Dirty sodas lead to clean, fresh flavors

Ideas for this column tend to hit me at odd moments in my day. This article was no exception. When I was waiting at a doctor's office scrolling through the current day's news and saw an article about a new beverage trend called "dirty soda," I knew that I had to know more.

Not really a new trend, it is widely agreed upon that dirty soda first started to become a used phrase in Utah among Mormon moms in the late 2000s. It is just now starting to gain some nationwide traction thanks to the attention of Tik Tok influencers. I guess you can say I've been duly influenced. Starting with a soda (many flavors can be used), add-ins can include coffee creamers, half-and-half, flavored syrups, fruit juices and purees. If you can dream up a flavor combination, you can dream up a dirty soda.

I wanted to try a classic dirty soda, so after searching through recipes, I noticed one dirty soda seemed more prevalent than others. This is the one I would try. I found a simple recipe on sugarandsoul.co/dirty-soda/ and gave it a whirl.

Now, the beauty of dirty sodas is that they are infinitely changeable. The "original" recipe called for Coke, coconut coffee creamer and lime juice. Immediately, I knew I had to substitute Coke for Diet Coke, because of certain personal dietary restrictions. I tried to find coconut coffee creamer, and it probably exists at every grocery store except the one I went to, so instead I went with half-and-half and sugar-free coconut syrup, which you can find in the coffee aisles by the shelf-stable creamers. For the lime juice, I splurged and used a real lime, though one of those lime-shaped bottles would probably do the trick here, as well.

I filled my cup with ice and then poured in about â…” of a glass full of Diet Coke. I used a fresh bottle so it would be extra fizzy, and this would be an excellent choice, as we'll see in a moment. Then I poured in some half-and-half, bringing my liquid level up to about 1 inch from the top of the glass. In went a quick splash of coconut syrup, and you really just want a splash because this stuff is strong. I squeezed half a lime's worth of juice in the glass and after appreciating the play of brown and cream color swirling around, stirred. The chilled cream combined with the head of soda fizz on top to make a thick, rich creamy topping to the drink that was my favorite part. It reminded me very much of the cream cheese topping that a fancy tea shop would put on a salted cheese tea.

The ingredients needed for Dirty Soda magic to happen.Submitted by Rebecca LaClair

So how did it taste? The zip of lime was needed to cut through the heavy richness of the cream and sweetness of the coconut. I'll admit that the Diet Coke got lost in the strong flavors, but it all worked together. Sweet, tart, fresh and summery, I could see mixing this up again, especially since the only carbs in it were from the half-and-half. In my opinion, you could easily substitute milk for the taste, but you'd lose that lovely topping of carbonation and cream at the top.

So, now I was really curious what could be done with a dirty soda. Once again, the online article came through. Do you like root beer floats? Try root beer and some vanilla creamer. Orange creamsicle? Orange soda and coconut creamer. Strawberries and cream? Strawberry soda and vanilla creamer. Or how about Dr Pepper and toffee creamer. So many combos abound, and you can get really fancy, like a Beach Babe with Mountain Dew, raspberry and peach simple syrup and vanilla creamer, or a Dirty Shirley with a lemon-lime soda, grenadine and some cream.

Alcohol-mixed cocktails no longer hold the monopoly of fru-fru fruity drinks. With a little creativity or some web-searching skills, non-drinkers can carry their fancy mixed drinks to the dinner party with pride. I just hope that this leads to the rise of the old-fashioned soda parlor or more places offering this option as a drink or dessert. While the name suffers from a lack of forethought, dirty sodas are a fun idea, taking something simple and making it new again. After all, that's what good food innovation is all about.