Fever-Tree Premium Lemonade
Fever-Tree’s clear lemonade, made with 2.5% lemon juice and a lemon-lime flavouring over it. It is the restrained one of their two lemonades, built to lengthen a spirit rather than to be tasted in its own right.
Quick Facts
Flavour Profile
Primary Flavours
Tasting Notes
Bright lemon flavour with gentle sweetness and soft acidity. Light-bodied and refreshing with clean carbonation.
Storage & Handling
Store unopened bottles or cans in a cool place. Refrigerate before use. Once opened, use promptly to maintain carbonation.
Shelf Life
Unopened: 6–12 months. Opened: Use immediately
Usage
Poured long over gin, vodka or a light rum, and it is the standard partner for Pimm’s. At 7.6 grams of sugar per 100ml it sweetens the drink noticeably, so anything already carrying sugar wants less of it.
Clear, and Deliberately So
Fever-Tree make two lemonades and the difference starts with appearance. This one is clear, and clear lemonade is a British convention with a purpose behind it: it lengthens a drink without changing its colour or clouding it, which matters in a tall glass where the spirit is meant to show. The cloudy Sicilian is the opposite proposition entirely. Neither is a lesser version of the other, but they are not interchangeable, and a Pimm’s built on the cloudy one looks wrong before anyone has tasted it.
There Is Lime In It
The ingredients name a natural lemon lime flavouring, which is worth noticing on a product called lemonade. Lime does what lime usually does, which is add a sharper edge than lemon alone provides and stop the drink reading as flat. Alongside it sits lemon juice at 2.5%, so there is real fruit in the bottle, though a good deal less than the 6% carried by the Sicilian. What comes out of it is lemonade with an edge rather than lemonade with depth.
Sweetness and the Sugar Question
At 35 kcal and 7.6 grams of sugar per 100ml this sits among the sweeter things Fever-Tree make, and across a long drink that adds up quickly. It is not a fault, because lemonade is supposed to be sweet and the drinks it belongs in are built around exactly that. It does mean it has to be counted. A gin and lemonade needs no syrup, a Pimm’s needs no extra sugar, and anything with a liqueur in it will tip over if the lemonade is poured generously.
Where It Belongs
Pimm’s is the obvious home and the reason most bottles are bought, along with gin, vodka and light rum served long. It also softens a whisky for anyone who finds ginger ale too assertive. It is a poor match for an aged spirit with detail worth hearing, since the sweetness covers exactly what the ageing produced. A Refreshingly Light version exists at 18 kcal per 100ml if the sugar is the objection rather than the style.
Pro Tip
If you need to add sugar, the lemonade was the wrong one.
Top Tips
- Use the clear one for Pimm’s. The cloudy Sicilian changes how the jug looks before anyone tastes it.
- Count the sugar. At 7.6 grams per 100ml a long drink carries more than most people assume.
- Read the label for lime. There is a lemon-lime flavouring in here, which is what gives it an edge.
Possible Substitutions
- Soda water + lemon juice + simple syrup
- Tonic water (more bitter)
Production Method
Produced by carbonating water and blending with lemon juice or flavouring, sugar, and citric acid, then bottled under pressure.
History & Context
Lemonade has long been used as a refreshing mixer, particularly in British cocktail culture, where it provides sweetness and citrus without the bitterness of tonic.
Common Questions
What drinks use lemonade?
Pimm’s first, then gin, vodka and light rum served long. It also softens a whisky for anyone who finds ginger ale too assertive. The pattern is drinks meant to be refreshing rather than spirit-forward, where sweetness is part of the design rather than a compromise.
Premium or Sicilian lemonade?
Premium is clear, restrained, and carries 2.5% lemon juice. Sicilian is cloudy, sharper, and carries 6%, made with Femminello siracusa lemons. Premium for a Pimm’s or anything where the drink should stay clear, and Sicilian where the lemon itself is the point.
Is it too sweet to mix?
Not for the drinks it was made for, which are built around sweetness. It is too sweet for an aged spirit, where 7.6 grams of sugar per 100ml covers the detail the ageing produced. Use it long and where sugar belongs, or take the Refreshingly Light version instead.
Is there real lemon in it?
Yes, at 2.5% lemon juice, alongside a natural lemon lime flavouring. That is less than half the fruit content of their Sicilian lemonade, which carries 6%. The lime in the flavouring is what gives this one its edge rather than its depth.