Wai-iti was released more recently by New Zealand's hop breeding program, and its alpha acid range is among the lowest of any modern hop release worldwide — lower even than most traditional European noble hops, putting it in genuinely rare territory for a 21st-century commercial variety when most new releases have trended toward higher, not lower, alpha acid over the same period.
At 2.5-3.5% alpha acid, Wai-iti is used purely for aroma, with lime, rose and sweet fruit notes that give it one of the more genuinely floral profiles among New Zealand hops, most of which lean harder into passion fruit and citrus than florals. That rose character in particular is distinctive — few hops from any growing region carry a note this close to an actual flower rather than a citrus or herbal descriptor.
Run a full-boil Wai-iti addition through the IBU calculator and the result reads almost negligible next to what the same weight of a moderate-alpha hop would contribute. Wai-iti doesn't have a close substitute given its unusual combination of very low alpha acid and floral-rose character; Motueka offers the nearest comparison for the lime side of its profile specifically, without the rose note. Delicate hazy IPA and pale ale recipes use Wai-iti in small doses where its distinctive floral-fruit character can register clearly against a simple, unfussy malt bill.