Hoplark

Hoplark Water is the latest line extension from Hoplark, a Boulder, Colorado-based company that has made a name for itself selling hop-infused sparkling teas. Now, the company is expanding beyond teas with the launch of Hoplark Water, a new line of hop-infused seltzers.

Rather than following the standard sparkling water playbook of using fruit flavors, Hoplark has opted to flavor each SKU with a single variety of hops and to provide a description of their flavor notes. Otherwise, these products are zero calorie, unsweetened, and, unlike many of their tea-based products, caffeine free. 

The line is debuting in three initial SKUs including Sabro Hops, Mosaic Hops and Citra Hops. The latter two should be familiar to anyone who is familiar with IPA beers. Sabro, which is a newer and lesser known hop variety, has a tropical fruit aroma and flavor notes. And for the Mosaic and Citra varieties, you’ve got flavors that are true to form: complex berry and light pine notes of mosaic hops and the intense citrus flavor of citra hops. 

Hoplark has done a superb job of creating products that taste pure and balanced with just the right amount of hops. They provide a flavor profile that’s similar to a hoppy beer, but with a much lighter body and without the malt flavor and the sometimes sweet finish associated with hoppier IPAs. They are loaded with flavor, have just the right amount of bitterness, and are absolutely crushable. 

Compared with the flagship HopTea lineup, these products are definitely less complex in flavor. If we were to make a beer analogy, Hoplark Water is like the session beer whereas HopTea are the double IPAs of the bunch. That’s okay by us -- and it seems like Hoplark Water is a nice on ramp for the brand. 

On the outside, Hoplark Water follows in the footsteps of some of HopTea’s more recent SKUs. It features a brighter and more colorful palette than HopTea’s first offerings and looks a bit less beer-like. The can, which uses a pressure sensitive label, has exposed parts of the bare aluminum at the top and bottom while the label has a top portion that features an accent color loosely tied to the flavor of the hop, and a lower portion that’s white. 

The logo, which sits at the top of the label, calls attention to the words “HOP” and “WATER” with “LARK” placed in smaller text next to the word. This made us read “hopwater” rather than Hoplark Water, which we see as a potential point of confusion. 

Otherwise, we think they’ve done a nice job of explaining what the product is. “Craft brewed water” is a nice way to connect it back to the beer category and we think it would be pretty darn hard not to figure out that this is a hop flavored beverage.

The remaining visual element is an illustrated image of a bird (a lark, of course) that is in a different action position on each flavor -- either skateboarding, snorkeling, or peering through a spyglass. It’s nicely executed and adds a playful and inviting element to the mix and says that this is a polished product that doesn’t take itself too seriously. From our perspective, it’s spot-on for what Hoplark is trying to be, we think. 

Overall, we really like Hoplark’s extension into a pure sparkling water format. They’ve done a truly excellent job executing this product and it feels like something that does, thanks to the exclusion of tea and caffeine, have the potential to take the brand to some new consumers. 

The Citra Bomb One is Hoplark HopTea’s first flavor that’s being released as part of the brand’s new membership program, which offers subscribers an exclusive flavor every month. This variety, which is their member offering for May 2020, uses a white tea base and carbonated water and is double dry hopped with citra hops.

In the craft beer world, citra hops have been a key part of the hazy IPA craze as their fruit-forward flavor and light bitterness is a proven palate pleaser. 

Fortunately, this flavor profile translates really well into HopTea. The base of sparkling water and white tea is light in body and provides a subtle backdrop for the bright flavor of citra. There’s only minimal bitterness to it, which is definitely a plus, and it’s ultimately a very nice expression of the natural flavor of citra hops. 

What we like the most about this product is that it is effectively a beer alternative without being directly positioned as one. The hop notes are almost identical to what you’d find in an IPA, with the key difference being the lack of yeast and malt and the alcohol and calories that come with it.

Instead, this product is zero calorie, has 60mg of caffeine (from the white tea), and is absolutely crushable. You won’t be quite sure whether this should be a replacement for your flavored sparkling water or beer, but, either way, we think it’s a top notch product and quite possibly the best tasting flavor of the HopTea line.

On the outside, this product has, in comparison to the core HopTea flavors, a relatively plain looking dark grey label that lacks the patterned backdrop found on the others. It’s a fine approach for a limited run product, but it’s not their prettiest looking can they’ve produced. However, we do like that this label is less cluttered in terms of its callouts and overall volume of label copy -- it’s simple, clean and intuitive.

In the end, Hoplark has done a superb job with its initial member release, which is going to be a tough act for subsequent limited edition flavors to follow.

HopTea, winner of New Beverage Showdown 16 at BevNET Live Winter 2018, is a line of zero calorie non-alcoholic hop-infused “tea” drinks that feature hops as the primary flavor ingredient.

The line has launched in five varieties: Original One, Really Hoppy One, White Tea One, Green Tea One, and Calm One. Each flavor is made carbonated water, hops and tea. The specific hops and teas used varies across the five SKUs.

Speaking of taste, what HopTea has created is really quite interesting. With zero calories, plenty of hop flavor, and the use of a 16 oz can that is very much a staple of craft beer, HopTea sits somewhere in between sparkling water, non-alcoholic beer, and a tea drink.

The product shares attributes of all three types of drinks; it has the hoppy aroma and flavor notes of an IPA, a zero calorie unsweetened formulation that seems like something out of the sparkling water category, and a pleasant note of tea -- either black, white, green, or chamomile. HopTea has done a really nice job of pairing the right hop with the right type of tea; They all taste quite good and work quite well without any added sweetener.

On the packaging and branding front, HopTea looks as though most of its inspiration came from the beer category-- not that there’s anything wrong with that. This starts with the previously mentioned 16 oz. can, which they’ve decorated with a paper label that’s wrapped around the center of the can. It’s an approach that’s reminiscent of tactics used by small breweries or for limited release beers. Plus, there’s the heavy emphasis on the word “hops,” which, again, is a word that’s associated with beer. It has a strong “craft” vibe to it, which seems like a fine approach.

However, we do have a couple of suggestions for how this product could be improved.

First, we feel as though the branding is a bit too plain and matter of fact. It feels like a descriptor of the product as opposed to an ownable brand name. To address this, we’d like to see the branding of the HopTea logo become more stylized or for the name of the brand to evolve. Also on that front, we think that the integration of the tea (currently placed vertically on the lower portion of the can) could be improved upon so that it’s more intuitive.

Second, we feel a 16 oz. can is too big, aside from in situations where this product is truly being used as a beer alternative. For the rest of the time, e.g. when it’s being consumed as a sparkling water or tea, we’d prefer a 12 or even an 8 oz can. It otherwise feels like a lot to get through, especially considering it isn’t resealable.

Overall, HopTea is an interesting and, for the most part, well-executed product that offers an innovative approach to zero-calorie sparkling beverages. There’s still some work to do in terms of the branding and positioning, but there’s plenty here to pique the interest of the industry and consumers alike.