Best LMNT Flavors to Quench Your Thirst

I have worked in corporate America, and let me tell you, every single woman I worked with drank LMNT religiously. Why? Because it purports to be a simpler, sexier, lower calorie version of Liquid IV and we all worked in marketing, where all of those RTBs help you meet KPIs and feel A-OK when you G2G to the gym…yeah, marketing is 90% figuring out what acronyms stand for and 10% faking it ’til you make it. But I digress. LMNT is essentially an ~elevated~ Liquid IV. A version that looks no frills and clean cut. A version with a name that doesn’t imply you are so dehydrated you need 50 CCs of salty stuff straight to the dome STAT.

All the LMNT flavors are made of, essentially, various salts (containing sodium, potassium, and magnesium), some flavoring, sometimes some citric acid for tanginess, and sometimes stevia for a kick of sweetness. But never fear, stevia haters; I could barely detect the Stevia in any of these flavors, plus my friend who said she hates stevia swears by LMNT and didn’t know until I told her last week that they contain stevia, so take that as you will.

We tried eight of their main flavors and one limited edition flavor (basically whatever we could get our hands on), but if you don’t see your fave listed, let us know! So without further ado, read on to see my thoughts from when I was in my LMNT. Or rather, when I was drinking my LMNT. Or you know what? Read on to read an article.

Watermelon Salt: This reminded me of a Watermelon Lip Smacker lip gloss I had in seventh grade. I don’t think this is gross by any means (hey, I always liked that Lip Smacker), but it’s just not the best of the bunch. It tastes almost exactly like a watermelon Jolly Rancher, so if that is your jam, go for it, but we couldn’t take too much of it at any given time, and hey, one of these had to go in last place, but spoiler alert, all of these LMNT flavors were largely pretty dang good.

Rating:
5/10
Sporks
Raw Unflavored: This LMNT flavor delivers on its name. It is, in fact, unflavored. No plasticky aftertaste, no metallic bottled water weirdness—just you, the water, and the salt. It’s pretty darn flavorless. So if you don’t like fun (or you just prefer to take your electrolytes straight), this is the best LMNT flavor for you.

Rating:
5/10
Sporks
Orange Salt: I won’t sugar coat it for you, because LMNT sure didn’t either (as we’ve established, they use stevia): This stuff tastes like Tang but much less sweet and WAYYYY more salty. It is brighter and zestier than an orange soda, but not so real that it tastes like orange juice. If you like orange-flavored drinks, you will like this. It is decidedly difficult to mess up orange flavor and y’all? LMNT did not fumble this one.

Rating:
6/10
Sporks
Lemonade Salt: This was the sweetest one we tried, likely because Lemonade is supposed to be sweet and they specifically put Lemonade in the name on the packaging rather than “lemon.” So, because life gave us Lemonade Salt LMNT, we made Lemonade (Salt LMNT). This reminded us a lot of Lemon Lime Liquid IV, but if it were a touch less sweet, less limey, and more subtly salty for the same amount of powder. This is a nice, delicate, somewhere-between-fountain-machine-and-real lemonade flavor.

Rating:
6.5/10
Sporks
Mango Chili: When I first opened this packet, some of the powder poofed into my nose. You should also know this was the last flavor I tried. I know what you are thinking: “Jessica, didn’t that poof happen with all the packets because you opened them all in the same way right under your nose like an idiot?” Well…I suppose…erm…yes. That said, this one has chili in it. All this is to say, don’t open this specific flavor up right under your nose. In fact, exhale while you open it or look away. As for the flavor, it was great! It tastes kind of like a green mango dipped in Tajin and drizzled with chamoy. It’s not super sweet and is only subtly spicy, so if chili mango at all sounds appealing to you as a sports drink, I say go for it. Some of the tasters also thought it tasted a bit like an unripe yellow nectarine (not in a bad way).

Rating:
7/10
Sporks
Grapefruit Salt: This is the least sweet of the fruity LMNT flavors, and truly gave us nothing but sour, salt, and a hint of grapefruit. No grapefruit bitterness, though it was a little drying and astringent on the end. The flavor is also a bit less strong than the others, but we thought it was super accurate to real grapefruit. If you don’t like artificial flavors, but want a citrus option, this is the best LMNT flavor to snag.

Rating:
7.5/10
Sporks
Raspberry Salt: LMNT Raspberry Salt smells exactly like cotton candy. We were worried they were headed straight back into 2012 vintage Lip Smacker territory, like the watermelon, but y’all? This one was a doozy. The raspberry flavor rides the line between candy and fruit perfectly; it’s not very sweet at all, and it kind of reminds me of blue raspberry Sour Patch Kids in the best possible way (though it does not claim to be blue raspberry…just regular unleaded). That said, if you are a fiend for blue Gatorade, this is the closest you can get using LMNT, and I think you will be satisfied.

Rating:
8.5/10
Sporks
Chocolate Salt: What a wildcard. I never in a bajillion years thought the Chocolate electrolyte drink would land this high on a list of the best LMNT flavors, but gosh golly gee, this stuff is delightful. It smells like baking cocoa on a cold winter’s night. It tastes like salted hot chocolate (but cold), although you can actually also enjoy this one hot (it says so on the packaging, so legally it has to be true). This literally has the capacity to become electrolyte hot cocoa. This would be perfect for after going ice skating or curling, or Apres Ski, or just like a really really cold game of pickup basketball. It has very real cocoa flavor (contains real cocoa!) without being bitter at all. It is slightly sweet, but the stevia taste is not apparent at all. It is not necessarily as refreshing as a fruit-flavored drink (which is why it falls to #2 on this list), but it is darn delicious.

Rating:
9/10
Sporks
Citrus Salt: Hey whaddaya know? Another electrolyte beverage ranking where the top choice is citrus, lemon, or lime in some capacity! Turns out lime just hits different when you are hot and sweaty and/or bothered, so we really liked LMNT’s take. This also (like the lemonade flavor) tastes like Lemon Lime Liquid IV but is much less sweet and a little more tangy and lime-forward. It’s still a little sweet though, and that is a nice touch. Some of the taste testers thought this tasted like lime Skittles but without being too sweet, and you know? We are here for it. This, ice cold, on a 109 degree August afternoon in the central valley of California might just bring me back to life and save 2025 once and for all.

Rating:
9.5/10
Sporks