to taste like margarita mix, this actually tastes like tequila could have been involved somewhere — almost like, well, an actual cocktail.
12. Cherry Limeade (Retro Tie Dye)
$17 for a 12-pack variety pack from Instacart
Cherry limeade sounds like a flavor nobody needs or asked for, but in typical Bud Light fashion, I am legitimately stunned at how tolerable this is. Based on that wackadoo art all over the can, you’d think this would be nightmare, but it will absolutely do in a pinch. This is the last bastion of tolerable sweetness for me; cherry limeade is right on the line.
13. Strawberry Apple
$16 for a 12-pack variety pack from Instacart
Here’s another not-as-sweet-as-I-expected piece of the Bud Light Apple Slices pack. This has traces of Bud Light’s old strawberry flavor, but it’s dragged down a bit by the apple. How about we bring back that strawberry flavor you once perfected before we get into strawberry apple, eh Bud Light?
14. Watermelon Mojito (Cocktail Hour)
$16 for a 12-pack variety pack from Instacart
Predictably, the watermelon flavor comes bursting at you like the aftermath of a broken dam, but there’s the sharp, unmistakable flavor of mint to round it out at the end. It even tastes, dare I say… fresh. Regrettably, it’s still a bit too sweet for me to consider finishing an entire can.
15. Wild Berry (Platinum)
$11 for a six-pack variety pack from Instacart
The concept of domestic beer company making fruit-flavored 8% hard seltzers called “Platinum” is hysterical to me. The branding could not be more over the top. While Wild erry will never find itself in the Top 10, it’s about a trillion times more drinkable than the other two flavors in the Platinum line.
16. Strawberry Daiquiri (Cocktail Hour)
$16 for a 12-pack variety pack from Instacart
This one played on my nostalgia, as Bud Light used to make a strawberry flavor that I loved. There are traces of that old strawberry flavor here in the strawberry daiquiri, but this is just way too sweet to finish.
17. Watermelon (Classic)
$17 for a 12-pack variety pack from Instacart
This is like a trick. At first, there’s some nice, Jolly Rancher-esque watermelon, but it quickly morphs into a flavor that I can’t describe. Unlike the rest of the classic flavors, this one cannot overcome that dastardly aftertaste.
18. Citrus Soda (Hard Soda)
$16 for a 12-pack variety pack from Instacart
Based on the success of the other flavors in the Hard Soda collection, this should have been a walk in the park. Unfortunately, this is less of a walk in the park and more of a drown in the lake, with a syrupy sweet citrus flavor that somehow tastes more like margarita mix than the actual margarita flavor. Bud Light seems committed to keeping one stinker in every collection, and in this case, it’s citrus soda.
19. Peach Mango Apple
$16 for a 12-pack variety pack from Instacart
This is the type of thing I fully brace myself for when I take a sip of a new Bud Light seltzer flavor, but I was pleasantly surprised here. Peach and mango are equally present, but this flavor is just way too sweet for me to possibly get through.
20. Blue Raspberry (Retro Tie Dye)
$17 for a 12-pack variety pack from Instacart
Ah, blue raspberry. A flavor I’ve been surrounded by my entire life, but have never really understood. Is it blackberry? Is it blueberry? Is it just raspberry with blue food coloring? Whatever it is, it doesn’t work for a seltzer.
21. Citrus (Platinum)
$11 for a six-pack variety pack from Instacart
Yikes. I’m not trying to hurt anybody’s feelings over there at the ivory Bud Light tower, but these Platinums are rough. They’re bitter, incredibly strong, and thick (each is made with agave). I was relieved that it didn’t burn a hole through my floor when I spilled some; you’d have to pay me quite a bit of money to finish one of these.
22. Blood Orange (Platinum)
$11 for a six-pack variety pack from Instacart
I’m trying desperately to think of a flavor to compare this to, but nothing comes to mind. Maybe acid rain.
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