With Summer barreling in faster than anyone anticipated, its time to get serious… what is the best lemonade?

A cool, refreshing glass of lemonade can sure just about anything and bring anyone’s… sour… mood to a sweet one.

Packaging: This packaging is BASIC. Tropicana went down a simple, short, and sweet route with a blue label and lemon cut in half. It just doesn’t catch the eye right to say “buy me” off the shelf.

Taste: When sipped cold from the fridge, it was too bland. This “lemonade” tasted like citrus water. When sipped at room temperature, it held more of a lemon flavor, but it just doesn’t hit that sweet spot of “refreshing.” If it had a little more of that bold lemon flavoring, I actually think that it would be a decent lemonade, one that could satisfy my endless thirst on a hot summer day but unfortunately, it remains sub-par.

Packaging: Ice as a brand has a pretty recognizable packaging plan. From far away, you can see the familiar ice cube with whatever flavor the drink has in it, and you know exactly what you’re in for. Ice’s lemonade is no stranger to this packaging. It’s fresh, it’s cool, and the skinny tall bottle shape makes it stand out amongst its competitors.

Taste: Right away, you get an “in your face” lemon sucker punch. This occurs both in room and cool temperatures. This lemonade is also carbonated, adding to the general effect of the aforementioned punch. This beverage just wasn’t my glass of lemonade.

Packaging: I actually love the packaging on this lemonade. Its short, sweet, and to the point while also catching the eye with a winking faced lemon. Like Ice, you can recognize this lemonade from the shelf, it’s an eyecatcher for sure. The lemon also has a texture on it similar to that of a real lemon, and I adore it. Have I mentioned that it’s winking at you? That’s because the brand seems to know what they’re doing.

Taste: This lemonade actually has two different tastes: when cold from the fridge, the lemon actually tastes like a background dancer, with little sequins on their costume, and these sequins are the sweetness of the lemonade.  It’s not the sweetest, but that’s why it earned a spot on my favorite list, as it hits the spot with the lemon to sweet ratio. When sipped warm, this lemonade has a WHOLE different tune. Lemon takes the lead, and wins the heart of everyone. The one and only downside to this lemonade is that it can have the dreaded sweaty sock aftertaste for the first couple sips, but I really haven’t noticed it after the first couple sips.

Packaging: Brisk has had a packaging plan for all its products that allows you to recognized that the beverage belongs to Brisk, but you can clearly see the individuality in each product. Brisk lemonade has a yellow/green color combo and has doodles on the label. This makes the brand look super cool and gives off a late 90’s early 2000’s vibe. The packaging is BOLD, and here to be seen.

Taste: This is supposed to be Lemonade? It tastes like an orange juice from concentrate dyed itself yellow. I’ve been a fan of brisk for a long time, and it’s other products that have lemon actually have a lemon taste. I was disappointed in this lemonade, to say the least. It tased the exact same in both cold from the fridge. In the end, this lemonade just didn’t come to win.

Packaging: I don’t quite know why, but I love this packaging. Maybe its the color of blue ombre to white that combines with the black label or maybe someone really knows how to do their job in the marketing department. It catches my eye against its competitors well, but it’s not as cool as Hubert’s lemonade. Minute Maid has created a nice looking label that can be seen across the isles and recognized in any gas station or grocery store.

Taste: From the fridge, this lemonade provides a nice lemon punch with sweetness. It has a similar taste in a warm context, but the one downside is that this lemonade doesn’t quite quench thirst. It leaves me longing for water. I’ve had some bottles of Minute Maid that have been too lemony, and some that have been too watery, for inconsistency and making me more thirsty than I was before, Minute Maid lost a lemon.

In the end, lemonade is a long-loved beverage that is nice to sip in the summer and loved by thousands of people to drink instead of pop. If you’re looking for a nice thirst quencher, reach for Hubert’s Lemonade. If you’re looking for a lemony punch in the face, get Ice… if you’re into that sorta drink…happy sipping and cheers to spring.