As a child of the ’90s, I spent a lot of summer breaks crammed into a car with my siblings on family road trips. It was on one of these vacations, somewhere between Colorado and Texas, that we stopped at a diner, and my 10-year-old self came up with what I considered to be a hilarious prank. I’d secretly put vanilla coffee creamer into my older brother’s Dr Pepper.
Surely, I thought, this would result in a classic, slapstick comedy spit take. To my great disappointment, my brother actually liked the concoction. He drank it all.
Several decades later, I’ve learned he wasn’t lying to save face. Dr Pepper with vanilla cream is one of the most popular flavor combos of “dirty soda,” a soft drink spiked with flavored creams, syrups and whatever else the imagination can dream up.
Swig, a Utah-based company, coined the term “dirty soda” and popularized the nonalcoholic beverage option. Ziggi’s Coffee, a national drive-thru chain with roots in Colorado, is one of many beverage companies that now offers them—including my brother’s favorite dirty drink. Dr Pepper provides a good base for the coffee house’s lime, cherry and peach flavors.
“Our Dr Pepper drinks in general have been one of our more popular ones, and a personal favorite for me as well,” says Andy Linke, Ziggi’s vice president of marketing.
After a successful local test run in spring 2025, the Ziggi’s dirty soda menu went nationwide in June.
“It’s definitely a trendy beverage,” Linke says, acknowledging the influence of social media in accelerating the soda’s popularity.
He sees it as a menu option with staying power, instead of just a hot trend, because it offers additional choices to patrons after the morning coffee rush has slowed.
“I think the buzz of it will die down eventually, but I don’t think that’s going to change people’s consumption of it,” he says. “Soda has been around forever…. This is just that next level.”
Photo courtesy of Ziggi’s Coffee.
Dreaming up creative combos
Ziggi’s features its own concoctions, such as the Dr Pepper combos, Pepsi mixed with coconut, passion fruit or pineapple and Starry sodas mixed with blue raspberry, green apple, dragonfruit and strawberry boba.
They also encourage creativity, allowing customers to mix and match fountain drinks with dozens of syrups, cold foam flavors and add-ons, like boba, gummies and even glitter. Popular combos include the Rose Gold, a mix of Mountain Dew, strawberry, peach and vanilla creamer, and Pepsi-based drinks such as the Island Cola with coconut creamer and pineapple.
For Linke, the beverage’s creative flare taps into the nostalgia of being a child let loose on the soda fountain at a chain restaurant.
“I remember when I was a kid going to the soda machine and just kind of hitting a little bit of everything,” he says. “We encourage similar behavior with our dirty sodas.”
Lujosa Chill Bar
Adding a little sparkle
The creative potential of dirty sodas is what inspired 15-year-old Lexxi Vargas-Magana to begin experimenting with the drinks last year. She first came across the trend on TikTok, and now she’s turned the concept into a business opportunity with her mom, Jessica Vargas, and aunt, Stephanie Trujillo.
The Wellington-based trio designed a menu of sweet drinks, including dirty sodas, and savory treats, like tamales. In October, they launched Lujosa Chill Bar, a mobile food truck with popups across Northern Colorado.
Lujosa, meaning “luxurious” in Spanish, embraces Latin American flavors, like mango and Tajín, as a nod to the business’ Mexican American roots. Trujillo jokes that they’ve taken on a “sassy, glittery, boss babe” energy through their menu, with the best example being Vargas-Magana’s personal favorite: the Fresa Dreamcake Baddie. It’s a pink concoction containing Sprite, strawberry puree, sweet cream, graham cracker and sparkly “luxury dust.”
“She likes to make them pretty,” Vargas says of her daughter’s creations.
The teen’s ability to make drinks that aren’t just tasty but cute reflects exactly why these drinks went viral on social media.
On a Sunday afternoon in east Greeley, where Lujosa Chill Bar has set up for the day, I ask Vargas-Magana if she’ll prepare a Fresa Dreamcake Baddie for me. As I sit, overlooking U.S. 85 and admiring my fizzy pink beverage, I do feel like a sassy, glittery boss babe. I remember, in this world, that we have free will, and you’re allowed to put whatever you feel like in your soda pop.
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Where to Find Dirty Sodas in Northern Colorado
In addition to Ziggi’s and Lujosa Chill Bar, dirty sodas are popping up on menus across the Front Range. For a dirty soda fix in Fort Collins, try Union Bar & Soda Fountain. In Greeley, Spotlight Café and Creamery has the hookup. Keep an eye out for The Dragon & Cone, a new dirty soda spot opening this summer in Wellington.
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Fresa Dreamcake Baddie
Courtesy of Lujosa Chill Bar
Ingredients
- Sprite
- Strawberry puree
- Coconut cream
- Whipped cream topping
- “Luxury dust” (edible glitter)
- Graham cracker topping
Directions
Mix ingredients to taste or until drink feels “boss babe” enough.
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Vanilla Dr Pepper
Adapted by Kayla Young from I’m Hungry for That
Ingredients
- 1 can Dr Pepper
- 2 tablespoons coconut creamer
- 1 tablespoon vanilla syrup
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (about ½ a lime)
Optional garnishes
- Maraschino cherry
- Lime wedge
Directions
Mix ingredients and enjoy.
