There was a time when the designated driver's reward was a lukewarm glass of orange squash and a wistful glance at the hand pumps. Not any more. Good pubs up and down the country now keep a proper soft drinks board, and the best of them pour something genuinely worth sitting down with. The trick is knowing what to order with what — because a well-chosen elderflower pressé does for a plate of fish and chips much of what a decent bitter would, just without the alcohol.

Why Soft Drinks Deserve a Proper Pairing

A pint of ale works with pub food for a few reliable reasons: carbonation lifts fat off the palate, bitterness cuts through richness, and a touch of sweetness rounds off salt and spice. Soft drinks can do all three jobs. Sparkling pressés scrub the tongue clean, ginger beer brings heat and body, and cloudy lemonade supplies the sharpness a squeeze of lemon would otherwise provide.

So treat it as a pairing rather than an apology. Ask for a pint glass, plenty of ice, and let the drink stand a moment if it has come straight from a cold cellar — the flavours open up noticeably.

Elderflower Pressé: The All-Rounder

Floral, gently sweet and usually built on apple or grape juice, elderflower pressé is the most versatile thing on the soft drinks shelf. It has enough perfume to stand up to a plate of food without shouting over it.

• Fish and chips — the light carbonation and soft floral notes strip batter and grease from the palate between mouthfuls. Ask for it in a tall glass with a wedge of lime.
• Ploughman's lunch — alongside mature Cheddar, pickled onions and a pork pie, the sweetness softens the sharpness of the cheese beautifully.
• Scotch egg — the floral edge flatters the sage in the sausage meat, while the fizz handles the breadcrumb coating.
• Chicken and leek pie — a creamy filling needs something clean and faintly sweet, which is exactly what a pressé provides.

If the pub serves it with a slice of cucumber, take it. That savoury note turns an already good match into a properly adult drink.

Ginger Beer: Fire for the Fried and the Rich

Ginger beer has body. The good sort — cloudy, brewed rather than merely carbonated, with a real bite of root ginger — stands up to the heaviest things on the menu.

• Steak and ale pie — the fiery finish resets the palate after every forkful of suet pastry and gravy.
• Pork belly with crackling — ginger's heat cuts pork fat better than almost anything else you can put in a glass.
• Bangers and mash — spicy, warming and a fine counterpoint to buttery mash and onion gravy.
• Sticky toffee pudding — a fiery ginger beer alongside is far more interesting than a coffee, and stops the dessert turning cloying.

Look for bottles that list ginger at the top of the ingredients, and steer clear of anything that tastes mostly of sugar. A squeeze of lime, if the bar has one going spare, sharpens it further.

Cloudy Lemonade: Sharp, Sweet and Surprisingly Versatile

Cloudy lemonade — the unfiltered sort, made with real lemon juice and a bit of texture — is a different creature from the clear, syrupy stuff. It has body, a proper sour edge, and it works with food in a way that clear lemonade never quite manages.

• Sunday roast — the acidity slices through gravy and roast potatoes and keeps the whole plate feeling lighter.
• Scampi and chips — sharp lemon against sweet breaded scampi is a classic for good reason.
• Gammon with pineapple — that sweet-sour contrast is exactly right, though ask for the lemonade on the side so it does not drown the plate.
• Salt and vinegar crisps — a bag of crisps at the bar with a pint of cloudy lemonade is one of the great underrated pub pairings.

Ordering Like a Local

A few small habits separate a comfortable soft drink order from an awkward one.

• Ask what is on the soft drinks board before reaching for a bottle. Many pubs now make their own cordials or stock local pressés.
• Request a pint glass, ice and a slice. Nobody at the bar will think it odd.
• Avoid drinks that are mostly sugar, as they coat the palate and deaden the food.
• Ask about low-alcohol and alcohol-free beer too — a decent pub will have at least one on tap or in the fridge.
• Keep a glass of water going alongside. It cleans the palate between courses and stops you drinking three pints of something sweet.

Beyond the Glass: Soft Drinks and Pub Life

The soft drinks order matters most at the events that keep a British pub alive. Quiz night, the meat raffle, darts and dominoes in the back room, a folk session on a Sunday afternoon, the summer barbecue in the garden — the designated driver is often the one holding the car keys and, unfairly, the least interesting glass in the room.

It does not have to be that way. A properly made ginger beer in a pint glass looks no different from a shandy, and a cloudy lemonade with a wedge of lime sits happily alongside the ales. If you are the one driving four people home, order first, order well, and let someone else get the round in for once. The pub has always been about the company more than the alcohol, and a good soft drink lets you stay for the last half hour instead of slipping away at nine.