We Tried Viral Whipped Lemonade And It Wasn't What We Thought It'd Be

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It sounds cliché, but if there's one thing I love on a hot summer day, it's a cold treat. I'm admittedly more of an ice cream kind of girl, but I enjoy a good sip every now and again, too. Drinks like this old-school lemonade recipe from 1944 literally taste like summer, so when I came across several recipes for homemade whipped lemonade on social media, I knew I had to give it a try. 

Pictures of the drink left me salivating; every close-up featured creamy layers that I couldn't imagine being anything less than pure delight. I wrote down the ingredients and shoved them in my purse — I had to taste "viral" whipped lemonade now. After throwing all the ingredients into my shopping cart, I drove back home eager for what was in store. The results? Quite shocking, actually. 

In the upcoming post, I'm detailing everything you need to know about viral whipped lemonade, including what it is, what's needed to make it, and how much it costs. I'll also fill you in on the process of making this creamy treat, all before delivering my honest opinion about whether or not this viral sip is actually worth your time and money. If that sounds interesting, then stick around; I've got the lemons — it's time to make (whipped) lemonade! 

Whipped lemonade can be described as a thick, lusciously creamy version of lemonade. Social media is littered with photos of the drink, where its texture looks like a cross between a milkshake and a slushie.

Whipped lemonade likely got its start on TikTok, though it isn't clear exactly where the current-day version of the drink originated. With so many different approaches to whipped lemonade, it's hard to pinpoint which is the true original. Either way, the internet has since blown up with adoration for the drink, so, of course, I was excited to give it a try. After all, what better way to cool off than to slurp a drink possessing all the deliciousness of a lemony milkshake slushie, right?

Kinda. Though I was certainly excited to try whipped lemonade, there were parts of me that wondered how well the ingredients would play together. Wouldn't the lemon juice curdle the cream? Would the dairy ingredients used in whipped lemonade prove too heavy to allow the flavor of the lemons through? Eager to put my questions to the test, I grabbed my ingredients and forged ahead.

Whipped lemonade needs only a handful of ingredients, some of which you may already have on hand. Though recipes found online sometimes contain different ingredients, most I found only require five additions: heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, ice, and whipped cream. 

Since the aforementioned ingredients seem to be the most often used in whipped lemonade recipes, they are what I chose to go with. Other variations of whipped lemonade include using whipped cream in place of heavy cream (yes, you can still put additional whipped cream on top), Kool-Aid packets, creamed coconut, vodka, and other interesting add-ins that would no doubt yield a different texture, color, and flavor than the one I've made here. 

Don't forget to stick around all the way until the end; after trying whipped lemonade, I'll be offering up several non-traditional ingredient suggestions I think can further enhance the drink's flavor.

Whipped lemonade could be cheap to make, but truth be told, I personally found it a bit expensive. I didn't have any of the ingredients on hand, which meant I had to visit my local grocer to purchase each one. The heavy cream, bag of lemons, whipped cream, and even condensed milk each cost $3 and up. I also purchased a bag of ice since I didn't have any stashed in my freezer, which tacked on an additional $2.

Of course, whether you'll find whipped lemonade expensive will depend on several factors, including how much of it you decide to make, the cost of groceries near you, and, of course, whether or not you already have the ingredients on hand. By the way, you can make sweetened condensed milk at home, which can save you a little extra cash, too. Still, having purchased every ingredient for whipped lemonade at my local Pick 'n Save, I was left with a receipt for nearly $20 –- something I deem quite steep for a drink this simple.

Whipped lemonade is anything but healthy. In fact, it's probably one of the unhealthiest homemade drinks I've ever made. 

Starting with heavy cream, it goes without saying that the ingredient is, well, heavy. I used Land-O-Lakes Heavy Cream, which contains 50 calories and 5 grams of fat per 1-tablespoon serving. Given that I used 1 ½ cups of heavy cream in my whipped lemonade, we're looking at about 1,200 calories and 120 grams of fat per recipe. But fun doesn't stop there – the version of whipped lemonade I used also calls for 1 cup of sweetened condensed milk, which so happened to be a full can of Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk when measured using a measuring cup. Sadly, there are 130 calories and 18 grams of sugar per 2 tablespoons in this sweetened condensed milk; thus, you could easily top 180 grams of sugar and an additional 1300 calories by utilizing the whole can. Yikes!

Thankfully, because of its richness, I think most people could only stomach a fraction of the amount of whipped lemonade I made. Considering calories, fat, and sugar involved, I'd say it's probably for the best.

Yes, whipped lemonade is very easy to make — simply toss all of your ingredients into a blender, give it a whirl, pour, and top with whipped cream. Even so, there is still at least one somewhat time-consuming step to the recipe, and that's juicing the lemons.

