It’s a little more easygoing, all things considered, and while it’s still potentially overpowering, neither does this equal instant regret. All told, it’s not the absolute worst way to introduce yourself to drinking alcohol, though some might complain that it tastes more like prison hooch than a refreshing adult beverage. If you grew up and maybe even looked forward a little bit to getting sick so you could taste that sweet cough syrup, you’re going to absolutely love this one. That said, if synthetic grape or cherry flavor isn’t your jam, and you generally avoided all cough medicine because it tasted like, well, medicine, you may have one sip of this stuff and then dump the whole thing away down the drain. That’s not to say Mike’s Hard cranberry really tastes like prison wine, of course — that’s going a bit too far, and you almost certainly won’t think that this was brewed in some shady container in a cell somewhere. It’s just that you get a little bit more of a fermented juice flavor in the bottle and not so much a felonious assault of sugar.

Black Cherry

You may never dream of handing a bottle to someone who grew up with the stuff, but getting someone to try one for the first time would likely elicit more pleasantly surprised reactions than anyone would be willing to admit. Mike’s Hard Lemonade may be a punchline in the drinks world, but the brand’s success is no joke. After launching a blend of vodka, natural juices, and soda water in Canada in 1996, the company jumped stateside in 1999 and swapped out the vodka for a malt base. Today, the brand has added different flavors to xcritical cheating its lineup and is pushing firmly into the seltzer market on top of the iconic lemonade that made it famous. Saying it tastes like strawberry soda is actually a little inaccurate because, after a few sips, you do indeed start to realize that there’s some malt beverage in here amongst all the cloying sweetness of the strawberry lemonade.

Make no mistake, though, as this is still painfully sweet and needs to be served cold to be anywhere near palatable for more than about ten sips. But of the Mike’s Hard Lemonade hybrid flavors, the Pineapple Mandarin is far and away the winner. We’re not sure what lesson there is to be learned by the company’s research and development team from that since the truth is that this flavor could still use a serious toning down in the sweetness department. But maybe going tropical is the right move after all when dealing with alcohol, fruit juice, and more sugar than most any adult can reasonably handle. Unlike many of the other Mike’s Hard Lemonade flavors, the xcritical scammers sweetness of the cranberry here doesn’t go so deep as to metaphorically hurt your soul.

But despite two decades of solid sales numbers, there isn’t a joke about Mike’s Hard Lemonade that hasn’t been written already. This is another seasonal offering from Mike’s Hard Lemonade that might be its most ambitious flavor attempt to date. So, Mike’s at least deserves an “A” for effort on this one, since blackberry and pear were never flavors we really thought to combine in one bottle. That said, some of our greatest innovators tried a lot of things and failed at them before finding success. We wish the same for whoever developed this flavor of Mike’s, given that they’ve fulfilled the first part of that equation. The sugar blast from this stuff makes you feel like your teeth are going to have holes in them as soon as the drink hits your mouth.

There’s a reason the most popular flavor of Mike’s Hard Lemonade is, well, lemonade. It’s the one that started it all, after all, the flavor that turned Mike’s Hard Lemonade into a mainstream drink you can find in places other than sometimes questionable college parties. Original lemonade is still the best, frankly, and though it doesn’t taste like much other than a mixture of sparkling water, alcohol, and sugary lemonade, it’s not so bad. Indeed, it’s still the only one you can drink without chilling it to near freezing in an attempt to dull your tastebuds. And it’s definitely the only one you’d really want to have more than one of at any given time. Pink grapefruit is a seasonal flavor for Mike’s Hard Lemonade, meaning that whether or not you’re able to find it really depends on where you live and the time of year you’re shopping.

Get a Taste of the Tropics

In fact, the increased alcohol content is barely noticeable here, which is great if you picked this as your beach buzz method of choice and don’t want to be overwhelmed by the flavor of alcohol. Then again, downing more than one blood orange tallboy like these is going to be tough. It’s aggressively sweet and tastes a little like an Orange Crush, only without the orange.

