The Cult of Dirty Soda: From Mormons to KFC | The Spill

Welcome to the sweet, syrupy, slightly unhinged world of Dirty Soda: a drink that somehow combines Diet Coke, coconut syrup, cream, and religious guilt.

In this Spill, Matt and Jason break down how a Mormon workaround for coffee and booze turned into a national flavor phenomenon, complete with TikTok trends, sugar bombs, and yes… KFC’s Peaches & Cream Mountain Dew. We dive into the Utah roots of chains like Swig, explore the absurd combinations people swear by, and try to figure out why anyone would add dairy to Dr Pepper.

Is it delicious? Is it disgusting? Is it a gateway soda to worse decisions?
Tune in and find out.

#DirtySoda #ArsenicCulture #TheSpill

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Transcript

0:00

Welcome back to Arsenic Culture where beer Don't count, but bad decisions do I Matt? I'm Jason. And, um, you almost caught me off guard. Yeah. Again, I I went over to KFC the other day. Yeah, I saw this and we, we posted it as a quick shot. I got a, um, what was it, mountain Dew soda. It was, it, it was dirty soda. I, I haven't heard the, the term dirty soda. Apparently this was like popular back in 2022, 2010s. Yeah, Well, it started then, but it got real popular, like online, like 2022. 20 21. TikTok Oh. And 2022. Okay. Okay. So, uh, they, KFC has this peach flavored mountain dew with um, uh, like a vanilla V. Yeah. Seriously. the video. Yeah. It was, yeah. But they put like, um, like a vanilla swirling is what they call it. But it looked like vanilla, like syrup or something like that. It was white. Um, God, it was fucking good. It was really good. Yeah. And it also gave me diabetes, but like. Uh, I started like looking at the reason why they did this, and this was the dirty soda trend and it, you know what it reminded me of? What's that? When we were kids, what did we do? I didn't drink dirty soda. Shut the fuck up. Yeah, you did. No, I didn't. It's called suicide. I, I You know what a suicide No. I know what it is, but I didn't do that. Yeah. You go to the fountain machine and there's like, you know, they got civilized in breath in Eastern Kentucky and Breath damn. No you're not. Yeah, I figured this with invented in Brea County. off, we didn't have a soda machine. We. Okay. Well that's probably true too. Yeah. Uh, no, like in the, in the rare circumstance where you go to like a fast food restaurant or like a convenience store or like a seven 11 or something like that. Um, didn't have those back home. We don't have seven elevens here, but like do, they're just, uh, so they bought out all the speedways? Did they really? No 11 owns Speedway. If you go in the fuck did that happen? don't know. But if you go in Speedway but we got 11. Yeah. Seven 11 Shit is in Speedway. Oh no way. Wow. I've never even, I've never injured that correlation. more, you know, you know, so, uh, but yeah, you would go in, you would like buy a, a, a soda, big gulp, you know, like 48 ounces and like, you could get Mountain Dew, you could get Dr. Pepper, you could get Sprite or whatever. But like as a kid, we'd go through, we get fucking a little bit of everything and just like, mix 'em all I'd always do the coke and cherry coke. That was, that was big for us. Like, you know, growing up it's like if you knew a store had, or a restaurant had cherry Coke and coke Right. Mix it, Yeah, yeah, want, I want like most cherry coke, a little bit of coke, Yeah. Uh, you know what's hilarious is like when I was a kid, kid, like, um, I was in fourth grade and I lived in Florida. Uh, my parents moved down there for business for one year, and I discovered what a Shirley Temple was. I didn't know that these existed, but it's very simply, it's Sprite Sprite with, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's it. And Cherry And those restaurant, um, I can't remember the name it was called, yeah, I do remember the name of this, this restaurant in Sarasota, Florida was called the Brown Derby. And it was, it was kind of like a Ponderosa, you know, Ponderosa, Oh, a hundred percent. And um, yeah, I discovered. The Shirley Temple, and so every time we would go out to eat, my parents would be like, where do you wanna go? I'm like, we're going fucking Brown Derby. So I get a Shirley Temple and they're like, you can get a Shirley Temple anywhere. It's like, no, we're going there. We're getting that one. That was my first experience with quote unquote dirty soda. So you've been drinking since then, I've been, I've been drinking dirty since then. But, um, yeah. So we did a little bit of delving here and I was like, it's kind of interesting where this trend started and kind of how it took off. I want you to start us off. Yeah. Telling, telling me about it, telling everybody, listening and watching about it, and I'm gonna make us. A dirty soda. will take a dirty soda. I think maybe, do you have your rocks Yeah. I just drink my I just drink my water. We'll do that there. Or vodka so I'm gonna make a bunch of noise over here while you talk about dirty soda and to talk louder. Plus this kegerator just kicked on too. You gotta talk over So what we talked about, what is a dirty soda? So it's actually a non-alcoholic beverage made by infusing soda with flavors, right? So if you think about today, if you go in like a, I don't know, a