Of course, you could use a standard manual-operated juicer such as this OXO Good Grips 2-in-1 Citrus Juicer like I did, or you could take the easier route of purchasing an electric juicer, like this Black+Decker Electric Citrus Juicer found on Amazon. If you really want to make this recipe simple, you could use bottled lemon juice, though the drink may not pack as much flavor if you choose to take that route.

As far as how long juicing my lemons took, it actually went surprisingly fast. There's a microwave hack to get more juice out of lemons that states that nuking your citrus fruits before squeezing them can yield more juice; though I've tried it before, I frankly didn't feel like going the extra mile to complete this step. Without the hack, I was still able to juice the lemons fairly quickly — it took about five minutes using a standard manual juicer. 

It was the moment I'd been waiting for — time to see if whipped lemonade is all it's hyped up to be. Upon getting started, my first thought was to prepare my fresh lemon juice. This process was similar to when you're trying to make the perfect lemonade from scratch – you simply slice the lemons, juice, and strain. I grabbed my manual juicer and got started. The overall process was easier than I imagined, and it only took three lemons to yield ½ cup of juice. I needed to strain the juice a couple of times to get the bits and pieces out, but overall, the entire process took about five minutes, if that.

Setting my freshly squeezed lemon juice to the side, I began measuring the rest of the ingredients. I started with the heavy cream before working my way to the condensed milk and ice. As I measured each, I couldn't help but wince at how rich the drink was; as mentioned before, whipped lemonade isn't a recipe for the faint of heart in terms of fat, calories, and sugar. Finally, I poured in my freshly squeezed lemon juice before affixing the blender top.

After adding the ingredients to my blender, it was time to give 'em a whirl. I turned it on and watched it go. The incorporation of all contents took less than 15 seconds, though I went ahead and blended for the full 30 seconds as some recipes suggest. The final result was like pourable whipped cream — extremely thick with, disappointingly, little to no recognizable ice chunks.

In case you're wondering, I did use a high-powered Ninja blender, but after trying this recipe for myself, I'm not sure its use was necessary. Because the recipe contains mostly smooth ingredients (save the cup of ice, of course), you'll probably get along just fine using any standard blender. If you opt not to use a high-powered blender, be aware that your whipped lemonade may turn out with a different consistency — I'd imagine it might have an icier texture, but since I haven't tried it with any other blender type, I can't say for sure.

Once the whipped lemonade was fully blended, I poured it into a 16-ounce mug and was impressed with the amount produced. Though the amount of whipped lemonade you'll get from your recipe may vary, mine was quite generous; I wasn't sure I'd make it through it all. I topped the creamy concoction with whipped cream and placed a simple slice of lemon on top.

I must say that garnishing this homemade whipped lemonade was very satisfying, though in the back of my mind, I couldn't help but wonder if it would taste as good as it looked. The drink was ghostly white in appearance and was quite thick. Also, because of its lack of iciness, I began to seriously wonder if my whipped lemonade would actually shape up to be the refreshing sip I thought it would be. 

I grabbed my metal straw, stuck it in, and took a sip. And the flavor that hit my taste buds shocked me. 

Whipped lemonade isn't all that – but that's just my humble opinion. What I assumed would be a refreshing lemon-forward summer drink was the opposite of my expectations, leading me to believe that most of the excitement over whipped lemonade is pure hype.

So, where does whipped lemonade go wrong? It may be the way I made it, but the drink was by no means refreshing. The amount of ice I used (1 cup as called for in the recipe) wasn't nearly enough to make the drink as cold as it needed to be. Aside from its temperature, I also felt the drink lacked lemon-y flavor, which was disappointing since that kinda defeats the whole purpose. Sure, the tartness of the lemon was there, but as for actual lemon flavor, there was none. To me, it tasted like bland whipped cream essenced with a hint of tanginess.

Oh, and one more thing — though there's tons of sugar in whipped lemonade, I found the drink didn't taste as sweet as I expected; oddly, my Reddi Whip tasted sweeter on the tongue than the whipped lemonade itself.

As excited as I was to try whipped lemonade, I don't find the viral drink as tasty as people claim. It isn't refreshing, doesn't taste like lemon, and is way too decadent. Having said that, there are a few tweaks to the recipe that, if I ever opted to make it again, I believe could help it taste better.

Though most whipped lemonade recipes I've seen don't call for vanilla extract, I'd suggest adding a splash of it. Use a high-quality variety like Magnolia-Star Pure Vanilla to ensure robust flavor. I'd also suggest not only adding more lemon juice, but also the zest of a lemon, as I believe this will help to enhance and intensify its lemon flavor (don't forget to flip your grater upside down for an easier way to zest citrus). Last but not least, if it's hot outside and you're in the mood for a super-cold drink, you may consider adding double the ice; just be aware that this step might not always be necessary depending on the recipe and blender type you use.

All in all, I think whipped lemonade has potential. But as it stands, its lack of lemon flavor, over-the-top richness, and higher price point doesn't inspire me to want to try this recipe again.