Sprite (drink) Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Sprite

600ml plastic bottle of Sprite
Type	Lemon-lime
Manufacturer	The Coca-Cola Company
Country of origin	United States
Introduced	1961; 63 years ago (1961)
Color	Colorless
Variants	See variations below
Related products	7 Up, Starry, Mitsuya Cider

Sprite is a clear, lemon and lime-flavored soft drink created by the Coca-Cola Company. Sprite comes in multiple flavors, including cranberry, cherry, grape, orange, tropical, ginger, and vanilla. Ice, peach, Berryclear remix, and newer versions of the drinks are artificially sweetened. Sprite was created to compete primarily against 7 Up.

History

The Sprite brand name was created by T. C. "Bud" Evans, a Houston-based bottler who also distributed Coca-Cola products, circa 1955 for a line of drinks with flavors such as strawberry and orange; the rights to the name were acquired by the Coca-Cola Company in 1960.

The lemon-lime drink known today as Sprite was developed in West Germany in 1959 as Fanta Klare Zitrone ("Fanta Clear Lemon" in English) and was introduced in the United States under the Sprite name in 1961 as a competitor to 7 Up.

Variations

Name	Launched	Notes
Sprite	1961	The original variety.
Sprite Zero Sugar	1974	Sprite without the sugar. It was originally produced in the United States as "Sugar Free Sprite" in 1974, then was renamed to "Diet Sprite" in 1983, with some countries having the drink known as "Sprite Light" ("Sprite Lite" in the United Kingdom). In September 2004, it was rebranded as "Diet Sprite Zero" in the US and "Sprite Zero" ("Sprite Z" in the United Kingdom, until rebranding as Sprite Zero) in Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Europe, India, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, New Zealand, and the UK. "Diet" was dropped from the product's name, to become simply "Sprite Zero," when new logos debuted in June 2006. The "Zero" designation for low-calorie sodas from the Coca-Cola Company was first used on Diet Sprite Zero before being used on the flagship Zero product, Coca-Cola Zero. Re-branded as "Sprite Zero Sugar" in 2019 to align with the Coca-Cola Company's 2017 re-branding of Coca-Cola Zero as Coca-Cola Zero Sugar.
Sprite Lemon-Lime Herb	1970s	Sprite with a herb taste. Only known to be sold in Germany.
Chinotto	1990's (purchase by Coca-Cola)	The name Sprite is known as in Venezuela. It was originally an independently produced beverage alongside Hit before Coca-Cola purchased the bottler and later rebranded the graphics of both as Venezuelan counterparts to their existing drinks, with Chinotto becoming the counterpart to Sprite.
Recharge by Sprite	Early 2000s	A Sprite Energy Drink variant sold in Australia until 2006. The drink was also turquoise in color, different from how Sprite is usually clear.
Sprite Ice	2002	Sprite with a minty aftertaste. Originally released as "Sprite Blue" in Korea in 2002, and has been released under various names, such as "Sprite Ice" in various countries like Canada, '"Sprite Ice Cube" in Belgium, "Sprite Ice Blue" in Italy and Chile, "Sprite Icy Mint" in Mainland China, "Sprite Mynta" in Sweden and "Sprite Mynte" in Norway.
Sprite Remix Tropical	2003	Sprite with Tropical Flavors, and the first in the Sprite Remix series of sodas sold in the United States. It was sold from 2003 to 2004, until being replaced with the "Berryclear" variety.
Sprite Super Lemon	2003	A Slurpee Variant of Sprite, released in Hong Kong in 2003.
Sprite on Fire	2004	Sprite with a ginger flavor, which was marketed as having a burning sensation. It was introduced in Hong Kong in 2003, and later debuted in China in 2004.
Sprite Remix BerryClear	2004	Sprite with Berry flavors, and the second in the Sprite Remix series of sodas sold in the United States. It was sold from 2004 to 2005, until being replaced with the "Aruba Jam" variety.
Sprite Remix Aruba Jam	2005	Sprite with Fruit Flavors, and the last in the Sprite Remix series of sodas sold in the United States. It was sold from 2005 to 2006.
Sprite 3G	2005	A Sprite energy drink variant originally launched in the United Kingdom in 2005. Ingredients include glucose, caffeine from green coffee beans, and guarana. It was also released in various other countries but was discontinued in the UK in 2007 due to poor sales, and that Coca-Cola wanted to focus more on Relentless.
