Recipe
🥤 DRINK
Lemon, Lime and Bitters
The classic Aussie pub refresher: lemonade and fresh lime with a swirl of aromatic bitters, over plenty of ice.
Australian · easy · serves 1
prep 5 min · cook 0 min
~75 cal · 3g protein · 24g carbs · 0g fat · 7g fiber · 6g sugars · 0g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Lemon, lime and bitters, or simply "LLB", is Australia's favourite non-alcoholic pub drink, poured at bars and clubs from the outback to the coast. It is the order you make when you want something long, cold, and grown-up without the alcohol, and it has been a fixture of Australian and wider Commonwealth bars for generations.
The build is simple and precise: a few dashes of Angostura aromatic bitters swirled around the glass to "pink" it, a squeeze of fresh lime (or lime cordial), and a top-up of clear lemonade or sparkling lemon soda over a tall glass of ice. The bitters, a rum-based aromatic tincture, add spice and a rosy tint while contributing only a trace of alcohol.
Tart, gently sweet, and aromatic, LLB is refreshment engineered for a hot climate. It is the drink that lets the designated driver, the pregnant guest, and the teetotaller hold something that feels like a proper cocktail.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 1
4 to 5 dashes Angostura aromatic bitters
2 tbsp fresh lime juice, or lime cordial
to top (about 8 oz) clear lemonade or sparkling lemon soda
a tall glass full ice
Instructions
1
Dash the bitters into the bottom of a tall glass and swirl them around to coat and tint the sides.
✎ Chef’s note
Swirling the bitters to "pink the glass" is the traditional touch; it spreads the aroma and gives LLB its signature rosy colour.
2
Fill the glass to the top with ice.
3
Squeeze in the fresh lime juice, or pour in the lime cordial.
4
Top up with clear lemonade or lemon soda, stir gently, and garnish with a lime wheel.
Australian pub tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
New South Wales (Sydney). Sydney eats along its coastline and toward Asia. The fish market moves a great deal of seafood before dawn, Cabramatta and Ashfield are Vietnamese and Chinese eating destinations in their own right, and the Lebanese bakeries of the western suburbs are turning out manoush from early morning.
🗺️
Australia. The macadamia is the one Australian native plant to have become a global food commodity, and it did so having largely lost its Aboriginal names and the knowledge attached to them along the way. Finger lime, Kakadu plum, lemon myrtle and wattleseed are now travelling the same road, which is why who benefits from them is an active question.
🌍
Oceania. Oceania spans Australia, New Zealand, and thousands of Pacific islands, where the ocean and the coconut palm define the pantry. Traditional Polynesian and Melanesian cooking centers on root crops, taro, yam, cassava, and sweet potato, slow-cooked in earth ovens (the umu or mumu) alongside fresh reef fish and rich coconut cream. Modern Australian and Māori kitchens blend these deep roots with waves of Asian and European influence.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
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Good to know
Storing it: Keep chilled and covered, and enjoy within 2 to 3 days.
Make it a Australia meal
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Drinks
Frequently asked questions
What is Lemon, Lime and Bitters?
The classic Aussie pub refresher: lemonade and fresh lime with a swirl of aromatic bitters, over plenty of ice.
Where does Lemon, Lime and Bitters come from?
Lemon, Lime and Bitters is a Australian dish from New South Wales (Sydney), Australia.
Can Lemon, Lime and Bitters be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Lemon, Lime and Bitters recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Lemon, Lime and Bitters safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Lemon, Lime and Bitters take to make?
About 5 minutes total (5 minutes prep, 0 minutes cooking), serving 1.
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