What are Dirty Sodas & Why Are They So Popular?

You have heard of the dirty martini and dirty chai, but what about dirty soda? In many parts of the US, dirty sodas are a regular beverage staple and have been for the last decade. Recently, the concept of a soda blended with a flavored syrup, a creamy ingredient, and a squeeze of lime has surged in popularity, appearing on fast-food restaurant menus and dancing across TikTok feeds. As specialty soda shops bubble up across the nation, expect to see dirty sodas more often.

These customized soda blends started pretty simply. A Coke or Dr. Pepper with a flavored syrup, half-and-half, and citrus finish. One identifier is pebble ice, small, soft, and chewable ice that melts quickly and is found primarily in restaurants and bars, including Sonic, long known for its signature beverage menu. Sonic’s soda and ice offerings inspired the founder of Swig, a Utah-based dirty soda shop that launched the concept commercially in 2010 and now has over 100 shops in 14 US states.

Dirty sodas have become more creative and varied in the years since, made with a wide variety of beverage bases – soda, tea, energy drinks, lemonade – and flavored syrups. Coconut, Cherry, and Vanilla are the most popular. Creamer ingredients range from coconut cream to dairy and oat millks. Mix-ins similar to those in bubble tea shops can also be on the menu. Think popping mango boba or gummy sharks.

History of the Dirty Soda

Cool Sips Dirty Shirley credit Ludlow Creative

To some, the idea of adding a creamy dairy ingredient to soda may seem strange, but it has historical roots. In the days of soda fountains, ice cream and milk were regularly added to soda. The root beer float remains the most iconic example. East Coasters of a certain age will recall egg creams made with seltzer, chocolate syrup, and milk. Soda and dairy combos are found in other cultures, including in India and Pakistan, where doodh is made with a lemon-lime soda, milk, and ice. Milkis from Lotte is a Korean brand of canned sweetened soda water with milk, in flavors like grape, peach, and banana.

Pop culture aficionados may recall Pilk, Pepsi and milk. In December 2022, Pepsi promoted Pilk in a memorable Christmas commercial featuring Lindsay Lohan preparing the drink for Santa. Older fans remember Pilk from an episode of the Laverne & Shirley TV show where Laverne sips it from a bucket with a straw.

We can thank Utah Mormons for today’s dirty sodas. Church rules prohibit the drinking of coffee, tea, and alcohol, leaving few options for refreshment or a caffeinated pick-me-up. Creating a flavored, creamy, icy soda is an acceptable way to enjoy the flavor adventure others find in coffee drinks and cocktails.

Cool Sips South St Storefront photo credit Ludlow Creative

Mormon mom Nicole Robinson opened Swig in Lehi, Utah, in 2010, serving customizable sodas easily accessed from drive-thru windows to Millennial moms, their kids, office workers, and anyone else seeking a creative, personalized sip at any hour of the day. Her signature drink is memorialized on Swig’s menu as The Founder, made with Diet Coke, Sugar-free Coconut, Fresh Lime, and Coconut Cream. To solidify her place in dirty soda history, Robinson trademarked “dirty soda” in 2014 and expanded Swig across the Mormon Corridor into the Mountain West region, including Idaho, Oklahoma, Arizona, and Texas.

The Rise of Dirty Sodas

Taco Bell Baja Dream Freezes photo credit Taco Bell

The popularity of dirty sodas has been propelled thanks to copycat soda shops, fast-food menus, pop culture, social media, and generational tendencies, especially Gen Z’s interest in seeking alternatives to alcohol and in personalizing their food and drink.

Swig’s success led to more specialty shops opening in Utah and beyond, including Sodalicious, which has a partnership with Pepsi and features a Skinny Menu. Many quick-service and casual restaurants added dirty sodas to menus, taking care to avoid the trademarked ‘dirty soda’ moniker. In 2020, Applebee's ran a campaign to “dirty up your soda,” and Sonic allowed customers to “make it dirty” with coconut cream and lime in 2024. Taco Bell, White Castle, and Jack in the Box have joined the trend with various limited-time offers, such as Taco Bell’s Dirty MTN Dew® Baja Blast® Dream Soda, both inspired by dirty sodas.