Sprite Duo	2007	A variant with less carbonation and extra lemon juice. Was released exclusively in Spain in Spring 2007.
Sprite Green	2009	A variant sweetened with Truvia (a natural zero-calorie sweetener made from stevia). It however, wasn't a success and was discontinued not long after being released.
Sprite (Stevia Formula)	2012	In France in 2012, Sprite was reformulated removing 30% of the sugar and replacing it with the sweetener Stevia. This led to the drink containing fewer calories. This reformulation soon spread to Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands in 2013. The United Kingdom swapped this formula for a version containing Aspartame and Ace-K in 2018, while France returned to the original sugar-sweetened formula in 2020.
Sprite Cranberry	2013	A cranberry-flavored Sprite. It was first sold for the holiday season in 2013 and has been sold every holiday season since. The variant competes with PepsiCo's Mist Twst Cranberry, which unlike Sprite Cranberry is sold year-round. An advertisement for this beverage featuring LeBron James inspired an Internet meme and later, a horror game.
Sprite Cranberry Zero	2013	A cranberry-flavored Sprite Zero. It was first sold for the holiday season in 2013 and has been sold every holiday season since. It was later introduced in Norway in August 2018.
Sprite 6 Mix	2014	Sprite with additional Cherry and Orange Flavors in addition to the Lemon and Lime. It was released as a collaboration between Sprite and LeBron James in the United States in 2014. It was sold again as "Sprite LeBron's Mix" in 2015.
Sprite Blast	2014	Sprite with sweet and sour Flavors. It was released for the Summer of 2014 in the United States, exclusive to 7-Eleven stores (at time of sale), and was sold only in 7.5 ounce single cans. The variety was also released in New Zealand in summer 2017 and was sold in all sizes.
Sprite Tropical	2015	A Re-Release of Sprite Remix Tropical, it was sold for a limited time in 2015, and again as "Sprite Tropical Mix" in 2016.
Sprite Cucumber	2017	Sprite with a Cucumber flavor. Launched in 2017 in Russia and in June 2018 in Romania. In September 2021, the Russian version of the drink was made available in the United States at the reopened Club Cool attraction at Epcot in Walt Disney World.
Sprite Cherry	2017	Sprite with a Cherry flavor. Launched in 2017 in the United States as a permanent variety.
Sprite Cherry Zero	2017	Sprite Zero with a Cherry flavor. Launched in 2017 in the United States as a permanent variety.
Sprite Cucumber Zero Sugar	2018	Sprite Zero with a Cucumber flavor. It was introduced to the UK and Ireland in 2018, but was discontinued a year later.
MIX by Sprite: Tropic Berry	2018	Sprite with a tropical berry flavor. Similar to Sprite Tropical Mix, and fountain-exclusive to McDonald's. Distribution reduced in the spring of 2021 after the re-introduction of Hi-C Orange Lavaburst, which it replaced.
Sprite Extra Sprite Fiber+ Sprite Plus	2017 (Japan) 2018 (China) 2019 (Hong Kong and Macau) 2020 (Taiwan)	Zero-sugar, zero-calorie Sprite with dietary fiber added. 7.5 grams of dietary fiber are included (approximately 30% of the daily fiber requirement for adults). According to the bottle, this is the amount of fiber found in two apples. First debuted in 2017, in Japan, then April 2018 in Chongqing, China, 2019 in Hong Kong, and finally, 2020 in Taiwan.
Sprite Zero Lemon & Mint	2018	A low-calorie version of Sprite Ice that is available in Greece, Serbia, Hungary, Germany.
Sprite Lymonade	2019	Sprite mixed with lemonade and 1% lemon juice.
Sprite 40% Less Sugar	2019	Sprite re-launched in Australia with a new recipe containing 40% less sugar (compared with old Sprite) in August 2019. It has no Aspartame but replaces some of the sugar with Ace K and Sucralose.
Sprite Ginger	2020
Sprite Ginger Zero	2020
Sprite Lemon+	2022	A lighter and tangier variety containing caffeine. Sold in Australia as a replacement to the Australian beverage Lift
Sprite Lemon+ Zero Sugar	2022	No Calorie version of Sprite Lemon+.

Sprite (drink) facts for kids

History

Variations

See also