# Brits, Sprite = Lemonade? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 17, 2001, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-sprite-lemonade/76711 "2001-08-17T12:11:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wooba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/aeb1de/32.png) [@wooba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wooba)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-sprite-lemonade/76711/1 "2001-08-17T12:11:27Z")
Just wondering if people in Britain consider Sprite to be lemonade? I wasn’t available there when I lived there. I’ve always considered 7UP to be lemonade and presume sprite would be the same. Incase you’re wondering, lemonade in North America is very similar to lemon squash, usually with some real lemon pulp in it. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-sprite-lemonade/76711/2 "2001-08-17T12:21:28Z")
I tend to think of both Sprite and 7-up strictly in terms of their trade names - insofar as they belong to a single defining category, that category is “fizzy pop”. “Lemonade”, to me, calls to mind the cloudy yellow-greeny stuff that shows some sign of having been near a lemon at some time of its life. But I am only one amongst millions of 'Er Majesty’s loyal subjects… ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-sprite-lemonade/76711/3 "2001-08-17T12:28:38Z")
What Steve said. Sprite is, well, Sprite. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-sprite-lemonade/76711/4 "2001-08-17T12:33:15Z")
According to the book **Of God, Country, and Coca Cola** (a wonderful history of the Big Brown Drink), Coca Cola had a long uphill battle against the authorities in France, who insisted on labelling all soft drinks as “limonades”. Coke insisted that it was _not_ a “lemonade”, and eventually won their case. Maybe Spritre in Britain suffers the same fate. To me (and, I suspect, to the FDA) “Lemonade” is a drink made from lemon juice, water, and sugar. Seven up, Sprite, and other such drinks are made from lemon and lime _citrus oils_, and contain no juice. Also, they’re carbonated and contain phosphoric acid. Very different stuff. ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-sprite-lemonade/76711/5 "2001-08-17T12:39:44Z")
Sprite is closer to Lemonade than 7-Up - at least in my mind. 7-Up is more of an undefined “Citus” flavour than Sprite which is distincly “Lemony”. True LEMONADE is cloudy - as described above… Gp ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-sprite-lemonade/76711/6 "2001-08-17T12:40:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by grimpixie \* > \*\*“Citus” flavour \*\* :rolleys: Citrus ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-sprite-lemonade/76711/7 "2001-08-17T12:44:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by grimpixie \* > **:rolleys:** :rolleyes: **grimpixie** learns the value of Preview… ---
**Author:** ![Damhna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Damhna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damhna)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-sprite-lemonade/76711/8 "2001-08-17T12:53:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by grimpixie \* > \*\*True LEMONADE is cloudy - as described above… \*\* Unless of course you live in Ireland where you can buy “Red Lemonade”. Yup. Red. Never seen it anywhere else. No idea what’s in it. Tastes good as I recall and can be used to make a “shandy” from an ale. Someone could perhaps enlighten me? And while im posting I just have to share what is perhaps the best bit of toilet grafitti I have ever. Written on condom machine … ahem… “In case of Pregnancy please insert baby for refund” ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-sprite-lemonade/76711/9 "2001-08-17T12:55:56Z")
Shandy is just lager topped up with lemonade. Maybe 80%/20% split, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-sprite-lemonade/76711/10 "2001-08-17T12:56:51Z")
In America we have pink lemonade and “ruby red” grapefruit juice. Not sure how or why we have pink lemonade. It’s a little sweeter than regular lemon-colored lemonade but it’s just as common (at least in Ohio). Sometimes a waitress will even ask if “pink lemonade is okay” when I order lemonade with a meal. As if I’d be offended by the color… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-sprite-lemonade/76711/11 "2001-08-17T13:12:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crusoe \* > \*\*Shandy is just lager topped up with lemonade. Maybe 80%/20% split, IIRC. \*\* interesting, I’d have said that shandy is half and half; 80/20% would be a ‘Lager top’ (very 80’s) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-sprite-lemonade/76711/12 "2001-08-17T13:16:06Z")
There are such things as pink-fleshed lemons, but I’m not sure if that’s got anything to do with pink lemonade (IIRC there’s a snopes article and a few threads here about the origin of pink lemonade - some dubious story about the first pink lemonade having been made from water in which a red pair of shiorts were soaked) ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-sprite-lemonade/76711/13 "2001-08-17T13:18:19Z")
> [@](#): > > …water in which a red pair of shiorts were soaked) Wow what a great typo. Does that mean two shirts or one pair of shorts? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-sprite-lemonade/76711/14 "2001-08-17T13:32:35Z")
In Australia: _Lemonade_ is clear. So yes, Sprite and 7up qualify. _Lemon Squash_ is the yellowish stuff, and is usually only mildly carbonated. It’s pitched as a thirst quencher towards the adult male market. Both are pretty artificial looking. Schweppes is now marketing _Traditional Lemonade_ which has an in-between colour, and has bits of lemon in it. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-sprite-lemonade/76711/15 "2001-08-17T13:34:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ZipperJJ \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > …water in which a red pair of shiorts were soaked) > > Wow what a great typo. Does that mean two shirts or one pair of shorts? 😃 \*\* oh, just some gestalt one-price garment? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-sprite-lemonade/76711/16 "2001-08-17T13:43:09Z")
gaaahh One **piece** garfield. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-sprite-lemonade/76711/17 "2001-08-17T13:44:14Z")
**Garment** , knot Garfield, bah! ---
**Author:** ![Damhna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Damhna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damhna)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-sprite-lemonade/76711/18 "2001-08-17T13:51:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crusoe \* > \*\*Shandy is just lager topped up with lemonade. \*\* A larger shandy here is understood to be Larger with white lemonade. However you can have an ale shandy which is ale(not larger) with red lemonade. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by ZipperJJ_ > \*\*In America we have pink lemonade and “ruby red” grapefruit juice \*\* When we say red we mean red not pink.I understand pink lemonade but red is a different kettle of fish altogether. For some reason Tartazine springs to mind as a component but Im going to have to check. [http://www.huguenot.ie/services/brands/mixers.html](http://www.huguenot.ie/services/brands/mixers.html) The bottle in the centre is what we call red lemonade.back right is white lemonade. ---
**Author:** ![wooba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/aeb1de/32.png) [@wooba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wooba)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-sprite-lemonade/76711/19 "2001-08-17T14:29:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheLoadedDog \* > \*\*In Australia: > _Lemonade_ is clear. So yes, Sprite and 7up qualify. > _Lemon Squash_ is the yellowish stuff, and is usually only mildly carbonated. It’s pitched as a thirst quencher towards the adult male market. Both are pretty artificial looking. > Schweppes is now marketing _Traditional Lemonade_ which has an in-between colour, and has bits of lemon in it. \*\* That’s pretty much as I categorize it… The reason it’s an issue is because one of the drinks I like it Southern Comfort & lemonade. At home though (Canada) I have to ask for a Southern & 7UP or Southern & Sprite… otherwise they haven’t got a clue what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-sprite-lemonade/76711/20 "2001-08-17T14:37:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CalMeacham \* > \*\* the authorities in France, who insisted on labelling all soft drinks as “limonades”. \*\* These guys tell a company what they can call their product? Sheesh. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-sprite-lemonade/76711.md?page=2)