Glossary: Non-alcoholic

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Alcohol-free sparkling wine: A sparkling drink based on dealcoholised wine or grape juice that resembles sparkling wine without alcohol.
Non-alcoholic beer: Beer with an alcohol content of no more than 0.5 percent ABV; flavour close to regular beer.
Apple juice: The most drunk fruit juice in Germany; cloudy or clear, often made from orchard fruit.

Bitter lemon: Carbonated lemon soft drink flavoured with quinine, tasting tart and bitter, used as a mixer.
Fizzy drink: Colloquial term for sweet carbonated lemonade, especially common in eastern Germany and in earlier times.

Classic (sparkling): Term for mineral water with a high carbon dioxide content.
Cola: A brown, caffeinated soft drink with a characteristic aroma of citrus, spices and caramel colour.

Not-from-concentrate juice: Fruit juice obtained directly from pressed fruit and bottled without water removal.

Iced tea: A cold, usually sweetened refreshing drink based on tea infusion or extract, often with lemon or peach.
Energy drink: A caffeinated soft drink with additives such as taurine; subject to special labelling requirements.

Fruit nectar: Drink made from fruit juice or puree with water and sugar up to a maximum; fruit content between 25 and 50 percent depending on fruit.
Fruit juice: A drink made from the juice of fruit without added sugar, either as not-from-concentrate juice or from concentrate; legally regulated.
Fruit juice drink: A drink with a small fruit juice share (about 6 to 30 percent depending on fruit), water, sugar and often flavourings.

Ginger ale: Carbonated soft drink with ginger flavour, often used as a mixer.

Oat drink: Plant-based drink made from oats and water in which starch is broken down by enzymes; may not be called oat milk.
Medicinal water: Water with a proven preventive or relieving effect that must be authorised under medicinal law.

Isotonic drink: A sports drink with a similar concentration of dissolved particles as blood, supplying fluid, minerals and carbohydrates.

Carbonation: Carbon dioxide dissolved in a drink, providing tingle and freshness.
Coconut water: Clear liquid from inside young coconuts, not a coconut milk product.
Kombucha: A fermented tea drink made with a culture of yeasts and bacteria; slightly sour and often sparkling.

Lemonade (soft drink): A sweet carbonated soft drink made of water, sugar, acidulant and flavourings.

Malt drink (Malzbier): A dark, sweet, barely fermented malt drink with low alcohol.
Medium (lightly sparkling): Mineral water with moderate carbonation, less tingling than classic.
Multivitamin juice: A blend of several fruit juices, often with added vitamins; juice, nectar or drink depending on its content.

Low-sodium mineral water: Mineral water with less than 20 milligrams of sodium per litre, suitable for low-salt diets.
Natural mineral water: Officially recognised water from underground sources protected against contamination, bottled at the source and original in its purity.
Cloudy juice: Fruit juice that has not been clarified by filtering, containing fruit particles and natural haze.
Near water (flavoured water): Lightly flavoured water, usually with little or no sugar, positioned between water and lemonade.

Spring water: Water from underground sources bottled at the spring; must meet drinking water quality but need not be officially recognised.

Juice from concentrate: Juice from which water was first removed and later added back; equivalent in fruit content.
Spritzer (juice and sparkling water): A non-alcoholic mixed drink of fruit juice and mineral water, usually 1:1 to 1:2.
Smoothie: A pureed drink of whole fruit or vegetables, often with juice or yoghurt; thick and fruity.
Sprudel (sparkling water): Colloquial German term for water with plenty of carbonation, regionally also for mineral water in general.
Still water: Mineral water with no or very little carbon dioxide, calm in the glass.

Table water: A manufactured drink made from drinking water, mineral water or other ingredients, with added minerals or carbon dioxide.
Tonic water: A carbonated, slightly bitter soft drink with quinine, popular as a refreshment and mixer.
Grape juice: Fruit juice from wine grapes; sweet and, if unfermented, alcohol-free.

Water hardness: Measure of dissolved calcium and magnesium salts in water, stated in degrees of German hardness (°dH).