Instagram and TikTok have done their part in spreading the term and the eye-popping visuals of dirty sodas. Pop star Olivia Rodrigo sipped a Swig dirty soda in a viral Instagram post in December 2021. Viewers of Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives reality show are now familiar with dirty sodas after watching the stars ordering and sipping their drinks regularly, and reading or watching explainer content across the internet.

Flavoring Dirty Sodas

Torani Orange Creamsicle Dirty Soda photo credit Torani

One player intrinsically involved in dirty sodas is Torani, the 100-year-old flavored syrup company with roots in San Francisco’s Italian North Beach neighborhood. Torani began with five flavors designed for Italian sodas, including Anisette, Lemon, and Grenadine. The company now boasts over 150 flavors sold globally and is heavily involved in flavoring all kinds of coffee drinks, smoothies, cocktails, and mocktails.

“Our syrups have been used by mixologists and everyday consumers alike since long before the rise of Dirty Soda as a cultural phenomenon,” states Andrea Ramirez, Customer & Consumer Insights Manager at Torani.

Ramirez notes that Torani spotted the rise of dirty soda when sales of its Coconut Syrup surged in Utah. “Virtually overnight, we began shipping pallets of the flavor to soda shops in the region,” Ramirez adds. Torani uncovered what has become a rapidly growing drink trend. “This wasn’t just a local curiosity—it was a full-blown cultural movement with passionate, repeat customers and an expanding ecosystem of new soda shop brands.”

According to Torani's national survey data from early 2025, 62% of U.S. consumers are aware of Dirty Soda, with 30% having tried it, signaling that these drinks have become a national trend, both inside and outside the home. The most popular Torani syrups used after Coconut are Strawberry, Vanilla, Peach, Blue Raspberry, and Passion Fruit, with additional demand coming for Sugar-Free versions of Coconut and Vanilla. Torani sees tropical fruit flavors emerging for adventurous soda lovers, including Dragon Fruit, Guava, and Lychee, especially for summer.

Dirty Sodas Expand

Specialty dirty soda shops are no longer only found in the Mountain West region. Swig is expanding into Midwestern towns such as Carmel, Indiana, where the arrival made local news in February 2025. Further east is Cool Sips, started in 2024 and now with three locations in New York City and a notable beach theme. Cool Sips menu includes bases ranging from classic sodas to tea and lemonade, energy drinks, and cold brew coffee, and its social media photos show vibrant pastel colored drinks. Signature drinks are named after East Coast beach towns, like Montauk (Dr. Pepper, Mint, Vanilla Cream) and P-Town (Starry, Blue Raspberry, Watermelon). Similar to bubble tea shops, Cool Sips has a Fun Stuff for “Stuffed Sips” – popping boba pearls and jelly candies.

Cool Sips founder, Andrew Moger, believes that dirty soda’s popularity is universal. “Everyone loves a good fountain drink!” he exclaims. He views the combination of the “spicy” carbonation with the “good ice” as “incredible”, especially because of “the countless permutations of sodas, teas, energy drinks, syrups, creams, and Fun Stuff” the chain offers. Moger’s shops cover tourist locations – Rockefeller Center and South Street Seaport – and, as of early 2025, a residential Upper East Side neighborhood where signature sips are named after Gossip Girl characters, Blair and Serena.

Dirty sodas are becoming easier to prepare at home. Nestlé’s Coffee-Mate creamer brand launched a limited run of Dirty Soda Mix with Dr. Pepper in 2024; in 2025, it was joined by a new Orange Crème Pop Mix with Crush Orange. Torani supports home mixologists with website recipes and how-to videos. It is expanding small-format bottles to make experimenting at home more accessible.

Considering the commonplace nature of flavored iced coffee drinks, now ubiquitous in every coffee shop and cafe, dirty sodas will likely become regular beverage choices in restaurants and bars with soda machines. At social gatherings, expect to see the makings for dirty sodas with coconut cream, syrups, and perhaps even pebble ice. The interest in flavored, personalized cold drinks fits well with younger generations’ values and habits. They crave cold drinks regularly, and with more people socializing without alcohol, dirty sodas provide a seemingly endless customizable flavor experience for any season and occasion.

Cool Sips’ Andrew Moger feels dirty sodas have staying power: “Fountain drinks have been around for a long time…people will always want a great, refreshing drink.”