Today’s Soda: Customizable, Indulgent, and A Little Dirty
At this year’s National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, our team noticed something standing out amid rows of cutting-edge kitchen equipment, flavor-innovation labs, and beverage demos: dirty soda was everywhere.
The fizzy, flavor-packed drink category dominated the show floor, and offered a multisensorial experience of colorful toppings, creamy textures, and fully-customizable blends. Vendors went all out: Pepsi debuted “DRIPS”, a lineup of sodas enhanced with fruit syrups, creams, popping boba, and other playful mix-ins. Icee launched “Dirty Icee”, combining their iconic slushies with cream and candy. Oatly rolled out four oat milk-based dirty sodas like Peaches and Cream and Ube Matcha Latte, while Jarritos introduced “Jarriboba,” a canned boba tea line inspired by dirty soda’s over-the-top sensibilities.
It wasn’t just eye-catching - it was a signal. With major players betting big on this next-gen soda, it’s officially crossed from regional curiosity to national phenomenon.
Wait, Dirty What?
Dirty soda originated in Utah, where customers started adding flavored syrups and cream to their fountain drinks at local shops like Swig and Sodalicious. The result? A drink that feels nostalgic, indulgent, and totally customizable.
The typical formula includes a base soda (Diet Coke, Dr. Pepper, Sprite), one or more syrups (coconut, raspberry, vanilla), and a creamy element like half-and-half, sweet cream, or even oat milk. It’s often served over crushed pebble ice and topped with fruit, foam, or candy for a sweet, multi-layered texture.
Social media, particularly TikTok, helped fuel the explosion in popularity. Gen Z drinkers love that it’s sweet but not coffee, customizable but not overly complicated. It’s a trend - and one that keeps customers coming back to try new flavor combinations.
From a business standpoint, dirty soda is a dream: it’s high-margin, endlessly customizable, and visually perfect for social media. It drives repeat traffic and upsells with add-ons like fruit foam, popping pearls, or seasonal syrups. Shops like Swig and Fiiz are scaling fast, expanding across the U.S. and proving there’s serious money in these fizzy concoctions.
But there’s a catch: behind the scenes, dirty soda is messy - both literally and operationally.
With dozens of possible syrup and soda combos, multiple cream options, and seasonal ingredients, prepping each drink can be time-consuming. Extra ingredients take up more space and refrigeration, a clean process is required for dairy handling, and proper staff training is necessary to maintain consistency. For most venues, the labor and operational complexity can make it difficult to scale a dirty soda program - especially when drink customization is off the charts.
Thankfully, Sidework’s technology is custom-built to simplify serving drinks exactly like dirty soda. Our dispenser serves and portions every kind of ingredient - from sodas, syrups, milks, and more - and automatically handles every customization a customer can throw at it. It builds even the most extreme dirty soda orders in just a few seconds, and does it at the touch of a button.
In short, Sidework makes it easy to offer dirty sodas without compromising on speed, consistency, or food safety.
DRIPS by Pepsi, PepsiCo’s foray into the dirty soda space.
Stay Ahead of Trends with Sidework
Beverage trends move fast. One minute it’s nitro cold brew, the next it’s boba with glitter foam. What doesn’t change is the need for tools that help you adapt without breaking your workflow.
At Sidework, we believe technology should empower beverage sellers to move quickly, experiment easily, and scale efficiently. Whether you’re testing your menu’s first dirty soda or rolling out a full lineup of the trendy concoctions, our dispenser makes it possible.
The dirty soda boom isn’t just a new drink, it represents a wider shift in how consumers think about non-alcoholic beverages: personalized, playful, and crave-worthy.
With Sidework, you’re always ready for what’s next.