Spring is in full flower, bringing with it warmer days, ballgames, barbecues, and picnics. You’ll need cold refreshments with all that running around, but let’s be honest: Beer can’t meet all your hydration needs. Then again, water gets boring fast, and most commercially produced juices are cloyingly sweet, nutritionally laughable, or both. So, we found five fruit juices and juice blends that are sure to please your taste buds and quench your thirst. These organic options are also healthier than your average store-bought refreshers, so drink up.

 

Santa Cruz Organic Limeade
$2.59 for 32 oz., scojuice.com
Lightly sweet and nicely tart, this juice was one of the few that our tasters agreed was balanced enough to drink straight-up without risking sugar shock. It could also be mixed with seltzer to create a refreshing, light drink with just a hint of citrus.

Adina Lime Mint Mojita
$3.49 for 14 oz., adinaworld.com
This beverage is exactly what you would hope for from a virgin mojito: a fresh, spearminty nose, with subtle citrus notes and only a tiny bit of sugar. It also has an herbal tea-like quality that made us feel healthier with every sip (a lot more than we can say for the non-virgin mojitos we’ve had).

Walnut Acres Organic Mango Nectar
$3.69 for 32 oz., walnutacres.com
Can’t find a fresh mango? Here’s the next best thing: a nectar with a thick, velvety texture, and an intense, deep flavor to match. Since mango is naturally very sweet, some of our tasters said they’d
prefer it mixed with seltzer.

RW Knudsen Organic Pear Juice
$5 for 32 oz., knudsenjuices.com
We tasted a number of pear juices, but only this one made us feel like we were biting into a fresh, ripe pear. The flavor edges slightly toward apples at the finish. It’s sweet but not cloying, making it a good alternative to often-saccharine apple juice. We also liked Knudsen’s Mango Nectar, which is juicier and less sweet than the Walnut Acres version.

Italian Volcano Blood Orange Juice
$5.69 for 25 oz., deliciousorganics.com
The acidic, spicy tang of this thick juice left us no doubt that it’s the real deal. With just a trace of sweetness and a mouth-puckering finish, it’s a great choice for sipping over breakfast, but also works well in cocktails, where its distinctive blood-orange color really stands out.