REVIEW: Popeyes Pickle Lemonade

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.

When life gives you cucumbers, you hesitate for a second; maybe you snicker a bit, but then, you make pickles.

Well, what if life gives you both? It appears life had an encounter with the mad scientists over in Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, and they decided to kill two hypothetical birds this time and grace the world with something so weird, so wild, so reckless, I had to try it.

Life comes at you fast.

Yeah, that’s right, it’s time for the main event. I know you’ve read all about Popeyes’ new pickle menu, but this is the one you’ve been waiting for. Fried pickles?! Snooze! Pickle wings? Fickle things! A pickle-glazed chicken sandwich? Surely, they jest! It’s all about the pick de resistance. The pick o’ the litter – the Pickle… Lemonade?

So, uh, yeah, this wasn’t great. It’s exactly what you think it is, but… it coulda been worse.

On one hand, it’s vile, and I hate it; on the other hand, it’s fun and mildly drinkable. I’m torn, and I’ll explain why.

Popeyes nails the ratio. It’s a perfect blend of lemon and pickle flavors if that’s your thing. It tastes like “Country Brine Lemonade.” Since pickle juice is such a dominant flavor, it’s probably 75-25 lemonade, but they seem balanced.

Somehow, it transformed from lemon to pickle mid-sip. The initial taste is a mildly sweet lemonade that transitions into a soft pickle flavor. Honestly, I can tell the base lemonade is probably cloyingly sweet from the flavor and the sugar content, and this might have even made it more palatable. The lemonade itself reminded me of Lemonheads before the pickle burst in.

Diluted pickle dominated the smell, but it wasn’t like taking a huff of a jar; it was like Pickle Brine Lite. I guess you can say the experience goes pickle–lemon–pickle, with just a weird amalgamation of both left to linger in the aftertaste.

If you like bread and butter pickles or sweet relish, this really isn’t that bad. Sure, it’s a strange delivery system for those flavors, but the profile is pretty similar. If I had to give a CliffsNote review, I’d just say it tasted like a chunk-less sweet relish. “Mmmmmm, chunk-less sweet relish.”

I truly didn’t hate it, but I didn’t finish it either. It wore out its welcome after about five sips, and at that point, my sandwich was long gone, so I had nothing to cut the sweet and sour with.

It’s not salty either. If you handed this to me and said it was just an “-ade” made from some exotic South American fruit I wasn’t aware of, I’d feel cultured and think it was kinda good.

So, it’s bad… but it’s kinda good for a few sips. It’s worth trying just to say you did. You might even like it. You can even get it frozen, and it pairs well with Popeyes’ Chicken Sandwich, which definitely still hits.

Purchased Price: $3.99
Size: Medium
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 270 calories, 0 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 380 milligrams of sodium, 71 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 67 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein.