You might hope a purportedly unbiased news source wouldn’t “drink the Kool-Aid,” so to speak, but here at Sporked, we did it. We drank the Kool-Aid. Don’t you fret, though—it was the non-proverbial kind. No cults, no oaths, just tiny little packets of citric acid, flavoring, and all the food coloring a girl could want. That’s right, we took it upon ourselves to try every single flavor of Kool-Aid we could find, mixing and prepping 17 different lil colorful packets so that you, the Kool-Aid KonnoisseursTM, can know which Kool-Aid flavors are the best Kool-Aid flavors. Which will have you gently perching on a chair and saying “Oh no,” and which will have you crashing through walls and shouting “Oooooh Yeah!”
- Kool-Aid Aguas Frescas Jamaica
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This Kool-Aid flavor, one of the Kool-Aid Aguas Frescas, was disappointing. Jamaica is essentially hibiscus tea (with other ingredients mixed in, depending on where you get it). I’ve had jamaica and, I must say, Kool-Aid simply didn’t nail it. It smells earthy and chemical, a bit like wood varnish or paint, and tastes almost like tamarind but without that subtle dried fruit note. It’s not quite floral enough or fruity enough to taste like hibiscus. Suffice it to say, this is not one of the best Kool-Aid flavors—but don’t give up on their aguas frescas altogether.
Credit: Merc / H-E-B
- Kool-Aid Black Cherry
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Black Cherry Kool-Aid smelled promising, like a cherry ICEE at the pool on a hot summer’s day.Unfortunately, this Kool-Aid flavor tastes a little off and has a chemical bitterness and aftertaste we didn’t love.
Credit: Merc / H-E-B
- Kool-Aid Green Apple
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You know those caramel apple lollipops? That’s what this Kool-Aid flavor tastes like. The aftertaste reminded me of Martinelli’s mixed with green apple Jolly Rancher. Die-hard green apple fans might like this, but for us it lacks some fruitiness and tang that we think would make it better.
Credit: Merc / Amazon
- Kool-Aid Grape
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Full disclosure: I like Green Apple Kool-Aid better than Grape Kool-Aid, but I am not a fan of grape-flavored things. I can, however, recognize that some people are, and if you are one such person you might just like this one. This tastes kind of like a melted purple Otter Pop, and I know that’s some people’s thing. For me, that also puts it squarely in the realm of children’s Tylenol. In general, we thought this one could use more tang to make it less cough syrupy.
Credit: Merc
- Kool-Aid Cherry
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We are now in the “tastes like a childhood medicine” portion of our Kool-Aid flavors ranking. If that’s what you seek, this cherry flavor does not disappoint. It smells a bit like liquid amoxicillin, but the flavor actually isn’t terrible. It reminds me of cherry SweeTARTS and cherry Fun Dip. It does have a bit of the chemical aftertaste that many cherry drinks and candies have, but it’s less strong than it is in the Black Cherry Kool-Aid. All in all, I didn’t mind it that much, but there are better Kool-Aid flavors on this list.
Credit: Merc / H-E-B
- Kool-Aid Blue Raspberry Lemonade
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I really wanted to love this Kool-Aid flavor. As a known blue raspberry fiend, I almost felt it was my duty to love this one. But alas, it simply does not have the razzle-dazzle. It needs more berry flavor and more lemony tang because, as it is, it tastes mostly like cotton candy blue flavor—very sweet and not quite acidic enough.
Credit: Merc / H-E-B
- Kool-Aid Tropical Punch
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This is probably one of the flavors you think of when you think of Kool-Aid. It tastes exactly like Hawaiian Punch and had us all going, “Yes, this is why we try 17 flavors of Kool-Aid!” But then came the strange chemical aftertaste that, granted, normal Hawaiian Punch has (albeit less prominently). This is not terrible by any means, definitely drinkable, and in a pinch, it could work if you want to travel with a little packet of powder instead of a big ol’ jug o’ punch to your next BYOP (bring your own punch) function. And before you tell me those don’t exist…kickboxing classes—boom, an example of BYOP.
Read our ranking of the best fruit punch
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- Kool-Aid Strawberry
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Now we are getting into the good stuff. Strawberry Kool-Aid, oddly enough, tastes a lot like a watermelon Jolly Rancher, so if that is your jam, you gotta give this one a try. I also think it tastes kind of like those (apparently discontinued) Dino flossers I used to get from the dentist, but when I mentioned that no one knew what I was talking about. Vindicate me, internet! Those flossers were unnecessarily delicious and I stand by that (please don’t eat flossers).
Credit: Merc
- Kool-Aid Peach Mango
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Peach Mango Kool-Aid smells like a combination of peach rings and those mango-flavored peelable candies. The taste, however, is 95% mango candy and only about 5% peach. It has a nice sourness and a fruity flavor that makes it taste almost like real fruit, though it does have a slightly bitter aftertaste that reminded me of artificial sweeteners even though there are none of those in Kool-Aid.