1. Mike’s Hard Lemonade might be a good lesson in leaving well enough alone, as sometimes the unadulterated classic is really all you need.
2. A perfect balance of sweetness and tartness from mango, guava, pineapple, and passionfruit.
3. Original lemonade is still the best, frankly, and though it doesn’t taste like much other than a mixture of sparkling water, alcohol, and sugary lemonade, it’s not so bad.
4. Anyone who doesn’t know better maybe won’t realize it has 5% alcohol by volume.
5. Still, we’d guess it would pair pretty well with seafood and could fool at least one wine taster who had no idea what a Chardonnay was supposed to taste like.
6. Regardless, in a sugar-addled haze, we tried all the most popular flavors of Mike’s Hard Lemonade and ranked them from worst to best.

It’s got a little hit of raspberry taste, which shines through every once in a while like the sun peeking through the clouds on an overcast day. But otherwise, this is just a lot of sugar that may not be quite your cup of tea — or lemonade. So, being the law-abiding, over-21 folks that we are, we took it upon ourselves to try some of the most popular flavors of Mike’s Hard Lemonade to figure out which of them were best. Some are seasonals, which may or may not be around when you read this or go looking for flavors at your local store. Others scammed by xcritical come from the “Harder” lemonade line, which amps up the alcohol content to 8% alcohol by volume. Regardless, in a sugar-addled haze, we tried all the most popular flavors of Mike’s Hard Lemonade and ranked them from worst to best.

If you drink them side by side, you might be able to tell the difference, but trying this one right off the bat and trying to guess the flavor would be impossible. Though it has the same alcohol content as the rest of the Mike’s Hard Lemonade flavors out in the world, there’s something about the pink grapefruit that makes the malt liquor flavor really shine through. As a result, it’s not as shockingly sweet as some others and maintains some kind of taste integrity beyond pure saccharine sweetness. Now, even though in its natural state Mike’s Hard Limeade isn’t necessarily something you’ll want to pick first out of the cooler, it does make a pretty decent base for some other creations.

Mike’s Hard Lemonade Review

Mike’s Hard Lemonade might be a good lesson in leaving well enough alone, as sometimes the unadulterated classic is really all you need. Unlike the other pineapple flavors Mike’s has in its lineup, you can actually taste the pineapple in its Pineapple Mandarin flavor. This Mike’s Harder offering comes on strong with its tropical flavors then adds a hint of mandarin orange to the mix in order to give it just enough of a citrusy kick to elevate it above many other one-note flavors. Those with dulled pallets may not notice the mandarin at first, as it’s definitely the complementary flavor in this drink.

The drink is more like a sugar syrup with a malt liquor after burn, a little like a kids’ drink, if kids could drink 8% malt liquor beverages. Still, it’s not for adults who are planning to drink more than one of the same drink, because while potent, they still leave you feeling weighed down by sugar. Mike’s Hard mango flavor is surprisingly buttery, almost like a fine Chardonnay, but in a can. Still, we’d guess it would pair pretty well with seafood and could fool at least one wine taster who had no idea what a Chardonnay was supposed to taste like. Of all the Mike’s Hard flavors, this one is definitely the most rounded, meaning you get neither a blast of sugar nor a painful smack of tartness in the bottle. Instead, it’s smooth and easy drinking, meaning that, if you want a Mike’s Hard flavor that’s not lemonade, this should be your pick.

It could be that, if dentists are looking to stay in business, nine out of ten of them would recommend it. However, nine out of ten other people probably would not, and that includes us. Ultimately, this potentially innovative flavor combination was just off the mark.

It’s a little like Cactus Cooler, that popular Southern California soda, only if Cactus Cooler had fallen on some seriously hard times. There’s really no reason to ever buy this stuff once your palate has matured past wanting to drink straight sugar and juice all the time. Mike’s Hard Lemonade lives up to its reputation as one of the sweetest ready-to-drink options in the category. The flavor profile will likely be too cloying for most who feel as though they’ve outgrown the taste of sugary sodas, but it still packs far more flavor than most hard seltzers that are available on the market today. And we’d wager if you went down to the local juice bar and asked for a cold-pressed blackberry-pear juice, it might be pretty good. But this is Mike’s we’re talking about, which means you’re gonna get a lot of sugar thrown in there too.