I Tried New Landshark Vodka Seltzer and Now I Have Summer on the Brain

Landshark is one of those beer brands that leans hard into the whole beachy, Jimmy Buffett, “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” vibe and, if I’m being totally honest, it really resonates with me. I grew up in Florida (for the most part) and I was in my beer-drinking early 20s when Landshark launched as the official beer of Buffett’s Margaritaville restaurants (and it just so happened to be brewed in Jacksonville, where I lived at the time). Anyway, the weather is warming up. The smell of shrimp beginning to boil is wafting through the air. And Landshark is gearing up for beach season with a new line of ready-to-drink vodka seltzers in four flavors. I put on a pair of blown-out flip-flops and tried all four flavors to find out whether these should be in your boat’s cooler this summer.

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Landshark Vodka Seltzer

Landshark

Pros: I’m glad Landshark went with a vodka seltzer concept rather than a hard seltzer. Canned RTDs made with vodka—and these do claim to be made with real vodka—taste way better, in my opinion, than their malt bev counterparts. They have a certain crispness and a little bit of bitterness on the finish, which makes them taste more like cocktails than your average White Claw or Truly. We tried these in all four flavors that come in the variety pack: Lime, Mango, Pineapple, and Fruit Punch. Lime and Fruit Punch outshine the other flavors; the Fruit Punch in particular isn’t something many other brands are doing, so a little differentiation in a crowded market is nice. Even though I thought the Pineapple and Mango were just okay, they’re totally drinkable. A big pro is that all four flavors come in individual flavor 4-packs, so you can curate cooler instead of just going with the variety pack.

Cons: Like I said, the Pineapple and Mango seltzers didn’t really do all that much for us, but they’re not bad by any means. They’re lightly fizzy, very refreshing, and all the flavors have that bitterness on the finish that reminds you you’re drinking vodka. Big con, though: At the moment, these are only available in Texas and Florida. Parrotheads in the other 48 states will have to wait.

Rating:

9/10

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About the Author

Howdy! I’m Gwynedd, Sporked’s managing editor. I live in Los Angeles and have access to the best tacos the U.S. has to offer—but I’m a sucker for a crunchy Old El Paso taco night every now and then. I’ve been at Sporked since 2022 and I’m still searching frozen mozzarella sticks that can hold a candle to restaurant sticks. Why you should trust me: I’ve been a journalist for 20 years (yikes), a consumer of food for 40-plus years, and I’m truly hard pressed to think of foods I don’t like (or that I can’t tolerate at the very least). Oh and one time I cooked my way through Guy Fieri’s cookbook and wrote about the journey through Flavortown. What I buy every week: Trader Joe’s Original Savory Thins. Fat free plain yogurt (usually Fage or Nancy’s). Honeycrisp apples. Sweet cream coffee creamer for my at-home Americanos. A frozen cauliflower crust pizza and some jarred mushrooms to top it with. Old El Paso Stand ‘N Stuff taco shells and Gardein Ground Be’f, even though I think “be’f” is a nightmarish contraction. Favorite ranking: Stouffer’s frozen dinners. I don’t own a microwave (I get my cancers the old fashioned way!), so I love taste testing things that I don’t really buy to eat at home. Least favorite ranking: Soy sauce. Don’t get me wrong, I love soy sauce—but consuming that much sodium in one sitting is probably illegal in some countries. Our frozen enchilada taste test was a close second; the smell of microwaved corn tortillas still haunts me.