Credit: Merc / H-E-B
- Kool-Aid Lemon Lime
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If you are a die-hard green Otter Pop fan, this Kool-Aid flavor will 1000% float your boat. This may be lemon-lime but it certainly leans more lime—big lime Jell-O vibes. This one would be great served ice cold in the middle of July.
Credit: Merc
- Kool-Aid Lemonade
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We were pleasantly surprised by Kool-Aid Lemonade. It’s one of the more boring, run-of-the-mill flavors, so our expectations were relatively low. But you know what? It’s not half bad. In fact, it is more than half good. It has a tartness that reminded us of lemonade made with real lemons, it’s not too sweet (though we realize we are the ones who added the sugar, still the sourness balanced well), and, overall, has a pleasant flavor for a powdered lemonade.
Read our ranking of the best lemonade
Credit: Merc / Amazon
- Kool-Aid Sharkleberry Fin
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I made the executive decision to taste these Kool-Aid flavors in order from least to most unhinged names, so we tasted this one last. Does it taste like a huckleberry? No. Does it taste like a shark? I don’t think so. Does it taste like Mark Twain? Who could say. What it does taste like is an orange, strawberry, and banana smoothie. Yes, those are the exact fruits on the packaging, but hey, we aren’t just being suggestible—it really tastes like those three fruits. I guess truth in advertising isn’t dead. This Kool-Aid flavor does have a very slight aftertaste, which was not chemical, per se, just a little weird. Like when you accidentally get a bit of the stringy part of the peel while eating a slightly overripe banana. This flavor tastes strangely real (for a Kool-Aid flavor) and reminded us of a homemade smoothie, which was kind of nice. If you ever want to trick someone into thinking there is real fruit in their drink (which I guess pop off, Prank Sinatra) this Kool-Aid flavor could be your partner in crime.
Credit: Merc
- Kool-Aid Strawberry Kiwi
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Full disclosure I am not typically a huge proponent of strawberry kiwi-flavored things. This one, however, is an exception, because as it turns out, Strawberry Kiwi Kool-Aid tastes exactly (and we do mean exactly, 1:1, identical) like Watermelon Sour Patch Kids in the best way. I don’t know how much of this I could drink at once (in the same way I can only have so many Watermelon Sour Patch Kids before I need to either lie on the floor and stare at the ceiling or eat some pretzels). But this is one of the best Kool-Aid flavors, and, like the rest of the Kool-Aid flavors on this list from here on out, has no off aftertaste whatsoever.
Credit: Merc / Amazon
- Kool-Aid Pink Lemonade
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Okay, hear us out: This Kool-Aid flavor tastes pink and we couldn’t quite place why. By all rights, it should taste like the Lemonade Kool-Aid, but it doesn’t. It is inexplicably, indescribably better and that’s just the way it is. Could it be that there’s a slightly floral, grapefruit-esque note that makes it far superior to its non-pink counterpart? Potentially. Could it be that it was a skosh less sour than the plain lemonade? Perhaps. Could it be that it is pink and our monkey brains said, “Yay, fun colors!” and that is the only reason we liked this more? There’s a non-zero chance. Point is, it’s good and if you have a hankering for some pink lemonade we say go for it.
Credit: Merc / Amazon
- Kool-Aid Orange
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On the grand spectrum of orange-flavored drinks, Orange Kool-Aid lies halfway between Tang and Hi-C. It is as if Hi-C had the acid of Tang and the color of a construction vest. In fact, this tastes a lot like the Tangerine Altoid Sours (that just came back!) or a more sour orange Lifesaver. I think you would be hard-pressed to find someone out there who truly hated this one, and that universal appeal makes it one of the best Kool-Aid flavors.
Credit: Merc / H-E-B
- Kool-Aid Aguas Frescas Piña/Pineapple
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This one surprised me. It is really easy to make a bad pineapple-flavored thing and, hey, Kool-Aid did not take the easy road on this one. Kool-Aid’s pineapple agua fresca has a pretty good pineapple candy taste that reminded me of a Pineapple Starburst candy. It’s very tart and tastes like a blend of tropical flavors. The aftertaste reminded us a little of a banana Laffy Taffy, but not in a bad way, just that it has a sweet aftertaste without any off or bitter flavors. Our expectations were really low for this one but I’ll be the first to say we were wrong. This is, wildly enough, one of the best Kool-Aid flavors.
Credit: Merc / Amazon
- Kool-Aid Strawberry Lemonade
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This one is phenomenal. It tastes like a strawberry lemonade Refresher from Starbucks, and if you threw some ice, caffeine, and freeze-dried strawberries in this bad boy, I would fully and truly believe you paid $6 for it at a coffee shop. This is both very sour and very fruit-forward in the best possible way. It truly tastes like a quintessential strawberry lemonade. We had very few notes on this one. Just try it—it’s the best Kool-Aid flavor we’ve tried so far.
Credit: Merc / Amazon
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The post We Tasted and Ranked 17 Kool-Aid Flavors appeared first on Sporked.