I Tried 14 Store-Bought Lemonades and the Winner Won By a Landslide

On a hot summer day, nothing hits the spot quite like a cold glass of lemonade. Kids and adults alike love the sweet-tart, thirst-quenching drink. And while you can absolutely make lemonade from scratch (we suggest adding a little vanilla extract if you do), in the hustle and bustle of August, it’s often easier to pick up a bottle of pre-made lemonade for your backyard barbecues or everyday sipping.

For a drink that should have three ingredients (lemon juice, sugar and water), there are a shockingly large number of brands in the grocery store and they’re spread out between the juice aisle and the refrigerated section, making the hunt even more challenging. But once you know what your store-bought lemonade options are, which one should you choose?

That’s where I come in. To find the best store-bought lemonade, I headed out to my local grocery chains to see what they had on the shelves. After searching through five different supermarkets, I ended up with 14 different lemonade brands. I grabbed bottles (and cartons) from established brands—like Florida’s Natural, Minute Maid and Tropicana—as well as store brand options and some newer competitors that I ran across. After doing a blind tasting of all the options, I found a clear winner that I’ll be reaching for the rest of the summer—and beyond.

Read on for the full list and see which store-bought lemonades are worth sipping and which ones you’re better off skipping.

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How I Tested These Store-Bought Lemonades

Bottled lemonadeis typically made with just a few ingredients. Depending on the brand, the drink could include a combination of water, lemon juice or lemon juice concentrate, sugar, as well as high fructose corn syrup, natural flavors and other preservatives.

For this blind taste test, I shopped at several major grocery stores across Connecticut, including Costco, Shop Rite, Stop & Shop, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods Market. Each bottle ranged in price from $2.09 to $6.29 before tax.

To keep things fair, I conducted a blind taste test with my husband, Evan, who coordinated the test. He randomly assigned a number to each brand and poured a glass of lemonade into individually marked clear plastic cups. We tried a few sips from each brand, sharing our thoughts between each contender.  

We cleansed our palates with lots of water and made note of different factors, including color, flavor (sweetness, tartness, etc.) and texture (pulp or no pulp). Once we established a tentative ranking, we went back and tasted some of the competitors side by side to confirm their spot on the list.

Because this taste test was blind, I didn’t dock points for price or accessibility. The best store-bought lemonade was refreshing and thirst-quenching with a perfect balance of sweet and zingy flavors—nothing artificial, nothing too lip-puckering nor too cloying. 

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14 Popular Store-Bought Lemonades Ranked From Worst to Best

14. Uncle Matt’s No Sugar Added Lemonade

I picked up this option to see how a sugar-free option would fare in the overall mix. Although this lemonade is made with only three ingredients (filtered water, lemon juice and stevia), it tasted closer to lemon cotton candy than it did a refreshing glass of lemonade. Evan called it “syrupy” and “cloying” with a “funny mouthfeel,” which was likely due to the stevia. It was just odd and wasn’t at all what we wanted out of a glass of lemonade. And though price wasn’t a factor in this ranking, it’s worth noting that this was the most expensive lemonade that we tried.

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13. Bowl & Basket Lemonade

Shop Rite’s in-store brand of lemonade tasted more like a cleaning solution (or at least what I imagine a cleaning solution would taste like) and less like a refreshing summer drink. It was quite sour and tart in a way that tasted like real lemon, but it lacked the sweetness needed to make it palatable. 

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12. Kirkland Signature Organic Lemonade

I’m so sorry to say that Costco’s Kirkland brand lemonade was a total flop. It was mouth-puckering with a really sharp, astringent aroma. Evan noted that it was “artificial tasting”  with an uneven balance of sweet and sour flavors. There wasn’t anything refreshing about it and it wouldn’t be a product that I’d add to my oversized shopping cart in the future.

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11. Santa Cruz Organic Lemonade

Available at Whole Foods and other natural grocery stores, I was skeptical of this healthy-looking lemonade. During the blind taste test, I found it to be tart, watery and not very sweet. Evan noted that it was “nostalgic in some kind of specific way but it’s not good.” Neither of us enjoyed it very much, but it was slightly less artificial-tasting than some others.

