Sweetness is the most universally recognised taste descriptor. In wine, sweetness comes from residual sugar — sugar from grapes that wasn't converted to alcohol during fermentation. In spirits, perceived sweetness can come from ripe fruit notes, oak vanilla, glycerol (a viscous compound that suggests sweetness), or actual sugar additions in liqueurs. In beer, sweetness comes from unfermentable sugars and malt character. With 1,681 mentions in product descriptions across 19 categories on LivCheers, 'sweet' covers everything from a delicately off-dry Riesling to a richly sweet Old Monk dark rum to a chocolatey dessert wine. The specific source of sweetness matters more than the general level.

Bone-dry (zero residual sugar) — typical of premium spirits and the driest wines. Off-dry (slight perceptible sweetness) — typical of many wheat beers and certain wine styles. Medium-sweet — characteristic of many fruit-forward wines and aged spirits. Sweet — dessert wines, liqueurs, sweet vermouths. Very sweet — port, fortified Muscat, pure cream liqueurs. Sources of perceived sweetness include actual sugar (residual or added), ripe fruit aromatics (which signal sweetness even when sugar is low), oak vanilla and caramel notes, and glycerol from extended aging.