I’ve always enjoyed cola with citrus. It is needed for some of the lesser colas. In my university days, the occasional “lime and lager” might have been all that stood between me and scurvy, so there’s the nutritional aspect as well as the pleasant taste.
Since I limit my alcohol, I often order cola with citrus when going out. In Las Vegas, some bartender tried to convince me there was a specific name for diet cola with lemon or lime, which I did not believe, but I cannot remember. One fancy place added cherries as well. The artificial citrus flavour once added to some colas was not at all the same.
Is there a specific name for (diet) cola with lemon and lime when ordering that you have heard used?
I’ve often found bartenders to be morons. I think that bartender is talking out of their ass.
For what it’s worth, the Coca-Cola company calls their canned Diet Coke with lemon and lime “Diet Coke with Lemon” and “Diet Coke Lime,” respectively.
I’ve only had one once or twice, likely because it was the only thing left in the cooler, and I’ve always found it to taste remarkably like a rum and Coke, but maybe that’s just me.
Or just any cola – citrus oils are one of the basic flavors of the beverage, with different brands having more or less emphasis on it, or certain on specific citrus flavors vs others (like Pepsi is more citrussy than Coke, but both have citrus.)
Anyway, when we were kids, we would call those “ginger ales”, even though though they weren’t anything like actual ginger ale, except perhaps in look. Looking online, I did find at least one person calling it a “bartender’s ginger ale,” though I’m not sure how well known that term is. Searching for that term in quotes does give a few hits as referring to a cola + lemon-lime concoction.
Cola has cola nuts which supposedly have little taste. The flavour is a mixture of lemon-line, vanilla and cinnamon. However, adding extra fresh lemon or lime is very pleasant and saves the colas that do not taste very good. The artificial “lemon Coke” once available are not as good either.
You can get them in “Freestyle” machines at fast food places, along with weird crap like Raspberry Coke.
Diet Coke with Lime was discontinued in the US in 2018, but it’s still available in Canada.
Diet Coke Ginger Lime replaced it, but it seems to be gone as well. It’s a shame, I dug that one too. It came in the skinny cans, along with Zesty Blood Orange, Blueberry Acai, Strawberry Guava, and “Feisty Cherry”. (I have no idea what made it so feisty.) I also really liked the one with blueberry, but they seem to all be gone now. (In the US at least.)
True, I forgot about that. However the few times I purchased one that way… well, it just didn’t taste the same to me. It had kind of a metallic taste to it.
They have variants like Pepsi Max and Coke Zero. They keep changing up the flavours, but I have definitely seen Coca Cola Zero Lemon (yes, in skinny cans).
You could also ask the bartender for just a lime and soda.
Isn’t ginger ale and a cherry (maybe with something else) a Shirley Temple?
I once had to spend a day with my dad when I was 4 or 5 when he was visiting places that were on his regular (Post Office) delivery route. One place was a “cocktail lounge.” I have a clear memory of the place, and although I wouldn’t have known it at the time – and I wouldn’t have called it a “cocktail lounge” then – it was a classic 1950s film noir bar. The bartender served me a Shirley Temple. I was thrilled…although I liked hanging out at the hardware store more.
According to a book (The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks), a Shirley Jane is straight rye with a teaspoonful of sugar and 2 or 3 dashes Grenadine. Maybe a “Shirley Temple” is based on that. Wikipedia recipe says it’s ginger ale + grenadine, garnished with a cherry as you describe.
I don’t drink many soft drinks any more, but when that’s all that’s on offer, I usually have citric acid (in the form of store-brand unsweetened Kool-Aid®) in my bag or pocket to add to it, to make it more palatable to me. My mother knows to bring the lemon juice squeeze bottle when serving me a glass of Pepsi. Since middle age, I’ve found virtually all soft drinks to be too sweet.
