Lemonade Tasting

Lemonade in Australia is different than in the US. Here, it's carbonated, and comes in a can or bottle, made by a soft drink company, rather than something one makes at home. Depending on the maker, it may use  club soda, or mineral water, and some are sweeter than others.

I decided to do a tasting with Matthew, so I gathered up several of the most popular brands. They're all full of sugar - about 11 to 12 grams per 100ML. (The 600ML bottle of Lift - couldn't find it in a can - has 66 grams of sugar!)

1. Lift - owned by Coca-Cola. Chemical-y aftertaste; not highly carbonated; least natural-tasting of the bunch.

2. L&P/Lemon & Paeroa - founded in New Zealand, with mineral water from the town of Paeroa; now owned by Coca-Cola. Sweeter; a little more carbonated; slight floral flavour.

3. Schweppes Lemonade. Very carbonated; flavour is mostly mineral water, less pronounced lemon flavour; slight savoury aftertaste (almost like clove).

4. Solo Original Lemon Drink - owned by Schweppes. Tart; tastes the most like lemons; aftertaste almost like aspartame, although there isn't any in it. It's basically carbonated American-style lemonade, although it's not highly bubbly.

Solo, "the original thirst crusher," is marketed towards men. Even though it has just as much sugar as the others, it has the most tart flavour, so I suppose that's masculine? :P

If we were to rank these, Matthew and I would say Solo is #1, then L&P and Schweppes Lemonade, with Lift coming in last. Since these have so much sugar, I wouldn't drink any of them regularly. However, if I were to come across it, I might try the sugar-free version of Solo.