The original flavor of HOP WTR also includes a very fun blend of hops, including Citra, Amarillo, Mosaic and Azacca. Nootropics, molecules that are thought to improve brain function, are provided via L-Theanine. The adaptogens in HOP WTR come from ashwaganda, a supplemental herb often taken to reduce stress. More research in order? HOP WTR comes in several flavors, including original, peach, mango, lime and more. The box also claims that hops are naturally calming, which I haven’t heard before. The addition of adaptogens and nootropics intrigued me.

I have to admit, I hadn’t even heard of HOP WTR when I stumbled on it on a shelf in the natural and organic section of Festival Foods. They also offer a subscription service and a monthly tasting club. The Hoplark website also says that their entire product line is available at Whole Foods. While I haven’t found these in my area, they are available for order online. Hoplark Water appears to simply be carbonated hop-infused water. They’re definitely on the hoppier end of the spectrum in comparison to the rest of the hop waters on this list. I find that sips of 0.0 Citra alternate between citrusy and bitter. This double dry-hopped sparkling water comes in two standard varieties-Citra (yellow can) and Really Really Hoppy (orange can), which features Citra and Simcoe hops. The first is the 0.0 collection, which is available in many grocery stores. While most of their products are technically considered hop tea instead of hop water, they do have two distinct lines of products that don’t contain tea at all (and are thus caffeine-free).

Hoplark seems to continually innovate and experiment with different hop varieties and pairings with tea and other flavors. Would not the same happen to hop water in a clear bottle? Perhaps an experiment is in order. Packaging beer in brown glass or cans prevents this from happening. Hops are the reason that beer “skunks” when exposed to sunlight. They’re delicious but more like extra-flavorful LaCroix than hop water. The new additional flavors that come in cans-berry lemon and blood orange-don’t really taste like hops at all. The taste, however, is just as crisp and refreshing, if not slightly less hoppy than it used to be. It now comes in 12 ounce cans in addition to the clear bottles, and the beverage inside is also crystal clear. The first six pack of Hoppy Refresher I bought a few months ago contained slightly greenish-yellow liquid in clear bottles. Hoppy Refresher very recently got a branding overhaul, and Lagunitas has introduced two new flavors. It didn’t take long to stumble on Lagunitas Hoppy Refresher, which has actually been around since early 2019. Lagunitas Hoppy Refresher-The OGĪfter realizing that Fair State’s hop water wasn’t available in my area yet, I embarked on a mission to find something similar. It poured bright green and was insanely hop-forward. Yakima Chief Hop’s pilot brewery also provided a hop water option on tap during the seminar, featuring their CryoPOP! blend. It tastes like a light, unsweetened version of lemon lime soda with just a touch of that hoppy bitterness to balance out the tart citrus flavor. My favorite of the bunch is the green one. Oddly enough, not even beer industry professionals can drink hop-heavy IPAs all day and stay awake and alert during a two-day technical seminar on hops! Every time they cracked open a new case of Fair State’s hop water, it disappeared almost immediately. Hops & Brew School features an open beer bar all. Fair State Co-op sent several cases of their new hop water in three different varieties-green (Citra and Mosaic), orange (Citra and Galaxy) and blue (Citra and Centennial) for attendees to sample. Hop water bubbled up again at Yakima Chief‘s Hops & Brew School last September. I later cracked it open and was intrigued by the refreshing combination of bubbles, green tea and tropical fruity hops. (Isn’t it amazing that our phones keep track of so much data when we take pictures? What a time to be alive!) A sleek-looking can of Hoplark Sparkling Green Tea with Mosaic hops on an endcap in the grocery section caught my attention. I first noticed hops being used in beverages other than beer on a Target run in fall of 2021. Hop water, which is essentially dry-hopped carbonated water, provides that crisp punch of Lupulin flavor we love in IPAs without the carbs and alcohol-making it suitable to drink anytime, anywhere. Hop Water is sliding into a go-to position for many beer enthusiasts. As the weather in some parts of the country is warming up, a bubbly, refreshing NA beverage is riding the shirttails of Dry January.

Hop sparkling water