The Best Lemon Lime Soda (Now with Prebiotic Soda, Too)

The best lemon lime soda is bright and refreshing and, ideally, tastes like lemon and lime in equal measure. It should have a robust fizz that’s as zesty as its flavor. Basically, even though it’s not the most thrilling soda flavor, it shouldn’t be boring.

Until I wrote a short, benign review of Starry, which replaced Sierra Mist in stores back in 2023, I didn’t know how strongly people felt about lemon lime soda. I don’t drink a lot of it because, generally, if I’m drinking soda I want it to have a dose of caffeine along with all of the calories and sugar. I took on this search for the best lemon lime soda because I wanted to understand the fuss. After two separate taste tests, I do. 

For our most recent taste test, I was joined by Sporked soda enthusiast Jordan Myrick. We tried Sprite, Starry, and 7UP, as well as all of their diet counterparts. We also tried some store brand lemon lime sodas as well as prebiotic lemon lime sodas. I have a hunch not everyone will agree with our list of the best lemon lime soda. But before you head to the comments to tell me to unalive myself, please remember we’re all in this together (“this” being “drinking things we buy at the grocery store”). Enjoy!

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olipop lemon lime

Best Prebiotic

Olipop Lemon Lime

If you’re looking for a prebiotic soda that tastes like regular lemon lime soda, you’re going to be disappointed. We tried three different brands of prebiotic and probiotic lemon lime sodas, and none of them nailed the flavor profile. That said, Olipop Lemon Lime is good even though it’s totally its own thing. It tastes more like lemon tea than it tastes like lemon lime soda, but, hey, if you buy into the gut health benefits of prebiotics, this just might be the best lemon lime soda for you.

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

best lemon-lime soda

Honorable Mention

Jarritos Lime

Even though this is a lime rather than a lemon lime soda, I think it deserves a shout out on this list of the best lemon lime sodas. Why? Because it tastes great and, hey, maybe some people don’t like lemon. This soda is incredibly refreshing and would be great as a mixer with tequila or mezcal. It’s a fun color and I love the shape of the two-liter bottle (we tried this out of the plastic bottle rather than the glass one). This is a citrus soda to drink with fish tacos by the beach in San Diego—and it’s made with cane sugar rather than high fructose corn syrup, which a lot of soda heads seem to be into.

Credit: Merc / Ralphs

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

best lemon lime soda

Best Sweet

Bubble Up

If you like a sweet lemon lime soda, Bubble Up might be the best lemon lime soda for you. First of all, this soda is cute. It has a cute logo and comes in old-timey glass bottles (incidentally, it’s manufactured by the same company that makes Dad’s Root Beer—one of the best root beers, according to us). It’s made with real cane sugar, which gives it a candy sweetness that might be overpowering for some people, but it makes up for that by having really small bubbles that sort of sizzle on your tongue when you take a sip. It’s good stuff.

Credit: Merc / Albertsons

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

best diet lemon lime soda

Best Diet Lemon Lime Soda

 7UP Zero Sugar

Spoiler: 7UP is the best lemon lime soda, and its zero sugar counterpart is the best diet lemon lime soda we tried. Why? Of all the diets we tried—Starry, Sprite, etc.—7UP Zero Sugar tastes the least like artificial sweeteners. It’s drier and less saccharine than other diet sodas, which makes it really pleasant to drink. I’ll absolutely go to town on a diet Sprite, but I have to admit that 7UP Zero Sugar is the best lemon lime soda if you’re watching your sugar intake.

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

best lemon lime soda starry review

Best Newcomer

Starry

Before you FREAK OUT about Starry making this list (in third place, no less), note that we did not taste Sierra Mist as part of our taste tests. I am not saying that Starry is better than Sierra Mist. I actually tasted Sierra Mist with Rhett & Link a while back, and preferred it to Starry. But Sierra Mist is dead and gone, and unless you can find some crusty ol’ six pack on eBay, you need to move on from it. Sorry! On its own merits, Starry is a good soda. It has a bold sweetness that helps amplify the lemon lime flavor, although lime is a much more prominent part of the flavor profile. Jordan decided Starry tastes like McDonald’s Sprite, aka the creme de la creme of fast-food sodas. It’s not the best lemon lime soda but it’s pretty darn good if you can get past your anti-Starry bias.

Credit: Liv Averett / Target

Rating:

9.5/10

Sporks

best lemon lime soda sprite review

Best Bite

Sprite

For me, it’s a real toss-up between Sprite and Starry, so they both get the same Spork score.Sprite doesn’t have as much flavor as Starry, but it does have that nice, refreshing bite. It’s crispy and I think that makes it good with food. It’s the best lemon lime soda to wash down a fatty fast food lunch. 

Credit: Liv Averett / Target

Rating:

9.5/10

Sporks

best lemon lime soda 7UP review

Best of the Best

7UP

When it comes to the best lemon lime soda, I think 7UP tends to be left out of the conversation. That is bad and wrong. If you’re coming to lemon lime soda because you want something that tastes lemon-limey and is highly refreshing, I just don’t think you can do better than 7UP. It’s extremely crisp and has a lot of citrusy flavor. If you’re drinking lemon lime soda by itself rather than with food, I think this is the way to go. I also think 7UP makes the best mixer because the flavor makes more of an impression and can stand up to even a super-flavorful liquor like whiskey. It has a pleasant lime flavor that lingers on your palate and a burst of sweetness on the back, even though it’s drier than Sprite or Starry overall. And those are my thoughts on the best lemon lime sodas! Take them or leave them or call me an idiot in the comments! 

Credit: Liv Averett / Target

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Other lemon lime soda we tried: Twist Up, Twist Up Zero Sugar, Shasta Twist, Kroger Big K Lemon Lime, Poppi Lemon Lime, Sprite Zero Sugar, Starry Zero Sugar, Zevia Lemon Lime, Betty Buzz Lemon Lime, Evolution Lemon Lime Prebiotic and Probiotic Soda


About the Author

Gwynedd Stuart

Gwynedd Stuart, Sporked’s managing editor, is an L.A.-based writer and editor who spends way, way too much time at the grocery store. She’s never met an Old El Paso taco or mozzarella stick she didn’t like.