Soft Drink

Soft drink, any of a class of nonalcoholic beverages, usually but not necessarily carbonated, normally containing a natural or artificial sweetening agent, edible acids, natural or artificial flavours, and sometimes juice. Natural flavours are derived from fruits, nuts, berries, roots, herbs, and other plant sources. Coffee, tea, milk, cocoa, and undiluted fruit and vegetable juices are not considered soft drinks.

There are many specialty soft drinks. Mineral waters are very popular in Europe and Latin America. Kava, made from roots of a bushy shrub, Piper methysticum, is consumed by the people of Fiji and other Pacific islands. In Cuba people enjoy a carbonated cane juice; its flavour comes from unrefined syrup. In tropical areas, where diets frequently lack sufficient protein, soft drinks containing soybean flour have been marketed. In Egypt carob (locust bean) extract is used. In Brazil a soft drink is made using maté as a base.