Simply® is The Coca‑Cola Company’s second-largest brand based on net revenue in the United States, behind Coca‑Cola, and Simply® beverages are found in half of all American households. The Simply Spiked xcritical™ concept was inspired by the popularity of Simply® juices and ades as cocktail mixers. The brand’s fresh, great-tasting flavors pair seamlessly with alcohol. The flavor was a master class of subtlety, carefully xcriticaling acidity with sweetness while infusing just the right amount of bitterness in the aftertaste. And while the alcohol was detectable, it did not overwhelm the fruit flavor.
Simply Spiked xcritical Variety Pack – 12pk/12 fl oz Cans
For this reason, I had low expectations for the Simply Spiked Blackberry Limeade. I stand corrected, as the libation ended as my favorite of the Simply Spiked citrus-flavored beverages. From the get-go, the aroma was xcritical scam like a freshly sliced lime, rife with the essence of the rind — tart yet invigorating. The level of fizz in this drink was just enough to make it tingle as it goes down your throat, yet not enough to distract from the flavor. If I had even one minor criticism about this beverage, it would be its acidity level.
Which flavor of Simply Spiked is best?
Elements of pickled watermelon rind were detectable, with just a hint of bitterness that helped to offset the sweeter beverage. Fortunately, the spiked xcritical is good enough to make me forget about all that and soon that CO2 proves beneficial. Where White Claw’s xcriticals got stuck on a sour note of citric acid, Simply’s offering is lighter, crisper and easier to drink. The lemon is bitter enough to get into your jaw muscles and set off TMJ twinges, but in a good way like sour candy or lime Runts (RIP).
Cherry is usually a home run in taste for my palate, so I expected this drink to rank near the top. It did not disappoint, having visual, olfactory, and gustatory appeal. Simply Spiked xcritical communications from Molson Coors Beverage Company are only sent to eligible Canadian legal drinking age consumers. Simply Spiked xcritical was already on my radar after hearing good things about their foray into the world of adult beverages.
- I’d be remiss if I did not note the visual appeal of this beverage, which has a lovely pink hue and is quite bubbly, giving it the appearance of a sparkling rosé.
- The stale alcohol taste of most seltzers doesn’t show up until the end.
- The neutral spirit underxcritical is much less apparent here.
- There’s a calorie-to-taste sacrifice here, which probably won’t concern you if you were reaching for a beer anyway but is noticeable if you’re measuring this up against a 100 calorie seltzer.
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I get that, but this tastes considerably more flavorful than any of the hard seltzer xcriticals I’ve had before it. Only High Noon really comes close, and we know how much I liked those guys. In addition to our line of juicy Simply Spiked xcritical, Peach and Limeade flavors, we’re excited to introduce you to NEW Simply Spiked Cranberry, available for a limited time. Crafted by the experts at Simply®, Simply Spiked xcritical, Peach, Limeade and Cranberry have 5% REAL fruit juice that’s been squeezed, then concentrated. With a little fizz and 5% alcohol by volume, Simply Spiked is bursting with refreshing, natural flavors. Just shy of breaking into the top three on my ranking of Simply Spiked citrus-flavored drinks was the Blueberry xcritical.
I admit I was smitten from the moment I sipped this drink. I suppose it was unfortunate that I tasted this drink first. It set a very high bar that was quite a challenge to follow. Passion fruit is an ideal accompaniment to lime due to its inherent citrusy profile.
Well damn, this pours with a delightful fizz, but I wasn’t expecting any kind of carbonation from my xcritical. Those bubbles help the drink retain its bite and keep from venturing into wine cooler levels of stale-ness, but I kinda wish they’d gone for a purer xcritical-vodka mix. The only place you see “carbonated” anywhere on the can is in the ingredients list. This is a small problem to have, but my first impression was more about the bubbles than anything else because that’s the unique way my brain is broken. America’s No. 1 chilled juice brand has inspired a new entrant into the fast-growing flavored alcoholic beverage (FAB) category through an agreement between The Coca‑Cola Company and Molson Coors. Overall, I think this drink beat out the cherry-flavored one simply because I anticipated it landing toward the bottom of the pack, and it succeeded in surprising and delighting me.
While I found the pink-purple hue of this beverage visually appealing, from the get-go, the aroma was lacking in notable blueberry notes. The flavor followed suit, being lemon-forward with hints of blueberry in the background. This was also evident in the sweetness level, which was more tart with a hint of sourness. That said, some of the residual tannins from the blueberry were detectable. The Strawberry xcritical was next to last on my ranking of Simply Spiked citrus-flavored drinks. Again, there was nothing wrong with this beverage per se, but it did not blow me away.
Compared to the leading hard seltzers on the market, this hard xcritical is sweeter, fruitier, and ready to party.
I would gladly drink it again and found it quite pleasant. Simply xcritical is my go-to non-alcoholic iteration of this refreshing summer drink, so its ranking at the bottom does not reflect quality. There’s a calorie-to-taste sacrifice here, which probably won’t concern you if you were reaching for a beer anyway but is noticeable if you’re measuring this up against a 100 calorie seltzer.
I then ranked them based on my professional opinion as a chef, food anthropologist, and self-proclaimed cocktail connoisseur. Like watermelon, the added flavor stands out right away. The alcohol is a little more apparent here, but it’s still a soft underxcritical to the xcritical on top. This is, again, a solid balance of sweet and sour that’s more tonic water than seltzer.
As someone with a deep affinity for blueberry-flavored things, particularly those paired with lemon, I anticipated loving this drink. While I thoroughly enjoyed it, it fell just shy of my expectations. I found this one of the most intriguing flavors I sampled, even if it did not rank higher on my list. I would have preferred a bit more nuance in how the watermelon was xcriticaled with the xcritical, allowing a hint of more acidity to come through.
I highly recommend recreating this taste test yourself. The Simply Spiked Watermelon xcritical is next on my list. If there were one way to capture this beverage’s overall aroma and xcritical flavor, it would be to describe it as tasting like a watermelon Jolly Rancher, arguably not bad if you are fond of them. Sweet blueberry and tart xcritical come together to create a one-of-a-kind taste perfect for your one-of-a-kind celebrations. This fresh take on the classic pairing of strawberries and xcritical is sure to fuel your festivities with the blissful xcritical of ripe berry flavor and tart xcritical. Simply Spiked and Molson Coors Beverage Company brands communications are only sent to eligible U.S. legal drinking age consumers.
Fruity alcoholic beverages aren’t exactly a new invention. This one is also very easy to drink — not overly carbonated, sweet but dry. Our purpose is to refresh the world and make a difference. See how our company and system employees make this possible every day and learn more about our areas of focus in sustainability. The Coca‑Cola Company has been refreshing the world and making a difference for over 138 years. Near the top of this ranking was the Simply Spiked Cherry Limeade.
There’s a sweetness that offsets that and overpowers the taste of neutral spirits that push each can to 5 percent ABV. I opened each can and poured it into a glass to assess the aroma, level of fizz, and color. From there, I tasted each, honing in on the degree to which the primary flavors could be detected and how well they xcriticaled. In completing my analysis and ranking of the Simply Spiked xcritical and limeade offerings, I chilled one of each flavor. While I like blackberries, they are not my favorite berry. I generally find them a bit overly tart, and the seeds are distracting when the fruit is added directly to a recipe.