Until I wrote a short, benign review of Starry, which recently (and controversially) replaced Sierra Mist in stores, 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 calories and sugar. I took on this search for the best lemon lime soda because I wanted to understand the fuss. And I suppose that now I do.
When I sat down to taste a bunch of lemon lime sodas back to back, I discovered there’s a lot of variety in flavor profiles, sweetness levels, and carbonation. Some taste more like lime than lemon. Some are way sweeter than others. Some have small, sharp bubbles that tickle your tongue, while others have big fat bubbles that seem to dissipate as soon as they hit your glass.
I have a hunch not everyone will agree with my list of the best lemon lime sodas. Before you head to the comments to tell me to kill myself, please remember we’re all in this together (“this” being “drinking things we buy at the grocery store”). Enjoy!
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- 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
- 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
- Sprite Zero Sugar
In a perfect world, a diet soda should taste almost exactly like its non-diet counterpart. And I have to say, I wasn’t terribly impressed with any of the diet lemon lime sodas we tried. But if you avoid sugary, syrupy sodas, for health reasons or otherwise, I’m inclined to recommend Sprite Zero Sugar. This soda—which also made an appearance on our list of the best diet sodas—lacks some of the crispness that Sprite is known for, but it still tastes good overall. I tried this against Starry Zero and much preferred it. (I know it’s in a bottle in the photo, but we tried this out of the can.)
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Simple 7UP
Simple 7UP, which we tasted from a can, is made with real sugar rather than high fructose corn syrup. If you prefer sugar to HFCS, this is a great choice. It’s very sugar forward, but it’s still refreshing. “It feels thirst-quenching,” Sporked editor-in-chief Justine Sterling said, and, to me, that lines up with 7UP’s whole M.O. Spoiler alert, I prefer regular 7UP in terms of overall lemon lime flavor, but if you avoid corn syrup, this is a good option.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- 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 this taste test. I am not saying that Starry is better than Sierra Mist. I actually tasted Sierra Mist with Rhett & Link recently, 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, which we tried from a plastic bottle, 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. My colleague Jordan Myrick decided Starry tastes like McDonald’s Sprite, aka the creme de la creme of fast-food sodas.
Credit: Merc / Vons
- Sprite
For me, it was a real toss-up between Sprite and Starry, so they are both getting the same Spork score. Justine and Jordan preferred Starry to Sprite, but I personally think Starry loses its carbonation too quickly when you pour it into a glass. Sprite, which we tried from a plastic bottle, 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. I can’t imagine anything better to wash down a fatty fast food lunch.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- 7UP
When it comes to the best lemon lime soda, I think 7UP can tend 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 (which we tasted from a plastic bottle). 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. 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: Merc / Walmart
Honorable Mention
Best Sweet
Best Diet
Best Real Sugar
Best Flavor
Best Crisp
Best of the Best
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