restaurant, if you go into Wendy's or wherever they have those little, um, machines or touchscreen, Am I making enough You are, you are making enough noise, but school, so you know, you've been, you've seen those machines though. It's like, I want to get a coke. And then I have 19 flavor combinations in there. Those are re those are reasonably new. are. They are. Within the last five years probably. I remember seeing the first one in Zaxby's, I think. I think it was Wendy's for me, but maybe, maybe it was Zaxby's or like a, I don't think Kane's has that, it, it took me a good four minutes to figure out how to use that goddamn machine. Oh yeah, for sure. Yeah. But then I was like, oh wait, you can add whatever dirty. Everybody's moving their hands. You're like, damn, I don't really want to. Yeah. And then half the times it doesn't even That's right. They're out of this one, out of that. I'm like, But I assume that's where that came from. Right. So that's, that's dirty soda in, in theory. Is that So where it came from though, it's got strong ties to Mormon culture. Right. So it actually came out of Utah in the 2010s. Okay. Um, it's been very popular on one of their shows, which I've never watched. The Secret Lives of Mormon wives, Mors, Mors Mormon wives. Yep. Have you seen the, um, so like if you're watching tv, what, what station is that? Like Hulu it's like a MC or, I don't know, lifetime or some you know, when you're watching Netflix or something and like a preview for another show will come up, like whatever station that's on, whatever network it's on. Like the preview for Secret Lives of Mormon Housewives comes up and it's like. They're all hot as shit. Like, they're like, seriously? They're all like, supermodel hot. And I'm like, ain't no fucking way. A bunch of Utah women. And I guess that's them in that show, but seriously, it's, it's like a fucking soap opera or something. So this started at, where this, where this thing came from too, was like St. George Utah is what it says specifically. Okay. The reason of that is they have this, um, let me think of the name of that place. What's it, do you remember the name of the, the chain of soda stores? Swig. Swig. Swig, that's right. So that started in St. George, Utah. And, and why that's important to me is. I actually had work out there for a while. Did you really? Yeah, and I never, In Utah? Yeah. Pro I had two, I had St. George and then one above, I'm trying to think of the other name of the town, but I never remember seeing this. And I was there like, I stayed all night. That's a lot of coconut cream. Gosh damn. That was a big load of coconut cream. Very Mormon population. Uh, very, very nice town. Very nice town. Kinda a small town feel, but also like there's a lot of things around it. Right. Have you ever been to Utah? Never. So Southern Utah, which is kind of where this is, is honestly about, it's under two hours from Vegas, which is kind of wild. Okay. So when I would travel up there, I would fly into Vegas. Right. And I had some work there in the area, and then I would drive up to St. George up that way. Okay. And that drive is one of the, probably top three. Most beautiful drives I've ever made. I'm making a shit load of noise here. I apologize, but keep talking. doing it. So it's like you're driving through this canyon of mountainous roads. They're just cutbacks. It's like something from a Transformers movie, you know what I mean? Like I feel like, I feel like something's gonna pop out the damn, you know, mountain on me. I'll tell you what, it's freaky at night too. Like if you're on, if you're like at dusk to, you know, like at night, d dawn not dus till dawn, but dusk at night. It is. It is really freaky out there. But. Super nice, nice little area. But anyway, I wish I would've saw Swig, the places there when I was there. So that's like a chain now though, It's a chain man. There's a lot of them too. So they're the home with the original dirty soda. Um, they were founded in 2010 in Utah, and they're mainly in the Western US but they're in 14 states. So speaking of, do you know what the original dirty soda is? I kind of do. So let me tell you what I think it is and you tell me what you think it is. So the original dirty soda that I think was Diet Coke over ice. Okay. Coconut syrup, lime juice, and half and half? Yes. Close from what I saw, it was Dr. Pepper or Diet Dr. Pepper. So I'm trying this and I've already fucked this up, so go ahead and try it. It's not saw, okay, so here's my problem. I saw Dr. Pepper or Diet you got many problems, but we'll go, we'll go into one. is, this is the one we're working, focusing on today. Um, I saw Dr. Pepper or Diet Dr. Pepper, um, made the right choice. Coconut syrup, half and half, like you said. Uh, and then like a splash of lime or a squeeze of lime. Um, and I'm realizing now, like I was like, okay, I could go buy coconut syrup. I'm like, what the fuck am I gonna use that for? I'm not buying a big bottle of that shit. Yeah. Um, and then it's like I drink my coffee black, so I'm like, I'm not buying half and half creamer. So I was like, well, I'm out of. Real coconut like mixer to make like rum drinks. So I was like, this is perfect. It's cream of coconut. It's both combined, but what I'm realizing now is this shit don't mix. Well, I mean fine. It's fine. It