I went through a phase of making homemade cola syrup and then carbonating it with a home carbonator to get a low-sugar cola without sweeteners (which I used to tolerate, but which gained an awful taste following a bout of COVID-induced anosmia). For me, that ended up being about 4g demerara per 100ml.

making your own lemonade is awesome! You can tune the amount of sugar and lemon you want, from "water with a drop of lemon" to whatever you like. Put some fresh mint in there if you like

If life didn't give you lemons, you're out of luck though

To take to an even higher level, grate some of the lemon peel and then squeeze its "lemon zest" into it.

I promise you it is excellent, but I only suggest organic lemons for this process!

We also only use raw whole sugar or turbinado.

DRAM makes a line of reasonably-sweetened sodas (3-5g sugar per can) but they’re definitely a “luxury” product, in the range of $10-15 for a 4-pack. I don’t know of a single mass-market option.

Sports drinks. Maybe not 1/4, but 1/3-1/2 is certainly doable. The one in front of me is 150 calories per 28 oz, versus similar levels per 12-oz. serving for typical soft drinks.

At least in the UK many of the leading "sports" drinks, will add some form of artificial sweetener regardless of if it is a high sugar or low sugar variant e.g.

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/lucozade-sport-o... - Sugar + Aspartame + Acesulfame K

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/powerade-berry-t... Sugar + Aspartame + Acesulfame K

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/lucozade-sport-z... Acesulfame K + Sucralose

Kombucha can be low sugar and the acidity is quite nice.

Seconding this. Whenever I'm at the store I can't help but grab a bottle of Health-Ade. A third of the sugar and it's effervescent and tart in a way that makes it so refreshing.

Buy diluting juice. Water it down to your preferred concentration.

While certainly an option, just watering out a drink more isn't really what they're asking for. There's lots of other flavor compounds that you don't necessarily want watered out just because you want less sugar.

Diluted juice is still a useful suggestion as an alternative idea. I don’t get why people would down vote; that’s not what down vote is for. I like diluted juice quite a bit, 25-50% tastes fine, it’s akin to tea to me. It would be interesting if more beverage companies made a “add your own sweetener” version which is how unsweetened Kool-Aid drink mixes come. They have maltodextrin in them but say they are 0 calorie so I’m not sure if that means it’s a tiny amount or if it somehow gets away claiming zero calories. Just be aware Kool-Aid has sweetened versions as well. I still mostly drink water but some variety is nice.

Oh I definitely agree it's a good practical suggestion, I do it with apple juice sometimes because I just want some mild apple flavor rather than the very strong and sweet apple juice taste. I don't get why someone would downvote it either.

Oh this is where I'm at now, I've been buying juice and adding a little to soda water so it comes out like a light Fresca sort of drink. It would be nice to have that option when going out though.

or Bolero-like powders

My favorite (besides water, coffee, tea) is sparkling water with some fruit juice and no added sweeteners, e.g. the brand “Spindrift”. It’s 35 calories. I prefer it to colas, juice, and sparkling juice. It is particularly refreshing when you are hot (from yard work, exercise, etc.) when other drinks can taste too sweet.