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I fully anticipate this isn't going to be good. For some reason, the surge line of White Claw hard seltzers has not enamored me with their smooth and enjoyable flavors. I was really surprised with the original White Claws not being horrifically bad. In fact, I can understand the appeal. The surge versions lack most of the redeeming qualities that the originals had to offer in the first place. Bumping up the ABV to 8% appears to have been a pretty terrible mistake from a good beverage standpoint, but I suspect they know more about marketing than I do, so maybe they are selling this rancid rainwater.
Off of that high note, the presentation is just as sedate as all of the other seltzers that I've gotten from White Claw before. This is clear, it has bubbles, and it is indistinguishable from any other seltzer. The aroma is light berries, and I'm not sure that I would have successfully picked these out as blackberries. For some reason, berries tend to blend together as a flavor in my palate. Yes, I can pick out strawberries, but the differentiations between elderberries, blackberries, and several other (including raspberries) is mostly a toss-up.
First sip doesn't appear to be all that bad. Blackberries are enjoying themselves, as they float a top the watery seltzer. The alcohol doesn't seem to be intruding all that much, and that seems to be the problem with the surge brand. If this can hold off the alcohol sufficiently, we may have our first surge winner.
Tip in is a well-balanced blackberry and seltzer. As I said before, White Claw is particularly good at putting in a strong enough flavor to make the seltzer worthwhile, and most of the surges can't do that, but this one starts off correctly. Then, oh yeah the alcohol is not being dealt with in any way for the middle, and it is pretty grating and bad. The finish tries to toss some more blackberries at the relatively nasty flavor that the middle had, but it can only do so much.
Bottom Line: I'm done with surge.
0.75/5
