When The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives which premiered in September 2024, viewers were given a glimpse into a chaotic, less-than-holy life TikTok Famous Mormon Moms from Salt Lake City. The ladies backstabbed and gossiped, spread rumors and caused friendship breakdowns while posting plenty of ill-advised dances on TikTok. But rather than being fueled by alcohol like many reality TV storylines, the drama is Mormon wives happened due to sobriety – and perhaps a little sugar rush. Worried about the end of #MomTok and debating modern Mormonism, the women observed their religious restrictions and ditched coffee and alcohol in favor of giant 40-ounce mugs of the sweet, sugary liquid purchased at local soda shops like Swig and FiiZ. Welcome to the era of dirty soda.
What is dirty soda you might be wondering? Aren't all sodas a little dirty? Of course, carbonated drinks are full of chemicals, sugar and dyes – and by all accounts this very terrible for you — but dirty soda takes the health quotient to a new level. Take regular soda, add sweet syrups and flavors, creams and some fruit juice and you have a dirty soda drink. so extremely unvirtuous that it could also be beer. (But this is not true, and for Mormons, who are prohibited from drinking alcohol, this is the main thing.) If Diet Coke cigarette from the refrigerator – naughty indulgence – dirty soda – a whole pack of smoked without a break. Born in the Mountain West, it's a quintessentially American drink: after all, what's more American than taking something unhealthy and making it even more unhealthy?
It's kind of creamy, sweet and sparkling.
Becca Mills, a former Minneapolis teacher who runs the food blog Fork in the Kitchen, says that while she had heard of dirty soda before, she has since noticed an increase in its popularity. Mormon wives debuted. After watching the show she herself published Over the summer, her blog featured some of her favorite homemade dirty soda recipes.
“I have a passion for making homemade simple syrups, and that often shows up in coffee drinks, so I just thought, 'Well, I always have simple syrups in the fridge, why don't I make an interesting drink with them and give them a try?' Mills told Yahoo. “It's a little weird, but the appeal is there – it's kind of creamy and sweet and bubbly. So it just turned into a fun little side project.”
While women Mormon wives It may have helped bring dirty soda into the mainstream, something that's long been a trend in Utah, where entrepreneur Nicole Tanner opened the first dirty soda concept store, Swig, in St. George. Since its launch in 2010, Swig has expanded to 151 stores in 15 states. trademark term “dirty soda” and sell not only drinks, but also savory snacks like pretzels and sweet treats like frozen hot chocolate and sugar cookies. In 2024, like Mormon wives swallowed their throats on the screen, system-wide network sales grew up by nearly 50% to $84 million, and the presence of dirty soda on restaurant menus increased by 42%. The growing popularity of confectionery is evident even at national fast food chains, which are eager to make their menus safe from dirty soda. Applebee's offers dirty soda from the fountain, and Sonic recently announced unlimited free Coke drink customizations, tapping artists Benny Blanco, Jesse Murph and MGK share their favorite “Signature Coke Combinations.” (Blanco, for his part, adds pickles to his cherry cola. Doubtful!)
In addition to well-known soda chains like Swig and Cool Sips, which boast a variety of locations In New York City, mom-and-pop dirty soda shops have also popped up across the US.
Katie Pederson opened Cleveland's first dirty soda shop. Fatal soft drinksin 2023. In addition to running her store, she is also the epicenter of the Dirty Soda TikTok community, where she offers business advice and mentoring guides for those looking to open their own Dirty Soda shops. So far, she says she has trained more than 100 people who have gone on to start their own dirty soda businesses.
“The coolest thing about it is that it’s something so simple and something inexpensive that you can do,” she says. “And the best part about it is, if someone has a food truck and sells cheeseburgers or something perishable, they could lose a lot of money if their event gets canceled or the weather gets bad. But with dirty soda, you have syrups that last a long time—I mean, over a year—and if your event gets canceled, you don't lose a lot of money. So the overhead for this business is low.”
And people pick it up. “Every farmer's market you go to today, or any large event, there's likely a dirty soda vendor,” Pederson says. “It's kind of changed the industry because even coffee trailers are offering these dirty sodas or a refreshment option that really has dirty soda roots. So it's kind of infiltrated every business in the United States.”
Pederson says dirty sodas are a form of entertainment for children and teens at events such as school sports games or dances, as well as for those participating in rebellion. “sober-curious” movement. Mills, the food blogger, agrees.
“I'm seeing an increase in cocktails or people who, for whatever reason, just decide not to drink alcohol,” she says. “So I think as the drink becomes more popular, dirty sodas are becoming another fun option for people besides a cocktail. It's a light drink that still feels a little special.”
Of course, if you do If you drink alcohol and want to indulge the dirty soda trend, there's no reason you can't add a little vodka to your Dr Pepper with coconut cream. Recipes for especially dirty sodas abound online, although they defeat the original purpose of creating a non-alcoholic drink that can be enjoyed. But dirty soda is no longer just for Mormons—it's now available to the masses.
