Soft Drinks in the Dreamlands

As revealed in the essay on alcoholic beverages, the Dreamlands is awash in beers, wines, and spirits. However, not everyone drinks alcohol all the time, and some never do. As such, acceptable alternatives are needed. The most widespread non-alcoholic beverage is water, but concerns over its quality cause many people to seek out alternatives. Milk and fruit juice are second only to water in prevalence, but both have their own quality concerns, and large segments of the population cannot obtain them except at high cost, or at all, or only in some kind of processed form, such as cheese and evaporated juice concentrate. More coffee, tea, and to a lesser extent hot chocolate are drunk than alcoholic beverages, but they are considered to be meal beverages rather than recreational ones like spirits. In fact, the most popular beverages used as substitutes for alcohol are soft drinks.

The term "soft" is meant to contrast with "hard" when the latter is used to indicate the presence of alcohol, such as in "hard liquor". Soft drinks have either no alcohol or levels so low they are virtually undetectable. In fact, the primary ingredients for any soft drink are water, a sweetener, and a flavouring agent, though caffeine and fruit juice are often used as well. As a result, pure juice, milk, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate are not considered to be soft drinks, because they normally have no added sugar or flavourings. (Notwithstanding the fact that these can be added, they are not required to make any of these beverages.) In fact, soft drinks fulfill two roles simultaneously. The first is to provide an enjoyable substitute for alcohol, while the second is to make water and/or fruit juice more palatable, especially if they have partially spoiled or become stagnant.

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