Ultra-processed foods are dominating headlines for a reason: consumers are waking up to just how many additives, synthetics, and engineered ingredients are hiding in everyday products. The beverage aisle is especially guilty. Many drinks rely on artificial colors, high-intensity sweeteners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, clarifying agents, and lab-built flavor systems. Even in the beer world, you may find enzymes (like amylase or pullulanase), stabilizers (such as silica or PVPP), and antifoaming agents (like sunflower lecithin) —yet alcoholic beverages are not required to disclose their ingredients or nutrition information under the federal labeling exemptions in the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) regulations. That means most drinkers never see the full picture of what they’re actually consuming. In fairness, not all breweries and beverage producers are the same and some processing aids are “processed out” of the finished product, but how is one to know?

At H2OPS, our hop water is made the way we believe beverages should be made—simply and transparently. Just organic hops and carbonated water. No sweeteners of any kind. No colors. No stabilizers, emulsifiers, or clarifying agents. We even use the whole hop flower, which is minimally processed by compressing into pellets to keep them fresh outside of the harvest season. Many hop water brands are believed to be using a processed fraction of the hop, like hop oils, lupulin powder or just hop similar “natural flavors.” And because non-alcoholic beverages are required to disclose ingredients under FDA labeling rules, we proudly put our two ingredients right on the can.

In a world flooded with ultra-processed drinks, we’re committed to keeping things real, clean, and refreshingly straightforward.

Cheers,

Paul Tecker

Co-Founder – H2OPS