True Citrus’ Lemonade makes for a handy (and a bit healthier) option when you (or the kiddos) are craving a zest of lemonade but aren’t quite up for DIY-ing your own.

The company uses cleaner and simpler ingredients than the typical classics (Crystal Light and Country Time) but without the added artificial coloring, artificial sweeteners, artificial flavors, and preservatives.  Oh, and because of True Citrus’ uses more gentle processing, you actually get a small dose of flavonoids (limonene) aka the antioxidant-fighting molecules found in lemons.

TC’s lemonade is made using fairly short list of ingredients: Citric Acid, Lemon Oil, Lemon Juice, Cane Sugar, Ascorbic Acid,  Stevia Leaf Extract, a touch-o-turmeric (for color) and natural flavor (I’m assuming this includes maltodextrin...but I haven’t quite followed up with TC on this question yet).  

When I see “natural flavor” I tend to start digging around because it’s often a catch-all term brands use to hide their shiftier ingredients (like MSG) but True Citrus mentioned on their website that all of the flavors listed under “natural flavors” come directly from their citrus fruits and that explained that it’s 100% free of MSG. TC also doesn’t chemically process their stevia leaf.

True Citrus isn’t currently made from organic fruits.  And for my corn-allergic friends, True Citrus does source their Non-GMO citric acid and maltodextrin from corn.

I appreciated True Citrus’ sourcing transparency online.  All the manufacturing happens on US of A soil but some of the basic ingredients are sourced from China, Mexico and Brazil.

When my extended family heads up for a long weekend lake trip I’ll usually pack a few of TC’s lemonade and their black cherry limeade packs. Mostly because I know that it’s a good alternative to some of the other options around. Plus, with the extra heat from traveling south, I usually like my water with a splash of something come lunch time.  It’s more of a vacay snack instead of an every-week kind of drink for me.

What healthier alternatives do you like bringing on vacation? Do you have any healthy homemade lemonade/limeade recipes you’d like to share? I’d love to read it and share with my sister.

XOXO,

Lemon

Good for You - True Citrus' Lemonade is free from artificial sweeteners, flavors, preservatives.  It also doesn’t have sodium, monosodium glutamate, glutamic acid and gluten.  You will want to be a bit mindful of the maltodextrin, the small amount of sugar, and (this ingredient is still on the fence) citric acid.

Good for Others - True Citrus Supports the Feed the Need program which features a 1-to-1 ratio, for every UPC code the program donates one meal. I also really appreciate TC's “Live True” social media movement. 

Good for Earth - True Citrus purchases rebiana stevia from companies that only refine with water-based extraction. That method can decrease the amount of synthetic chemicals released and applied in the ecosystem. TC’s is also made up of 40 team members who recycle on the daily. But they also are working on creating a thinner box to leave a smaller footprint. In the meantime, the True Lemon box is recyclable. We appreciated their sourcing transparency and have fingers crossed that in the future for fewer imports.

C&C Overall - Like I mentioned above, this little drink packets are more of a vacation snack instead of an every-week kind of drink for me. I think it's an especially great tool to help friends/family wean off sugar or aspartame-packed sodas. You can add it to sparkling water (but be forewarned, too much and it'll over-bubble almost like a mento and coke).  It does have a stevia-taste to it (which didn't really bug me) but hard-core straight sugar fans might be a bit surprised.   It's priced fairly well for packet drinks—if you plan on having a stevia-lemonade in bulk it'd probably be cheaper to squeeze straight lemons and add your own stevia.