We Tried a Dozen Store-Bought Lemonades, and No One Saw the $4 Winner Coming (It Tastes Homemade!)

Few things scream SUMMER quite like a tall, cold glass lemonade. Whether poured over ice, mixed with spirits, or frozen into a popsicle, the refreshingly sweet-tart drink is liquid sunshine. And while you probably have everything you need — lemons, sugar, water — to make a pitcher from scratch, the savviest of shoppers (and hosts) know when to call in the reinforcements. 

With lemonade sections taking center stage on grocery store drink aisles across the country, we sought to find out which brand is the best. Nowadays, there are plenty of variations beyond the straight-up lemon, but we kept things simple and focused on store-bought, premade bottles of the classic.

• Best Lemonade: Newman’s Own Old Fashioned Roadside Lemonade
• Runner-Up: Simply Lemonade
• Honorable Mention: Simple Truth Organic Lemonade
• Honorable Mention: Kirkland Signature Organic Lemonade
• Honorable Mention: Florida’s Natural Premium Lemonade

We sourced a variety of name- and store-brand lemonade options based on availability and price. Our editorial team also chimed in to help us narrow down our wide list to 12 contenders. The brands ranged in price from $3 or $7 (though most hovered around $4) and varied in bottle sizes.

When it came time for tasting, our panel worried that the difference might be too subtle to pick a clear winner — especially because side by side, they really looked very similar. There were some slight differences in opacity (if you stared at them, which, naturally we did), but other than that it really came down to the distinctions in flavor.

After an hour of sipping, savoring, and puckering up, we found a standout brand that some would say is even better than a glass of homemade lemonade. In fact, we’re confident it is the best thing to quench your thirst this season. 

“This is the lemonade of my dreams,” raved Ali, our Associate Groceries Editor. And she wasn’t alone — tasters near-unanimously declared Newman’s Own Old-Fashioned Roadside Lemonade as the all-around best lemonade for taste and appearance. Blair, Apartment Therapy’s senior style editor, was especially impressed, noting it tastes like it was “freshly squeezed” at home. It contains five ingredients, three of which are lemon (lemon juice concentrate, lemon pulp, and lemon oil).

What really set this lemonade apart from the competition is its “ideal, near-perfect sweet-to-sour balance,” according to Ali. Other testers, like Andrea, our social media manager, agreed, calling it “sour, without being too sour” — basically, the quintessential lemonade that we all need in our lives. 

• “Tastes really fresh”
• Great flavor balance
• Not too sweet

• N/A

Just narrowly missing the top spot, Simply Lemonade made a huge impression on our testers (with even a few declaring it as their favorite). Its “snappy and refreshing” taste gave Ali a serious dose of nostalgia, bringing her back to her elementary school days. 

So how come it didn’t take top honors? Some tasters, like Greg, our people operations manager, felt it lacked “enough tartness to balance” out the sweetness. Mara, our senior groceries editor, agreed that it leaned a bit sweet, but did give a caveat that this makes it an excellent choice to freeze into popsicles. This lemonade has the shortest list of ingredients (just four), though some of the taste comes from natural flavors (which, despite the name, can contain chemicals). 

• “Snappy”
• Smells like citrus
• Prominent lemon flavor

• For some, a bit too sweet

The fans of  Simple Truth Organic Lemonade on our team were so enthusiastic, it definitely deserves a mention. After one sip this lemonade had Rachelle, our principal product manager, all-in — so much so that she nearly dashed to Kroger after work writing, “I like it! This is what lemonade should taste like. It has a great balance; I’d totally buy this.”

Ali also praised its “great sweet-tart balance,” dubbing it the kind of lemonade you’d chug down “as fast as you can” after a long day on the beach. Like some other lemonades on (and off) this list, tasters found its sugary-sharp flavor just a bit too sweet. Which makes sense: Sugar is the second ingredient on an already-short list. To combat this? Mara suggested, “Bring on the vodka!” as we do think it’d make a great mixer.  

• Would make a great mixer 
• “Tastes how lemonade should”

• Slightly too sweet

The Kirkland Signature Organic Lemonade has all the visual markers of a great lemonade: Alex, our Editorial Assistant, said “the color is like the sun.” Along with the vibrant look, comes a big bold flavor, which Alex called “bright and zingy” and puckery. “The lemon flavor is great.” This lemonade contains four ingredients — water, sugar, lemon juice concentrate, and lemon flavoring — and is certified USDA organic.

As it turned out, a few testers found it a tad too sour. But if your favorite part of lemonade is the tartness, then this twin pack may just be your perfect match.

• “Lemon flavor is great”
• Most bang for your buck
• Subtle sweetness 

• A bit too sour, for some
• Need a Costco Membership to purchase
• USDA-approved organic 

It turns out that Florida isn’t just famous for its orange juice; Florida’s Natural Premium Lemonade stood out amid a sea of intensely tart options. Alex appreciated this bottle’s “subtle flavor”; unlike others in the group, it didn’t overpower on the sweet or sour front. Its light flavor mirrored its almost water-clear color. Plenty of folks enjoyed it, it just did not have enough lemon flavor to beat out other contenders — which is surprising given that it’s made with both lemon juice and concentrated lemon juice (though water and sugar are in the top two). 

On the bright-yellow side, Blair pointed out that this pick’s mellow flavor makes it a great choice for “people on the fence about lemonade” or for easing a child into more bitter drinks.

• Subtle sweetness
• Easy entry lemonade

• Water-like 

So what did we do when life handed us lemonade? We had a party! Okay, not exactly a party, but pretty close: To determine the best lemonade we recruited eight volunteers who work in our office to participate in an afternoon of tasting. Maya, our studio assistant, assigned each lemonade one letter  — from A through L — to hide the brands and laid each out in a cluster of ready-to-drink paper cups. Tasters were handed a score sheet and encouraged to sample lemonade in random order before marking down their findings. We also had plenty of water for much-needed palate cleansing between tastings. 

Tasters rated each of the lemonades on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = No, thanks; 2 = Meh; 3 = Pretty good; 4 = Really like; 5 = Yes, Please!) across four criteria — look, smell, texture, and flavor — and included any specific observations, tasting notes, and general opinions worth mentioning. They were also asked to answer, arguably, the most important question of all: Would you buy this lemonade?

To investigate which lemonades are worth adding to your shopping list, we compiled a team of eight testers who work at Apartment Therapy Media, our parent company, to evaluate 12 different store-bought lemonade brands based on texture, look, smell, eagerness to buy, and of course, taste. 

Testers were unaware of the brands involved and sampled each one randomly. Each taster independently filled out a score sheet, scoring and ranking each lemonade without larger discussion from the group throughout the entirety of the test. It was only after all evaluations were completed that we tallied the scores to reveal the winners.

Did your favorite lemonade make the list? Tell us about it in the comments below.