Sqwincher Qwik Stik Review: Lemonade Tea Tested
I mixed a Sqwincher Qwik Stik into 20oz of water to kick my sweet iced tea habit. Here's how the zero-sugar lemonade tea actually tastes.
Reviewed by
Scott Ayres
Welcome to the Product Demo lab where I (Scott) demo products so you can make an educated buying decision. I keep it real, honest and laid back.
This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Quick Verdict
I mixed a qwik stik in 20 ounces of water and my first sip was "Oh, wow, the lemonade is strong." It reads like an Arnold Palmer where the lemonade wins and the tea plays backup. Sugar-free, pocket-sized, and it killed my overpriced iced tea habit.
Buy if you:
- are trying to quit sweet bottled iced tea to cut sugar and cost
- want a stick you can toss in a pocket, purse, or gym bag
- like an Arnold Palmer with a lemonade-forward lean
- hate drinking plain water and need a flavor kick
Skip if you:
- want a strong black tea taste, the tea is faint here
- don’t like shaking, it clumps at first before it clears
- prefer real sugar sweetness over a not-sweet, zero-sugar mix
| Flavor | Lemonade Tea (black tea variety) |
|---|---|
| Packet size | .11 oz single-serve stick |
| Mix ratio | 1 stick per 16-20 oz water |
| Pack count | 50 sticks |
| Diet | Sugar free, low calorie, gluten free |
| Shelf life | 450 days |
My Sweet Iced Tea Habit Met Qwik Stik
Sweet iced tea is my Achilles heel. I love it, but I was spending too much money on it and pouring way too much sugar down my throat, so I went looking for something to fill the gap. That’s how I ended up with the Sqwincher Qwik Stik in Lemonade Tea. Zero sugar, low sodium, gluten free, hardly any calories in the thing. I hadn’t opened a single stick before I hit record, so this qwik stik review is me tasting it for the first time right alongside you.
What’s In the Bag and How It Mixes
You get 50 little individual sticks in a bag, one stick per 20 ounces of water. At.11 oz each, the sticks are shorter than a pen cap, small enough that I slipped three into my jeans pocket without thinking about it. Twenty ounces is the typical size of most water bottles, so you literally dump a stick in, shake it, and drink.
Each.11 oz packet is sugar free, low calorie, low sodium, and gluten free. The listing runs it as an electrolyte mix meant to replenish fluids after work, exercise, or heat, but I bought it purely as an iced tea replacement. There’s a tear spot up top, though you’ll need to squint to find it on such a tiny packet.
The First Sip: “Oh, Wow”
I dumped one stick into a Yeti shaker bottle with 20 ounces of water. Those Yeti shaker bottles are the move here, by the way, because you don’t need the little metal whisk ball. It was a little clumpy at first, powder floating on top, but once I gave it a good shake it settled and looked just like regular tea. No haze, no floaties. Smell-wise, I could immediately pick up the lemonade. A nice lemonade smell, exactly like walking up to an Arnold Palmer.
Then the taste: lemonade hits first and hits hard, with the black tea arriving as a quiet finish rather than a co-star. What surprised me is that it’s not the face-puckering sour you get from a Crystal Light lemonade, it’s dialed to that sweet spot where you keep sipping instead of wincing. The tea is genuinely faint, but the lemonade is strong enough to carry the whole cup.
The Tea Takes a Back Seat
The tea flavor is faint, and that’s the one catch worth knowing. If you’re buying this expecting a bold black tea with a squeeze of lemon, you’ll get the ratio flipped. It’s lemonade first, tea a distant second. For me chasing a lighter iced-tea alternative, that worked out fine, but a real tea purist might miss the tea. The clumping at the start is worth knowing about. Skip the shake and you’ll be sipping powder off the top before it dissolves, so give it a real shake, not a swirl.
