Fever-Tree Refreshingly Light Ginger Beer Review: Low-calorie luxury
- Published on
- Fever-Tree, Low Calorie
The Quick Route
Our Take
Fever-Tree Light is the reduced-guilt champagne of ginger beer. It retains almost all the same delightful effervescence and spice of the original with half the calories, which in our view, means you can enjoy twice as much.
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Pros
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Cons
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| Love Score | Sip Score | Mix Score |
| 7.5 | 6.0 | 9.3 |
Love Score: In the moment, how much do we enjoy drinking this ginger beer?
Sip Score: How likely are we going to sip this by itself in the future?
Mix Score: How likely would we use this in a mixed drink?
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About Fever-Tree Refreshingly Light
The Fever-Tree brand was originally launched by two Brits in 2004 to craft high-quality mixers with natural ingredients that pair with and enhance premium spirits. Though they started with tonic, their original flagship ginger beer was quick to follow as they expanded into adjacent beverages and built out the world’s first portfolio of premium mixers.
Fever-Tree Refreshingly Light Ginger Beer, as part of the Refreshingly Light family of drinks, was first introduced in 2018 as the brand looked to capture calorie-conscious consumers.
What’s different from Fever Tree’s original Premium Ginger Beer? Not much.
Fever-Tree intentionally kept the formulation the same except for sugar, where Refreshingly Light Ginger Beer uses 9g of added fructose (1.2-1.8x sweeter than sugar) instead of 13g of sugar. That small adjustment more than halves the calories while maintaining a similar level of sweetness in the “all-natural beverage.”
With many concerned about sugar intake in general, why don’t more beverage manufacturers do this? I’m not sure, but it’s worth asking.
Fever-Tree’s main brand statement is, “If 3/4 of your drink is the mixer, mix with the best.” Very clear and confident stance to take. Let’s take a closer look at what’s in Refreshingly Light:
- Water – great!
- Fructose (fruit sugar) – what fruit?
- Ginger root – great!
- Natural ginger flavoring with other natural flavorings – what?
- Preservatives – sure!
- Natural flavorings – which ones?
So what’s in the 3/4 of my drink, again?
For a company so focused on creating high-quality mixers and building trust with their consumers, they do a much worse job explaining what’s in their drink compared to Reed’s.
Fever-Tree is much more forthcoming on its site about the types of ginger it sources, but there’s definitely an opportunity to bring some of that to the label to add more “reasons to believe” to fulfill the brand promise. Naming natural flavorings twice does not build confidence.
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Appearance and Smell
Fever-Tree Refreshingly Light hits the glass with small, vigorous bubbles that pop and vanish by the time you finish the pour. If I didn’t know more about this ginger beer, I would be concerned that the drink was flat.
But on closer investigation, you can clearly see a steady stream of fine bubbles rising from the bottom of the glass. Did you know that’s called a bead?
Of all the ginger beers I tested, Fever Tree Refreshingly Light was one of the most translucent. This is despite my best efforts to swirl the sediment at the bottom of the bottle back into the beverage to ensure everything was mixed.
You can see some small fibers of ginger root floating around in the glass, which simultaneously gave me confidence that Fever Tree uses real ginger root and anxiety that there were foreign objects in my drink. Maybe just don’t look too closely.
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Taste
Refreshingly Light is true to its name, but to call it just that does not do it service.
The first thing I noticed was the bubbles. They’re delightfully small and punchy, much like champagne, and quickly cover the palate. The effervescence is followed immediately by a clean, modest sweetness and gentle warmth that cover the back of your tongue.
Another unique aspect of this drink is that it has a tannin-like effect – you might have experienced this with red wine – that slightly dries out your mouth. It’s an interesting layer of complexity, complemented by the warmth of ginger, that makes this drink even more inviting.
Important note: there’s nothing off about the sweetness. Yes, this is a lower-calorie beverage, but 50% fewer calories doesn’t come at the expense of the flavor profile.
Using fruit sugars in smaller quantities than what’s in the original formula does not detract from the drink. In fact, I think it becomes a more flexible option for folks looking to have more than 1 ginger drink or simply enjoy it plain. Like Lays, I have a hard time stopping at one.
I’ll keep saying it – Refreshingly Light is like champagne and the scores make it look like it, too.
It’s one of the highest scorers on Effervescence and lowest on Sweetness. That’s not to say it’s dry, but when compared to options that have 6x more sugar, you notice the difference.
It’s remarkably clean, balanced, and flexible, making it an easy choice to reach for if you’re willing to pay a little extra.
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How to Use Fever-Tree Refreshingly Light
Refreshingly Light is well-balanced and, unlike most other options, leaves room for subtle and herbal flavors to shine alongside ginger. It’s flexible enough for anything, but if I had to prioritize certain flavors…
- Herbs like mint, basil, thyme, and rosemary
- Lemon and lime are the classics, but small quantities of sweeter citrus like orange won’t overpower the drink
- Muddled berries and melons complement its distinct flavors without getting lost
- Espresso brings a roasty warmth and acidity to the ginger beer, and is one of my personal favorite flavor combinations
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Mixing With Booze
For me, Fever-Tree Refreshingly Light gets the Red’s Hot Sauce treatment – I put that s*** on everything. It works with all spirits I’ve ever tried, and I’m certain it would work as a spritzer for the right wine.
But the real question is this: what drinks does Refreshingly Light pair with that other ginger beers do not? For that, I have to go to the fact that this drink is clean and ready to get dressed up. It deserves to be treated nicely.
If you’re feeling saucy, experiment with aperitifs, like Aperol or Campari, or dabble with higher-end botanical gins, like Hendricks.
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Final Thoughts
Is Fever-Tree Refreshingly Light Ginger Beer the GOAT low/no-calorie ginger beer? At this time of this writing, it just might be. The premium ingredients and complex flavor profile are difficult to match.
It’s flexible enough for you to develop a high-quality drink for just about any flavor profile, while simply being a delight to drink on its own.
And, hey – with half the calories you can enjoy (based on my calculations) at least two.
