Rio Rancho college students take idea of 'lemonade stands' to the next level

RIO RANCHO — When people are young and want to make money, they start a lemonade stand in their neighborhood.

Well, Rio Rancho college students Shanya Mascarenas, Shanille Mascarenas, and Kylie Velasquez did just that. However, the three family members took it a bit further than a classic lemonade stand.

“We were trying to find some way to help us get through college,” Velasquez said. “So, we put our twist on that kid lemonade stand and made it a little bit more grown up.”

Now, their successful lemonade business is a popular food truck in the metropolitan area called “Phuckers Lemonade.”

“With lemons, you kind of pucker up so we did a little word play on that,” said Velasquez, who has been credited with the creation of the name.

Also, according to Shanya, the spelling of “phuckers” was absolutely intentional and meant to give their business ”that twist since it is practically an adult lemonade stand.”

Phuckers Lemonade offers fresh-fruit craft lemonade, specialty drinks, shaved ice and some snacks such as candy, pickles and nachos.

“We make real fruit lemonade. You can get dragon fruit or even try out our new ‘Swamp Princess’ drink, which is my favorite one because it is so much fun,” Shanya said.

The Swamp Princess drink is a mango and blue coconut combination, topped off with gummy worms and a shiny tiara.

“It’s good energy here. It’s all college girls, and also our fresh fruit mixes kind of distinguish us from some of the other trucks around town,” Velasquez said.

Some other popular drinks include the Mangonada, Sandianada, “Phucker on the Beach” drink, and the strawberry-mango lemonade.

“It’s just a really great thing to do during the summer when we don’t have school and stuff. It’s also a great way for the whole family to bond,” Shanille said. “I love it.”

In the couple years that Phuckers Lemonade has been open, they have won several awards, most recently taking home seven platinum awards in January 2025 through CommunityVotes in Rio Rancho, Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

“It makes me feel really proud of our whole family to work so hard, and be recognized by our communities,” Shanille said.

If you would like to find Phuckers Lemonade or see their schedule, you can visit their Instagram, Facebook or TikTok.

“Give us a try. You never know until you try it,” Shanya said. “We are trying to do something different. We want to make sure that we have better quality so that we are giving a good experience to people who come up to our lemonade stand,” Shanya said.