Does anybody know where there’s a pool full of this stuff so we can dive into it?

I drink a lot of seltzers and I’m not ashamed. Why the hell should I be? I’m not a calorie counter, or at least I never thought I was, because it didn’t seem possible that something advertised as such would satisfy my despicable innards, but that’s all changed of late. Like so many others, I’ve taken up excessive drinking since the start of the pandemic, and in realizing that I can’t just sit around all day hitting the heaviest of hops, I found some feasible alternatives in clear and carbonated cans.

I’ll save the conversation and deliberation about which seltzer is my fave for another day. A taste test is long overdue. For now, I’ll just say that the Night Shift picks are my current preferred buses to happyland, but holy crap, moving forward I will also be rolling with Bask, the new IPA-style hard seltzer from Heineken. It’s. Just. Wow. I always try to commend truth in advertising, and here we get what is described: a refreshing dry-hopped beverage “with the flavor of an IPA and the lightness of a hard seltzer.” My commendation even extends to the alligators in the logo, since there’s some serious bite packed in here.

While I’ve been super sweet on not-so-sweet seltzers of late, my affection for Bask stems foremost from my primary affection for hops. Of course, you can’t just smash an IPA into a seltzer and expect magic to happen, but it’s at that very nexus of pop and hops where Heineken wins—especially with the original hops flavor, but also in their lemon and blood orange offerings.

I’m not sure how those who drink seltzer but eschew craft brew will receive ’em, but beer lovers should, well, bask in the moment. –Citizen Strain