10. 365 Whole Foods Market Lemonade

This was another lemonade that had a cleaning solution vibe. I thought it was a little bit soapy and also a little bit nostalgic, but I didn’t love it. Evan thought it tasted like underripe lemon-lime but found it to be refreshing enough. It wasn’t the worst bottled lemonade that we tasted, but it also wasn’t one of the standout options, so it ended up in the middle of the back of the pack.

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9. Trader Joe’s Fresh Squeezed Lemonade

While Trader Joe’s normally impresses us with their flavorful assortment of snacks and sips, their lemonade wasn’t a big win for us. We both found their fresh-squeezed lemonade to be incredibly tart with very little sweetness. We did appreciate that it tasted like real lemon juice with zero artificiality to it, but that wasn’t enough to win us over.

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8. Twister Lemonade

A sister brand of Tropicana, Twister Lemonade, reminded me of a hard lemon candy. Evan wasn’t a fan and thought it tasted more like a cheap powdered lemonade mixed with water. “It’s sweet enough, refreshing enough, but too artificial to be a great lemonade for me,” he said.

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7. Turkey Hill Lemonade

The first thing we noticed about this lemonade was its unnaturally vibrant yellow hue. It was more intensely colored than any of the other lemonades that we tasted by far. In terms of taste, it had a floral, slightly herbaceous lemon flavor. It’s not really what I want from a glass of lemonade on a hot summer day, but it’s not bad. “It gets a correct balance of sweet, sour and refreshing, even if it’s not exactly what I’m looking for in my lemonade,” Evan added.

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6. Florida’s Natural Premium Lemonade

With its sweet, refreshing taste and a hint of natural lemon flavor, there’s a lot to enjoy in a glass of this lemonade. Our only complaint? It was the only lemonade we tried that contained pulp—and a whole lot of it. Evan thought it would be “too pulpy even for someone who doesn’t mind pulp.” The flavor was mild and fresh, but the abundance of pulp kept this one from breaking into the top five.

5. Tropicana Classic Lemonade

Fun and fabulous, I want this lemonade in the form of lemon ice. It’s refreshing, sweet, lemony and thirst-quenching. However, there’s no tartness to it, which means that it borders on too sweet. Evan called it a kid-friendly lemonade. “If you want a sweet, nostalgic lemonade, this is it,” he said.

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4. Simply Lemonade

I wasn’t blown away by this lemonade at first, but I did think that it offered a good balance of sweetness and tartness. Evan called it his “Goldilocks lemonade,” thanks to the combination of lemon flavor, sweetness and a juicy taste that makes you want to go back again and again.

3. Minute Maid Lemonade

Available in cartons and soft drink machines at many stadiums and theatres, this lemonade from Minute Maid is a solid option that will appeal to almost everyone. I found it to be a little watered down and bland, but I generally thought it offered a good balance of sweet and tart flavors (emphasis on the tart) without any artificiality. “Sweet but makes you pucker,” Evan said. 

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2. Nature’s Promise Organic Lemonade

My first thought was that this lemonade would go really well with grilled meats and barbecue—AKA the perfect summer drink. I liked that it wasn’t too sweet but was sweet enough. “It’s a little tart, a little puckery, but it has a good balance of lemon flavors,” said Evan. It is worth noting that it’s only available at select grocery chains, including Stop & Shop and Giant. 

1. Newman’s Own Old-Fashioned Roadside Lemonade

Frankly, there was no competition. This carton classic from Newman’s Own blew all of the others out of the water (err lemonade). It’s exactly what I want from a glass of lemonade—a little sweet, a little tart and all around balanced. As a bonus, it doesn’t have any high fructose corn syrup or other preservatives or filler ingredients. Evan thought it tasted “expensive” and wondered if it was a “health lemonade” because it wasn’t too sweet.It was the best bottled lemonade by far and is one that I can’t wait to buy again and again.

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