Welcome to the age of the grown-up soft drink

2 hours ago 5

I have written recently about several families of nonalcoholic drinks that are having a moment: tonic water, flavoured sparkling water and wine substitutes. It stands to reason that soft drinks are enjoying their time in the sun. Quite literally, too: the heat of 2026 has demanded some serious refreshments and UK booze consumption is at a record low. But it has dawned on me that there is a broader trend in alcohol-free beverages beyond individual categories, namely that we are living in the age of the grown-up soft drink.

By that I mean those with less sugar and more complexity than post-mix drinks, or “soda pop” (as my daughter now calls them, thanks to the KPop Demon Hunters song of the same name), which are clearly aimed at adults. One example is the tribe of “functional” drinks that have hit the market in the past year or so and that have supposed health benefits or performance-enhancing qualities, such as improving focus or helping you to slow down. Sonic Tonics’ CBD-infused 0% drink, for example, promises to shift your mood, and it certainly quenches thirst with a really original flavour profile of bitter hemp root with sweet and floral fig and violet. And while usually sceptical of celebrity-backed products with wellness claims, Gillian Anderson’s G Spot drinks are genuinely delicious. The passion fruit and habanero chilli is my favourite; I can’t support its aphrodisiac claims (allegedly due to its ingredients including butterfly pea and L-arginine, both of which are said to increase blood flow to the sexual organs), but, at £6.50 for four from Ocado, it’s cheaper than trying Gwyneth Paltrow’s sex oil.

There are also several low-sugar “premium” soft drinks that are worth writing home about, such as deli favourite Something & Nothing, which contains no sweeteners and only natural sugars; the yuzu and the mango and Thai basil flavours are both perfect. Rapscallion Soda was developed to make satisfying soft drinks without a sugar crash; raw fruit is extracted and mixed with citrus, spices and carbonated water: think burnt lemon with cracked black pepper and dry lime with makrut lime leaves.

Then there are drinks designed to be consumed on occasions when you might otherwise drink alcohol. Botivo has created a sparkling, premixed version of its nonalcoholic botanical aperitivo – if you don’t like shrubs or drinking vinegars, it may not be for you, but I find it a wonderful alternative to amaro-based cocktails such as the negroni. Fever-Tree, meanwhile, has launched its own “non-alcoholic spritz”, which is sweeter and not very bitter. Perhaps my favourite discovery of the week, however, is Non, an Australian wine alternative that blends verjus (unripe grape juice) with the likes of raspberry, chamomile and salt. That’s my kind of soda pop.