LaCroix

Limoncello

Ciao, Bella! is all we have to say about this epic southern Italia-inspired sparkling water.

This is LaCroix’s 2020 addition to their growing list of bubbler staples, and in the blur of this year’s disappointments, the arrival of Limoncello to the LaCroix roster is one of the lone bright spots. 

Plus, we get memories of that one time in Positano… but we digress. 🤫

Upon first glance, the can’s bright yellow evokes joy: just try and be sad gazing upon that sunshiney slice of Lisa Frank heaven. Here, the lemon is the sun itself, emitting heavenly rays from its delicious fruit-bearing body. With hot pink and purple swirls and accents, you know that this didn’t come to be a wallflower. This is star power. 

And the nose on this one is wild. It is at once subtle and unassuming, but when you really get in there, you get a distinct lemon poppyseed muffin. We dare you to unsmell this now. 

Tasting Notes

🍋🍰💦🤯 

Wow. This is not for the faint of heart. We are at peak birthday cake here. A lemony cake that somehow has managed to retain its moistness for an ungodly amount of time. This is a liquid dessert — in the best way. You’re not hammering your palate with one note sweetness. You’re getting layers of confection. This is an explosion of taste.

As you sip further and ponder the universe/this can of LaCroix, you can even get undercurrents of almond. The flavors in this continually have us drifting back to memories and desserts of yore. Do you know what Blue Moon ice cream is?  It’s in here too, somehow, even though no one really knows exactly what that flavor is. 

What we’re trying to say is that this sparkling water fills the spirit with both optimism and nostalgia, an impressive feat. 

Much like real limoncello, the sweetness of the lemon here is a buoyant, round Meyer lemon flavor, not the bitter sourness that you usually associate with the yellow puckermeister.  That’s because real limoncello is produced with lemon zest, not that fleshy middle that you squeeze into your tea. 

So speaking of actual limoncello: did LaCroix actually come up with a flavor that could compare to the dreamy candied liquor of the Mediterranean? 

How’s it stand up?

If you think we didn’t taste test this alongside the real thing, think again, because oh, we definitely did. If there’s ever a reason to relive your trip to Capri through libation, it’s the heroic task of writing sparkling water reviews.

We were pretty sure that for as much as we fell for the outlandishness of this sparkling water, that this particular LaCroix flavor was something unto itself, with actual limoncello a literal and figurative continent away. But lo and behold! This comes really close! Hats off, because we didn’t think such a singular liquor could translate to a mere sparkling water, but it does. And it makes us appreciate this little can of sunshine even more. 

One minor thing, the lemon in the genuine limoncello is stronger. The LaCroix doppleganger skews towards the muffin a little more than maybe it should.  Something bright to cut the dominant vanilla cake here would be appreciated.  

But this flavor is bold cartoonishness at its best. Quite frankly, this is exactly what 2020 needed.  Grazie, LaCroix!