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.