Lagidze Water: Georgia's Syrup Soda and What to Order
What's in the glass, which flavours to order, and where Tbilisi still pours it
Lagidze water is the Georgian soda that still gets mixed in front of you: flavoured syrup in a tall glass, sparkling water on top, and cream, tarragon or pear if you're doing it properly. Here's what's in each flavour, how it differs from the bottled green tarkhuna, what to eat with it and where Tbilisi pours it.
Quick summary
- Lagidze water is flavoured syrup topped with sparkling water, from a recipe Mitrofan Lagidze created in 1887.
- There are 16 soft-drink syrups, and cream, tarragon and pear are the 3 to start with.
- Only 2 syrups contain milk, cream and chocolate, so a vegan should order cream soda instead.
- Tarkhuna is the bottled green tarragon soda, and Zedazeni's lists 2 colourings behind the green.
- Drink it with khachapuri, the classic pairing: 1 sweet soda against salty cheese bread.
- Ask for Lagidze by name, since a Tbilisi menu's lemonade is usually the kitchen's own (one reviewer paid 8 GEL at a cafe).
What Lagidze water is
Lagidze water is a soda made to order: a measure of flavoured syrup in a tall glass, topped with sparkling water. The counters that pour it keep the syrups in a row of tall glass beakers, so you can simply point.
Among Georgian drinks, it's the soft drink with a founder and a date, and it's on Georgia's national list of intangible cultural heritage (not UNESCO's). You'll also see it spelled Laghidze.
Who invented Lagidze water
Mitrofan Lagidze (1869 to 1960) started out at 14 in a Kutaisi pharmacy and created his lemonade recipe in 1887, using only natural ingredients by the company's account. He opened the first Tbilisi shop in 1906 on what's now Rustaveli Avenue, which the company says soon became a calling card of the city. His descendants still run the business from the address of the Tsinamdzgrishvili Street factory he was given in 1926, and in 2013 a Lagidze Waters cafe opened in the yard of Sameba Cathedral.
Lagidze water flavours, and which to order
Lagidze makes 16 syrups for soft drinks and 6 low-alcohol ones made with cognac. Here's what the company lists in the ones worth knowing.
| Flavour | What the syrup is made of | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Cream | Sugar, milk, eggs and citrus extract | The one to try first |
| Chocolate | Sugar, milk, cacao and dark chocolate | Also made with milk |
| Cream soda | Sugar, lemon acid, fruit extracts and cream flavour | No milk, despite the name |
| Tarragon | Sugar, lemon acid and tarragon extract | The herb in tarkhuna, no colouring listed |
| Pear | Sugar, lemon acid, fruit extracts and oils | The bottled brands' lead flavour too |
| Isindi | Sugar, lemon acid, apple and bay leaf extracts | Made for the 1980 Moscow Olympics, the company says |
| Kakhuri | Sugar, lemon acid, red wine and fruit extracts | Skip it if you avoid alcohol |
| The rest | Lemon, citro, orange, mint, quince, cherry, feijoa, apple, coffee | Sugar and lemon acid in each |
Tarkhuna, and why it's so green
Tarkhuna is Georgian for tarragon, and in Tbilisi it's the name on the bright green soda. Lagidze makes a tarragon syrup, but the tarkhuna in shop fridges is bottled by Natakhtari, Zedazeni or Kazbegi, and Natakhtari's comes in 0.5, 1 and 2 litre bottles.
The green isn't all herb. Zedazeni's product page lists safflower concentrate and patent blue V in its tarragon, a yellow and a blue colouring, while Lagidze's tarragon syrup lists no colouring at all.
The firms behind Natakhtari and Zedazeni lemonade also brew Georgian beer under the same names. Their bottles are a factory cousin rather than Lagidze water: Natakhtari's pear lists flavouring, sugar colour and sodium benzoate.
What to eat with Lagidze water
Khachapuri is the classic partner, sweet soda against salty cheese bread, and a round, cheese-filled khachapuri is the easy match. The Adjarian boat, with its egg yolk and butter, makes a case for a second glass. At Tbilisi's khachapuri kitchens, though, the jug on the table is more often homemade lemonade than Lagidze.
Where to drink Lagidze water in Tbilisi
Only 1 venue on our lists has Lagidze water on record: a review at a shawarma counter on Tamarashvili Street names Lagidze waters and khachapuri together. Most reviews there are about the shawarma, so treat the Lagidze as a bonus.
For its cousin, fresh fruit lemonade, the one with the most reviews on our lists is at a burger bar on Samghebro Street that makes it on the spot, in flavours like strawberry, pinecone and peach. At a Tbilisi cafe, a lemonade cost one reviewer 8 GEL at Walkers.
Frequently asked questions
Is Lagidze water alcoholic?
Not a standard glass: the fruit, herb and dairy syrups list no alcohol, apart from Kakhuri, which lists red wine. The company's 6 low-alcohol syrups, made with cognac, are a separate line, and 4 of them are grogs and a mulled wine for hot water in winter.
How is Lagidze water made?
It's a syrup of sugar and a fruit, herb or dairy flavour, topped up with sparkling water when you order. The company's instructions are 1 part syrup to 6 parts water, so a glass is mostly soda and the syrup carries the flavour.
How many calories are in Lagidze water?
The company's bottled lemonades run 44 to 48 kcal per 100 ml, so 500 ml is about 220 to 240 kcal. The syrups are 242 to 255 kcal per 100 ml, roughly 35 once diluted 1 to 6, and sugar follows water on every label.
Is Lagidze water the same as Georgian lemonade?
Not quite. Georgian lemonade usually means a bottled soda from Natakhtari, Zedazeni or Kazbegi, or a restaurant's homemade fruit drink, while Lagidze water is the company's syrup mixed with sparkling water to order. Lagidze also bottles 12 of its flavours, which is the nearest a bottle gets to the counter version.
What's the difference between Lagidze water and kompot?
Lagidze water is syrup topped with sparkling water; kompot is fruit stewed with sugar and served cold and still, usually from a jug. It's the lunch-table drink at Georgian restaurants, and reviewers bring it up 19 times at Vakhtanguri.
