Welch’s Strawberry Lemonade – I like it.  I love it.  I want more of it.  But after studying the label carefully, I probably shouldn’t drink it too often.  BUT….It is so refreshingly delicious.

The story began on a trip to the Kroger grocery store.  True confession.  Some days I hate going to the grocery store.   Sad but true.  On this day, Ever-Lovin’ was with me.  (He didn’t want to go either, but if we were to have food in the house, someone had to go, and we decided to support each other. – Ain’t that sweet!)  Our basket was full of good stuff – some fresh fruits and veggies plus the basics.  We try.  But at the end of an aisle, right beyond the turkey sausage crumbles was a display that caught my eye.  Stacked high were shiny bottles of Welch’s Sparkling Beverages.  There was Cherry Limeade, Raspberry Limeade, Mango Passion Fruit, and (drum roll) Strawberry Lemonade.

Strawberry Lemonade – oh,my!  I do like/love strawberry lemonade.  I have been known to make it, but the pretty bottle was so inviting.  Not only was it strawberry lemonade, it was SPARKLING Strawberry lemonade.  That was even better.  We reasoned that it would probably be better for us than soda, and more refreshing.  We gently put two bottles into the basket and headed to checkout.  This was our reward for going to the grocery store.

The bottle instructions said to serve the strawberry lemonade well chilled.  Into the refrigerator it did go, and we waited an entire day.  (See.  We can show restraint.)

Sweet Mother of Pearl.  It was fantastic.  Tart, but not to tart.  Sweet, but not too sweet.   Bubbly, light, and refreshing.

When Jenny stopped by, we felt proud to be able to offer her strawberry lemonade.  Se loved it also.

After looking at the label, I noticed that it has 10% fruit juice and 140 calories per serving.  Not too good.  The first ingredient listed was the sparkling water, then high fructose corn syrup, and then the fruit juice concentrates.  This is probably not much worse than homemade lemonade made with simple syrup, but I can not drink this goodness too often.  At least it does not have caffeine.

Blessings to you and yours,

As usual, Welch’s does not have any idea who I am.  Just wanted to share.

We are looking forward to trying the other flavors – especially the cherry limeade.

Did you know that Welch’s has been in business since 1869?  That would be 144 years if my math is correct.

Here is information from the Welch’s website.  Imagine – Welch’s grape juice began because they wanted to have “unfermented wine” to use during their church’s communion.

The story of Welch’s began in 1869 in Vineland, New Jersey – when physician and dentist Thomas Bramwell Welch and his son Charles processed the first bottles of “unfermented wine” to use during their church’s communion service.

Today Welch’s is the world’s leading marketer of Concord and Niagara-based grape products – with over 400 items ranging from refrigerated juices and sparkling juice cocktails to jams, jellies and a variety of single-serve products in all shapes and sizes. Our headquarters is in Concord, Massachusetts – birthplace of the Concord grape. Our products are sold throughout the U.S. and in more than 35 countries and territories around the world.

At the heart of it all: our family of growers.

The National Grape Cooperative Association, Inc. acquired Welch’s in 1952. A grower-owned agricultural cooperative, National Grape is comprised of 1,150 grape growers with farms throughout Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington and Ontario, Canada.

Welch’s and National Grape operate under a unique two-board system. National Grape focuses on producing and delivering premium-quality grapes and we convert the grapes into the delicious products we’ve become famous for. It’s a cohesive, mutually beneficial relationship – based on family tradition that shares strong generational ties to the past and present.

Live and learn.