One of my favorite things about being a 40-something woman is that there’s always a pitcher of Crystal Light in my fridge. I am grown. I mostly drink water. But sometimes you need a treat, dammit! As a wise woman once said, I believe in Crystal Light because I believe in me.
But which Crystal Light flavors taste the best? That’s what I set out to learn, for my own personal edification and yours, assuming you also enjoy low-calorie, sugar-free beverage mixes (these are sweetened with aspartame, if you were curious). Although I personally buy the big Crystal Light packets that you use to make two quarts of Crystal Light, I specifically taste tested the on-the-go Crystal Light packets in this taste test, aka the small ones you simply shake up in a bottle of water. (Didn’t want a drop of Crystal Light to go to waste, see.)
Since “best tasting” is pretty subjective, I was looking for Crystal Light varieties that taste like the fruit flavors they advertise—for instance, lemonade should taste bright, citrusy, and zippy—and aren’t so nauseatingly sweet that you couldn’t get through 12 ounces of the stuff. Most Crystal Light flavors are delicious, but a few are pretty bad. If you believe in Crystal Light and you believe in me, then read this list of all the Crystal Light flavors we could find, ranked from worst to best.
- Crystal Light Raspberry Green Tea
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Of all the Crystal Light flavors we tried, this was the worst. It actually made me say “yuck” out loud when I took a sip. It smells like something someone drank and then spit out. Crystal Light should be a treat; this is not.
Credit: Merc / Instacart
- Crystal Light Grape with Caffeine
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Several Crystal Light flavors contain caffeine, which is nice for people who don’t want the burps from swilling diet soda or the shakes from drinking coffee all day. You get 60 grams of caffeine per serving, which isn’t bad. Unfortunately, this particular Crystal Light flavor is bad. It has a very strong and very specific faux grape flavor, like grape Kool-Aid with some Dimetapp on the finish. You can really pick up on the aspartame here, which isn’t great. If you really love fake grape flavor, you may love this, but they could have gone in a more natural direction with the grape flavor.
Credit: Merc / Target
- Crystal Light Peach Mango Green Tea
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This green tea-infused Crystal Light flavor is better than the raspberry one, but it’s missing the mango. It doesn’t taste like mango at all. It just tastes like Snapple Peach Tea, but even sweeter because of the aspartame. I don’t think I could drink a whole bottle of this, but I guess I can see why people like it.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Crystal Light Wild Strawberry with Caffeine
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Wild strawberries—great Bergman film, not-as-great Crystal Light flavor inspiration. This tastes like Pez. It’s way tangier than I thought it would be. Does it taste like strawberry? No, absolutely not. It tastes like caffeinated penicillin you can guzzle. I didn’t hate it, but it’s one of those Crystal Light flavors that I’d be hard pressed to drink a lot of.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Crystal Light Peach Mango with Caffeine
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Peach Mango Crystal Light has a strong citrus aroma and it’s a disturbing orange color. It’s tangy, but it’s missing authentic fruit flavor. It’s better than the green tea-infused version, but you should focus your attention on the rest of this list instead.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Crystal Light Citrus with Caffeine
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This is the first Crystal Light flavor on this list that I would actually use my own Crystal Light-buying money to purchase. It tastes like very sweet tangerine juice. It’s fruity and refreshing, even though it looks sort of like a water bottle full of concentrated urine you’d find on the side of the road!
Credit: Merc / Instacart
- Crystal Light Raspberry Lemonade
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This is one of my personal go-to Crystal Light flavors. I love the berry flavor—it’s earthy rather than candy-like. I dinged this a little only because it doesn’t really taste like lemonade. It’s raspberry juice with a little bit of tang (and plenty of artificial sweetener). Personally, I still think it’s one of the best Crystal Light flavors.
Credit: Merc / Target
- Crystal Light Lemonade
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The two best Crystal Light flavors are Lemonade and Pink Lemonade. And I had to take a lot of sips of each flavor to tell them apart. Usually, pink lemonade is sweeter and less acidic, but the opposite was true in this case. Crystal Light Lemonade is just a touch sweeter and has a little less tang than the Pink Lemonade. And since lemonade should, first and foremost, taste like lemons…
Credit: Merc / Target
- Crystal Light Pink Lemonade
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…Crystal Light Pink Lemonade is the best of all the Crystal Light flavors. It’s bright and zippy, and I promise I didn’t just like it more because it’s a pleasing color. Buy either the Lemon Crystal Light or the Pink Lemonade Crystal Light and you’ll be happy. And I can tell you from experience, they both make good mixers with vodka. Mix yourself a little cocktail I like to call “The Ultimate ‘80s Mom Indulgence.” Enjoy!
Credit: Merc / Target
Crystal Light!
Crystal Light!
Crystal Light!
Crystal Light!
Crystal Light!
Crystal Light!
Crystal Light!
Crystal Light!
Crystal Light!
