Review: Crystal Light Vodka Refreshers Are A Swing And A Miss On Flavor

Low-rise jeans, body glitter, and Crystal Light in a water bottle full of vodka: For my teenage self –and many other Americans who lived through the late '90s and early 2000s — this was the winning combination. It was a fast track to being what I coveted most in this world: Cool in the eyes of my peers. So naturally, when Crystal Light let slip that a canned vodka cocktail was coming, my interest was piqued.

Since the Y2K aesthetic is popular right now, this boozy product is actually a very smart move for the brand. The company even noted in its press release that it is aware that the powdered, low-calorie drink mix is already a popular cocktail ingredient. So, for better or worse, I was ready to see if the Crystal Light Vodka Refreshers lived up to expectations.

Of course, I won't just be trying the canned beverages and sharing my thoughts as an experienced drinker (hey, it's part of my job). I will also be mixing up my own take on the cocktail to the best of my ability, comparing the canned version to the real, DIY 2000s deal. Hopefully, my mixology skills have improved since 2006.

The new Crystal Light Vodka Refreshers will be available in two flavors to start: Wild Strawberry and Lemonade. The product boasts of being: "The lowest calorie vodka refresher on the market." This is a clear sign Y2K is rearing its ugly head, coming in at just 77 calories per can. The drinks are sugar and carb-free, and contain 3.8% alcohol by volume (ABV). For context, Surfside Lemonade + Vodka has 100 calories, 3 grams of carbs, and 2 grams of sugar, and is 4.5% ABV; Deep Eddy's lemon vodka soda comes in at 120 calories with 7 grams of carbohydrates and 6 grams of sugar. It's also 4.5% ABV. 

Starting in the Northeast United States (and presumably working their way down and to the West), the Crystal Light Vodka Refreshers come in packs of four and cost $9.99 each. The company promises new options in 2026 — which we can probably assume will feature other popular Crystal Light flavors — as well as a flavor multipack.

Right off the bat, I was not a fan of this canned cocktail. The Crystal Light Lemonade Vodka Refresher smells like floor cleaner, with an overwhelmingly strong scent reminiscent of lemon zest. The color is pleasing and the bubbles are mild enough to appeal to people who enjoy fizzy drinks but also not bother those who prefer a flat beverage.

Flavor-wise, the Lemonade Crystal Light Vodka Refresher is exactly what I expected based on the scent. It's how I imagine Lysol would taste if it wasn't actually chemicals. I'm curious about which alternative sweetener was used, as the flavor is pretty strong, pushing past all that fake lemon. You can't taste the vodka, though it's not particularly surprising given the low ABV. If you are a big limoncello fan, you might enjoy this new drink. But I am not, so I don't love this beverage.

The scent of the Wild Strawberry Crystal Light Vodka Refresher is a bit more appealing than the lemonade. It's still quite artificial smelling, but closer to those strawberry candies with the gooey inside that grandparents always have in their pockets or bags than it is cleaning supplies. It reminds me of strawberry jam, Fruit Roll-Ups, or fruit snacks.

The color is a lovely light pink, and the bubble is the same as the lemonade (so fairly inoffensive). The taste is less aggressive than the smell, with a sticky, jammy, sweet flavor profile that reminds me of artificial cotton candy at the end. For some reason, the sweetener is less forward here than it is in the lemonade Vodka Refresher, which is a big asset. I wouldn't go out of my way to drink this, but gun to my head, I would pick Wild Strawberry over lemonade.

It's time to put my money where my mouth is and try the DIY version of the Crystal Light Vodka Refreshers — which played a bigger part than I'd like in my high school experience. For this little experiment, I grabbed packs of the Crystal Light lemonade drink mix and the Crystal Light Wild Strawberry mix. The Wild Strawberry is caffeinated, as that was the only option at my local Target; hopefully, it won't impact the flavor.

The booze comes through a lot more in the DIY lemonade Crystal Light Vodka Refresher. (I wonder if that explains the super intense fake sugar flavor in the canned one?) Oddly, the homemade version makes me appreciate the canned one more. The color is much more saturated, to the point that I kind of think I might be onto a cheap, quick version of limoncello. With some tinkering, it could be a winner, though that negates the point of a canned cocktail, at least to some degree.

My DIY Strawberry Crystal Light Vodka Refresher honestly didn't taste that much different from the canned one. Similar to the lemonade, the color of my version was much, much darker (which I low-key think fits the jammy, candy flavor more than the bubblegum pink). Overall there was little difference between the two.

To honor my teenage years (and to avoid flashbacks of my 16-year-old friends calling Marianne "such a baby" for wanting a chaser [sorry Marianne]) I tried both Crystal Light flavors mixed with straight vodka – and not the expensive stuff. Don't do this with either flavor, it's as awful as you remember.

While pleasantly bubbly and conceptually appealing, I find the Crystal Light Vodka Refreshers to be overly sweet and chemically tasting. I can see the attraction to a wider audience, picturing someone — not me — drinking them at an outdoor event or poolside. Personally, the flavors are too artificial and candy-forward. I would consider trying other flavors when they arrive at my local grocery store (raspberry lemonade and fruit punch would be my first choices out of the other Crystal Light offerings), but based on these two alone I would not recommend the Crystal Light Vodka Refreshers or purposefully drink them again.

Want to make the Crystal Light Vodka Refreshers yourself? You kind of can, but I would suggest starting with a smaller batch and tasting as you go to get the balance to your liking. And for the love of god, do not skip the seltzer unless you'd like to take a trip down memory lane to the backseat of Jimmy's car, shaking a Poland Spring bottle full of vodka and telling your friends: "It's not that bad."

If you're someone searching for a sweet, low-calorie canned cocktail with a little bit of bubbles (that won't get you wasted), you can certainly do worse, but I think you could also do better. At $2.50 per can, it may be worth taking the gamble.