Trader Joe's Sparkling Limeade

The pros:  Trader Joe's Sparkling Limeade is imported from France and has a strong lime taste.

The cons:  For soda, this is a pricey item at almost $3.

The verdict:  My husband and I are soda drinkers. I'm far worse than him though. I may have led to his addiction to the fizzy stuff. While I normally prefer diet, I'm increasingly noticing that there are other sugar substitutes being used which makes my palate very unhappy. Yes Diet Pepsi, I'm looking at you. If there are some things you don't mess with, it's a diet soda recipe. This has led to me try more and more regular sodas with all their sugar laden glory. Doesn't a Coke always taste better in a glass bottle?

I've purchased this item several times and was always baffled as to why it is so expensive. Yes, it comes in a nice glass bottle making it a bit heavy. My conclusion is that it must the transport of this bottle from the country of origin that leaves a price tag of almost $3. Yes, this soda is made in France and shipped to you the consumer back in the US of A. I imagine that shipping and handling adds to the cost here. Beyond that, there is the notable lack of high fructose corn syrup. Just good old sugar in this.

Now, they do sell several varieties in a similar shaped bottle: Trader Joe's Sparkling French Berry Lemonade, Trader Joe's Sparkling Lemonade, Trader Joe's Sparkling Pink Lemonade and this Trader Joe's Sparkling Limeade. The flavor here is something my husband and I instantly liked. The lime is present without being too assertive. But it also doesn't taste anything like Sprite or 7Up. It's all lime flavor. Drinking it plain was refreshing without being tooth achingly sweet. It is also my go to soda of choice when having a mojito to keep with the lime flavor.

For $2.99 you are getting a 1 Liter bottle, so if you, like me, used to buying a 2L Soda on sale for $1.25, this is tremendously more expensive. Unlike a lot of sodas, the glass bottle seems to hold the carbonation better than plastic bottles. As an occasional treat, we buy this item often. Perhaps one day I can better repurpose the glass bottle, but for right now, I'll enjoy the mojitos more with this than 7Up or Sprite.

On the bottom of this post is my Mojito recipe won't ever be authentic, but it tastes good. I've been trying to repurpose Trader Joe's Margarita Mix and find things other than Tequila to mix into it. So if you have some left over margarita mix, and this you should be able to skip the squeezing of the limes.

Here is the visual rundown of what you get when you buy this item:

The bottle of Trader Joe's Sparkling Limeade (with a mojito):

The nutritional information and the ingredients:

Aside from drinking this plain, it does work as a soda to add to a mojito:

Become Betty's Lazy Mojito

So if you don't have simple syrup and don't feel like squeezing limes, then you can improvise with this recipe.  Trader Joe's Sparkling Limeade makes this recipe super easy.

5 from 2 votes

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Cook ModeThis prevents your screen from going dark while making this

Course: Drinks

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Servings: 1 serving

Calories:

Author: Brenda

Ingredients

• 6 Mint Leaves More if you would like. Additional can also be used as garnish.
• ½ tsp sugar
• 1.5 ounces white rum
• 1.5 ounces Trader Joe's Margarita Mix
• 2.5 ounces Trader Joe's Sparkling Limeade
• Ice 6 cubes should do it

Instructions

• Muddle mint leaves with sugar
• Add rum, margarita mix, and ice and shake.
• Add Sparkling Limeade into the above ingredients and then pour the mixture into a highball glass.
• Optional:  Garnish with a few extra mint leaves

Notes

A truly authentic Mojito recipe would want you to use fresh limes. In a perfect world, we would do that.  We live in a time pressed world where some ingredients can be repurposed.  Not everyone in my household shares my appreciation for tequila, thus also giving us a new purpose for both margarita mixer and the sparkling lime soda.

Tried this recipe?Mention @becomebetty or tag #becomebetty!

Would I buy this again?  It's pricey, not a good value, and heavy, but we would buy it again. It just tastes good.

Want to see more items I've reviewed from Trader Joe's? Click on Thoughts & Reviews of Trader Joe’s for a searchable list.

Did you try it? Let me know what you think in the comments section!