If you had told me that I had still not done a review of the original Mike's Hard Lemonade, I would call you a damn liar. Yet, when I picked up this multi-pack, one of the first things I did was search to see which ones I had already done a review of. It turns out, I don't believe I've done any of them. It's strange, as I have had Mike's Hard Lemonade in the past many times, and I recall enjoying it enough, but I appear to never have gotten around to actually doing a review of it. Well, I haven't had this in years, so it is going to have to stand on its own.
I vaguely remember Mike's being carbonated, and it turns out it is. I have stated in the past that carbonating lemonade is a mistake, and I'm going to repeat it again. Carbonation should be used in a lemonade only when you have no confidence that you have produced a good lemonade that can adequately cover or enhance the alcohol flavor already in the beverage. The aroma is heavy lemons. This smells just like lemonade. My mouth is watering just at the very thought of a nice, fresh lemonade right now.
First sip is nice and smooth. My favorite regular lemonade is Simply Lemonade, and that is much more strident and heavy with its flavors than this is. This is a nice, light take on a lemonade that is not too sweet, doesn't have too much carbonation (although any is kind of a detriment) and is giving no indication that alcohol is hidden in the depths of the beverage. I suppose that's pretty easy to do at 5% ABV.
Tip-in is mild carbonation with a not overly sweetened lemonade that is, unfortunately, from concentrate. I think almost everyone who enjoys lemonade enjoys it when it is fresh squeezed or at least squeezed at some point rather than concentrated and reconstituted later. The middle gets sweeter, but it's smooth in a deceptive way. The finish adds lemon tart to the end to further cover up the alcohol that I, effectively, can't really taste.
4.0/5