The Best Dirty Soda Recipes You Can Make at Home

If you’re like me and recently binged all eight episodes of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives in two days, you probably have a lot on your mind. Like the show’s name implies, the unscripted series takes a close look at eight Mormon wives in Provo, Utah, and their unsuspecting, scandalous world. While I won’t get into too much of the show’s drama (because that would have to be a separate article), one of the things that has fascinated me most is the cast’s general obsession with “Dirty Sodas.” In every episode, the wives are seen either drinking their sodas or talking about them, and in episode five, the wives go to Swig, a popular shop dedicated to customizable sodas.

Dirty Sodas are pretty similar to Italian Sodas, consisting of heavy cream or creamer, flavored syrups, and of course, soda. Sometimes, there are other add-ins like lime juice, which is a common ingredient in the ultra-popular “Dirty Coke.”

Soda has a fairly big place in Mormon culture because of what Joseph Smith (founder of Mormonism) purportedly once said—”Hot drinks are not for the body or belly.” Some people within the Latter Day Saints community have interpreted this very literally, (meaning, no Pumpkin Spice Lattes), although, this may vary from person to person. Because Mormons aren’t allowed to drink hot beverages or alcohol, they decided to indulge in ice-cold soda. In 2010, the first soda shops appeared in Utah, and well, the rest is history.

While the wives seem to go to Swig exclusively, there are several other popular soda shop chains in the state. Sodalicious and Quench It! are at the top of the soda shop pyramid, with dozens of locations across Utah and nearby states. It seems a little harder to find soda shops in the northeast, although they just opened up Cool Sips in New York City. Of course, you could also always go to Sonic, (yes, the fast-food chain), which offers the option of making any of their sodas “dirty” with the addition of coconut cream and lime.

On the show, Demi’s Swig order is as follows: sparkling water, sugar free coconut syrup, sugar free vanilla syrup, sugar free raspberry syrup, sugar free pineapple syrup and coconut cream. While that order is pretty specific, there are simpler recipes that you could make in the comfort of your own home. We’ve rounded up dirty soda recipes that will surely satisfy your taste buds, regardless of what your soda preferences are. They’re all tried and true, and approved by TikTok’s soda enthusiasts.