Taco Bell unveils Limeade Sparklers

I’ll give Taco Bell credit — it takes guts to introduce a new limeade to a town that already has versions from Topsy’s, Winstead’s and Sonic firmly entrenched. But courage and a busy food science lab doesn’t mean that the classic limeade and cherry limeade sparklers are worth your $1.69. The proof lies at the end of the straw-scoop hybrid.

Classic Limeade Sparkler

The small print in the current ad campaign tells me there is between 3 percent and 5 percent real lime juice in every sparkler. For some reason when chains tell me they use real ingredients, it makes me more suspicious — i.e., what’s in the other 97 to 95 percent.

As it turns out: Sierra Mist. There’s also a real lime wedge pinned to the side of the plastic cup by ice. The drink tastes just like its three ingredients. It’s essentially a lime Sierra Mist. Great limeades are tart upfront and at the back, with a connector of sweetness. This limeade just alternates between lemon-lime flavor and bursts of lime tartness. You could have the same effect at home fairly easily by squirting a lime wedge into your soda can.