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Soft drink

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A soft drink is a drink that contains no (or very little) alcohol, as opposed to a hard drink, which does contain alcohol. In general, the term is used only for cold beverages. The term originally referred to carbonated drinks.

Soft drinks

Marketing

Soft drinks are commonly sold in stores in bottles and cans. They are also sold in restaurants and bars as fountain drinks made from packaged syrup. In the U.S. and other countries, vending machine sales earn a significant amount of money for the producers and distributors. Most famous name-brand soft drinks are produced and bottled by local or regional independent bottling companies. These companies license the name and are usually sold the main ingredients (syrup) made by the main manufacturing plants of the trademark holders. For example, unless you live in Georgia or nearby, a can of Coke® will likely be from a facility near the point-of-purchase. In the past, most Cola and other soft drinks were sweetened with ordinary sugar (sucrose), but to save on production costs (due to high sugar tariffs imposed on sugar imported into the United States), most companies have turned to the more economical corn syrup as a sweetener in the United States. In some countries outside the United States, sugar is still used.

Pop vs. soda vs. coke in North America

In North America, "soft drink" commonly refers to cold, non-alcoholic beverages. Carbonated beverages are regionally known in the Midwest and most of Canada as "pop." In Quebec they are called soft drinks. In the Northeast, parts of the South (near Florida) and Midwest (near St. Louis), and California, they are known as "soda." New Englanders sometimes refer to it as "tonic." In Atlanta, Georgia and some other parts of the South, they are generically called "coke". (Atlanta is home to the Coca-Cola Corporation). The Pacific Northwest, being a melting pot of America, uses both "pop" and "soda," however, for most people, "pop" comes in a bottle, and "soda" comes from a fountain or can. Elsewhere they are called "soda pop." See The Great Pop vs. Soda Controversy for maps and geographical trends.

Internally, the Coca-Cola Company (and probably other such corporations) uses the term "non-alcoholic uncarbonated beverage".

Diet sodas

In recent years, there has been a growing demand for alternatives to sugar-heavy soft drinks. "Regular" sodas, being largely processed sugar or corn syrup, have been blamed in recent years for contributing to the obesity in the United States and elsewhere. Sugars, like other carbohydrates stimulate the production of the hormone insulin, which causes the body to store fat, rather than burn it. "Diet" sodas are sweetened with chemicals, such as aspartame, and saccharin that are perceived as sweet by most people, yet do not stimulate insulin production. Nor do they have any calories or nutritional value.

"Cola wars"

Competition in the industry among soft drink producers is widely referred to as the cola wars.

In German, soft drinks are known as Limo short for Limonade, the German word for lemonade, but in America lemonade is an uncarbonated beverage, generally not considered a soft drink.

In Swedish, soft drinks are called läsk which comes from läskande drycker (roughly - refreshing drinks) and denotes carbonated non-alcoholic soft drinks. The word lemonad has more or less the same use as the English word lemonade, but belongs to a slightly higher level of style than läsk.

In Australia and New Zealand, "soft drink" almost always refers to carbonated beverages. "Lemonade" can refer to "lemon drink", but most of the time means clear soft drink (i.e. Sprite, 7-Up, etc.)

In the United Kingdom the term originally applied to carbonated drinks ("pop") and non-carbonated drinks made from concentrates ("squash"), although it now commonly refers to any drink that does not contain alcohol. To further confuse matters, alcopops are often called "alcoholic soft drinks". The term "pop" is mainly restricted to the north of England.

In Scotland, soft drinks are commonly known as "ginger", presumably referring to an early "soft drink", ginger beer.

List of soft drinks (by country)

Austria

Canada

  • Cott (World's leading distributor of carbonated soft drinks)

Denmark

France

Germany

Iran

Japan

Latvia

Malta

  • Kinnie (Black-orange with bitter)

Mexico

New Zealand

  • L&P (Lemon and Paeroa) is now made by the Coca-Cola Company.

Peru

Russia

  • Kvass, a low-to-non alcoholic beverage made from fermented grains.

South Africa

Spain

  • Kas (orange- [yellow], lemon- [greenish-yellow] or apple- flavoured soda)
  • Mirinda (soda with orange colour and flavour)
  • Tri-Naranjus (non-carbonated soft drink)

Sweden

  • Enbärsdricka (Traditional stout-like, very sweet soft drink)
  • Svagdricka ((Traditional stout-like, soft drink similar to Kvass)
  • Julmust (Traditional stout-like, very sweet seasonal soft drink)
  • Sockerdricka (Traditional sweet-sour soft drink)
  • Fruktsoda (Traditional lemon-lime soft drink)
  • Champis (Soft drink alternative to sparkling wine)
  • Pommac (Soft drink alternative to sparkling wine)
  • Cuba Cola (Cola)

South Korea

United Kingdom

United States

Fifty states

Puerto Rico

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