Rhinegeist has been a relatively stalwart beverage maker to the point that I don't even question why I seem to be able to get any one of their beverages here in Tennessee, even though I can't seem to get many Pennsylvania beverages in the same place. The two states (Ohio and PA) are right next to each other, but I can't get a Mad Elf down here for the life of me. I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with what comes to me. And what comes to me now is a hard lemonade.
When I went to pour this, I was not expecting any carbonation. For some reason, this has some. Aside from that, it is a pale white beverage that looks effectively like heavily filtered lime juice injected into a glass of sparkling water. The aroma is a tart mixture of lemons and limes reminiscent of a less sweet version of 7-Up or Sprite. I'm intrigued by why they felt it was necessary to add carbonation to this. Maybe it will help. Either way, I'm going to add the hard soda label in addition to the hard lemonade that I was already going to include.First sip is inoffensive, but it seems really watery. There is tartness, lemons, and lime, but they are sitting in a large vat of water. The carbonation adds a pleasant sensation that helps to mask the fact that there is no substance to this beverage, but my only conclusion from the sip is that there is no substance. And that's a problem.
Tip-in is moderate carbonation burn with a watery lime on top of light lemon. The middle is refreshing, but carbonation takes over the entire mouth as the flavor of the beverage just isn't enough to stand up to all of the bubbles sizzling all over the place. The finish cuts off the carbonation entirely, and the gentle and slightly tart flavors of lemon and lime (honestly, mostly lime) are allowed to hang around for the trail off.
Bottom Line: Refreshing, but ultimately tasteless.
1.75/5