Get it now
Sqwincher Qwik Stik
Get the best price on Amazon βThis post contains affiliate links. I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Who This Qwik Stik Is Actually For
The sweet spot is someone who’s buying a $2, $3 bottled tea every day out of habit, not because they love it. A 50-stick bag gets you 50 servings for roughly the price of three of those bottles. If the reason you buy bottled tea is that plain water bores you into not drinking it, this solves that problem for less than a nickel a cup. It also works as a post-workout drink without the 40-plus grams of sugar in most bottled teas or the artificial aftertaste of a lot of zero-sugar sports drinks.
Sqwincher Qwik Stik vs. Bottled Sweet Tea
Against the bottled sweet tea I was buying, the Stik wins on the two things that pushed me to try it: sugar and cost. Bottled tea is loaded with sugar and you’re paying per bottle every single trip. A stick is zero sugar and you’re just adding water you already have. Where bottled tea still wins is that instant, deep tea flavor. The Stik leans lemonade and keeps the tea light, so if the actual brewed-tea taste is what you crave, the bottle delivers that better. For cutting sugar without feeling like you’re drinking flavored water, the Stik is the smarter swap.
Tips Before You Mix Your First One
Use a shaker bottle if you have one. The clumping clears up fast with a proper shake, and the Yeti-style bottles do it without any whisk ball. Stick to the 20-ounce ratio for that “good amount” balance; if it’s too strong for you, the mix dilutes easily with more water, so start there rather than overthinking it. And find the tear notch at the top before you’re standing over a full bottle. It’s a small stick and the opening isn’t obvious at a glance.
Pros
- Strong, satisfying lemonade flavor that reads like an Arnold Palmer
- Not sour and not sweet, a balanced “good amount”
- Zero sugar, low sodium, low calorie, gluten free
- Tiny sticks fit a pocket, purse, or gym bag easily
- Mixes clear in a shaker bottle and looks just like regular tea
Cons
- Tea flavor is faint, lemonade dominates the cup
- Powder clumps at first and needs a real shake to dissolve
- The tear spot on the small packet isn’t easy to spot
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Qwik Stik really have zero sugar?
Yes, the Sqwincher Zero Qwik Stik is sugar free with only low calories per stick. It’s also low sodium and gluten free, which is why it worked as my swap for high-sugar bottled tea.
Is it gluten free and does it have allergens?
The listing lists it as gluten free with tea as a special ingredient. Check the packet’s own label for the full allergen and ingredient breakdown before buying if you have specific sensitivities.
How long do the sticks last on the shelf?
The product shelf life is listed at 450 days. Since each stick is individually sealed, you can keep the unused ones in the bag and grab them one at a time without worrying about the whole batch going stale.
Can I use one stick in more than 20 ounces of water?
Yes. The recommended ratio is one stick per 16-20 ounces, but if you want it milder you can dilute it more. The flavor is strong enough that stretching it a little still tastes good.
Do I need a special bottle to mix it?
No, any water bottle works, but a shaker bottle helps a lot. It’s a little clumpy at first, and a good shake in a Yeti-style shaker clears it up fast without needing the metal whisk ball.
Does it taste more like tea or lemonade?
Lemonade, clearly. The lemonade is strong and up front, while the tea sits in the background. If you like an Arnold Palmer, that’s basically the profile you’re getting.
Is this good for workouts or hot days, not just as an iced tea swap?
Yes. The listing markets it as an electrolyte mix meant to replenish fluids and electrolytes lost during exercise, work, or heat. So it pulls double duty as a hydration drink and a flavor upgrade for plain water.
Does it come in other flavors like orange?
I tested the Lemonade Tea flavor here, but Sqwincher’s Qwik Stik line does include other options like orange. If lemonade tea isn’t your thing, it’s worth checking the product page for the flavor list.
Clicking takes you to the seller's website. We may earn a small commission if you purchase, at no extra cost to you.
Get it now
Sqwincher Qwik Stik
Get the best price on Amazon βThis post contains affiliate links. I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
ποΈ Shop everything in this video
Every product mentioned, in one place β these are affiliate links, so I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
ποΈ Sqwincher Zero Qwik Stik Lemonade Tea Powder β check price on Amazon β
About the reviewer
Scott Ayres
Welcome to the Product Demo lab where I (Scott) demo products so you can make an educated buying decision. I keep it real, honest and laid back.