fine, it doesn't look nice, but it doesn't look any worse than what the one well it's also look at the bottom like look, look at the bottom like, I mean it literally is not Oh, mine's wide as Yeah, yeah. It's literally not mixing. So like we're not getting a lot of the coconut in there. If you use coconut syrup in half and half. Like that will, that will like mix in a lot better. But I mean, honestly, like I don't give a shit about soda. Like I just wanted to Yeah, I'm not, I mean, like you, you asked me earlier, like, we drink drink soda. No, I don't, I don't drink any caffeine at this point in my life, which is weird as fuck. But, um, my son drinks L 80 every now and my wife drinks Coke zero. Every now and then, that's it. We have none at home really. So anyway, this was mainly created, in my opinion, so in Utah again, but also for like, Mormons don't drink alcohol and stuff, so it's like a mixed drink for them. Like your Shirley Temple when you had This was their guilty Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Mixing, mixing shit up. So yeah, it's like a virgin cocktail. It is kind of, but with like three times as much sugar. Yeah. With a lot of load of coconut in here. Yeah. Um. The, the, the social media I saw took around, like, took off around the early 2020s. Okay. Um, celebrities like Olivia, Rodrigo, mm-hmm. Were posting about how much they love dirty sodas. Um, and then Swig, I guess, got a bunch of competitors popping up places called Soda Delicious, fizz with two eyes and one Z. Um. The soda shop, excuse me. And apparently Sonic started cashing in on it and like doing their own versions and stuff like that. But then most recently as KFC did the, the peaches and cream one, which was really, it was, honestly, it was delicious. I liked it a lot. Um, I'm, you know, honestly, this one right here, it's starting to look like coagulated diarrhea, like, it tastes like still, like regular Dr. I've not seen coagulated diarrhea in a Oh, really? I didn't revisit that. Yeah. Do my diet for one day and I'll show you what coagulated diarrhea looks like. go to Taco Bell and then, you know. Go to kfc. Get some of that. Yeah, we'll coagulate some diarrhea. What do you think of this shitty drink? honestly, I'm with you though. Yeah, it, it, I get a touch of coconut. I don't get any lime. I get, I I just put it like a dash in there. I Dr. Pepper's like a, honestly, Dr. Pepper's a good soda as it is if you're drinking sodas. Yeah, it's got how many flavors or whatever in there. But my son, that's his favorite one. If he drinks, if he does drink a soda, that in L eight, but it's okay. I mean, I would try dirty soda, but the thing you look at is. Probably added, probably tripled the calories. You know, That's, that's the problem for me. It's just like, it's just not worth it. We have done so many things on like quick shots and like spills on like cream liquor, cos every time we do it and I try it, I'm remember the, do you remember the fruity pebbles? Ones like, good Lord, 330 calories, like an ounce an ounce. It's insane. Like every time I try 'em I'm like, this is good. But then after one pour, I'm just like, I feel bad. I physically feel bad about my life. Like life decisions are just like flashing before three Oreos and had shot of vodka real quick is what Yeah. It's, it's, it's like a donut. Yeah. It's like a donut and a shot like Jesus Christ. I think I'd rather just eat a donut and a shot at that point. You know, every time we do a cream laur content, like I just dump it out. Yeah. Like I'll try it and I'd be like, it is just not worth it. It's the same thing with this dirty soda. I just thought it was interesting that. This trend was so big from 2010 to 2020 22, and we were kind of doing stuff like this as a kid with the suicides mix. I know it's not a good word, but like that, that's what we called it back then. We've mixed in the sodas and stuff like that. Like I feel like it's actually been ingrained in our culture for decades. Oh yeah. And we're just kind of like coming to terms with it in different ways. if you go out somewhere and you order a, a Coke or Diet Coke that you ask for a lime, a lot of people do. So coke and lime's been around forever. You know, you think about that. It has, water, but lime, I know it's not soda, but you got flavors in there. Yeah. You go to like Kroger or any, any store you have those little squeeze flavor things, a meal or whatever they call it. Yeah. And, and same. And you So everybody's adding that shit. Sprite has even come out with a, uh, like a Grenadine ver a Cherry Sprite version. Mm-hmm. I also got a Sprite tea that we'll be doing a quick shot on soon. So We'll do that next. So, yeah, thought it was interesting. If you've never heard of dirty soda, this is what it is. I don't think it's making a comeback, but, um, KFC's hopping on it. Check out our quick shot of the, the peaches and cream one. Really fucking good. It's not good for you, but it's really fucking And the great words of, uh, the author LL Cool J Don't call it a comeback. I've been here for years. There you go. Yeah. Guys, if you enjoy this, uh, share it. If you didn't, then fuck off. For more arsenic culture, you can catch us on Uh, all the socials we are at arsenic culture, Don't fuck off, but like and subscribe on YouTube. We'll see you on the next one.