The Best Kool-Aid Drink Mix Is Absolutely Made For Summer

Kool-Aid may have began as an actual drink sold by the bottle, but they're now synonymous with the powdered drink pouches our parents stirred into pitchers. The convenience of powdered Kool-Aid is part of the reason we love it, with the other part being the drink's vibrant flavors and colors. We tasted and ranked 18 Kool-Aid drink mixes based on taste and appearance, with our favorite being strawberry lemonade, a summertime classic.

The cheerful pink hue was a fun and enticing visual that was whimsical without looking radioactive. Since both strawberry and lemonade Kool-Aid flavors ranked in our top five, we knew the duo would be a winning combination. The tart, lemony notes were the perfect complement to the sweet fruitiness of the strawberry. And, while these powders are artificially flavored, Kool-Aid really nailed the taste of strawberries; short of there being seeds floating around, we might've thought there were real strawberries muddled into our glass of lemonade! We also loved that it wasn't overwhelmingly sweet. In fact, Kool-Aid advised us to add sugar to the drink, but it was so perfectly seasoned we thought it didn't need any additional sweeteners. This is one drink that adults will enjoy as much as their kids.

We found plenty of 5-star reviews on Influenster that raved not just about the flavor, but also the functionality, convenience, aroma, and customizability of the strawberry lemonade. Reviewers enjoyed the bright packaging that was "easy to open and mixes smoothly." One customer said that the mix "smells exactly like strawberry lemonade," a good sign for its refreshing and authentic flavor once mixed with water. Another customer said that "the powdered drink tastes better than the actual juice pouches ... because we can control the sugar in it." To that effect, yet another reviewer said that not only do you control how much sweetener you add to the Kool-Aid, but you also have control over the type of sweetener you add to it. The flavor isn't just a well-balanced blend of sweet, sour, citric, and fruity, but it also strikes a nostalgic cord with most customers who refer to Kool-Aid as a childhood classic.

By not adding sweetener, you're making the strawberry lemonade Kool-Aid more palatable to adult tastes. But there are other ways to embellish this drink for more sophistication and fun. For example, strawberry lemonade would be a great mixer for a summery cocktail like a whiskey sour. You could also use the strawberry lemonade as the foundation for white sangria. For an even more refreshing non-alcoholic beverage, add the mix to sparkling water and garnish with a fresh strawberry.