Are you ready for the "Dirty Soda" revolution?
And yes, we're in Minnesota and it should be "Dirty Pop" - but it's not. “Dirty soda" is a non-alcoholic pop with cream, syrups, and other flavors mixed in and it's taking off.
Chad Taylor is the person behind a new business Twin Cities metro built around these beverages. It started seven months ago in Maple Grove, and now there are locations in St. Louis Park and Edina of "Sota."
Taylor joined WCCO's Morning News with Vineeta Sawkar to talk about it.
Sawkar: Chad, I'm fascinated by this concept of a dirty soda. Tell us how this started and what exactly are dirty sodas?
Taylor: So, some variation of dirty sodas has probably been around for decades going back to old fountain shops or Italian sodas, but the concept of a true dirty soda started about 15 years ago out west in Utah where people took Dr. Pepper and added cream to it. And said, 'whoa, that's different.' Fizz and cream, they're like a totally different vibe and that kind of blew up for the last 15 years. It's been growing crazy like out out there and so we thought, 'man, we got to bring that to Minnesota.'
Sawkar: And so you had like a food truck with these for a while?
Taylor: Yeah, we started about a year ago, a year and a half ago, in a food truck and there were lots of hours sitting at a window waiting for somebody to figure out if they wanted to try a dirty soda. And by the end of the summer it was lines of, you know, 50, 60, 70 people all all summer long.
Sawkar: And why the name dirty soda?
Taylor: I think because of the look when you pour cream into a dark cola or Dr. Pepper. You just watch the whole kind of combination happen, not a whole lot different than with like an iced coffee. But it just creates this cool kind of dirty vibe, and you really - it's any combination of any kind of syrups, purees, creams that you put into a soda to make it a treat you've never had before.
Sawkar: OK, what have I been trying this morning? Explain what these are?
Taylor: Yeah, so our number one is called Stacey's Mom. They're all named after 90s songs, and that's a classic kind of cherry-vanilla flavor mixed with Dr. Pepper and Cream. We sell about a quarter of all the drinks out the door of that. But it's not just all dark drinks. We've got The Wicked Game you tried. That's Mountain Dew, strawberry, peach, mango, like really refreshing and fruity. The Rain, super popular, Sprite, raspberry puree, blue raspberry and vanilla. So some unique kind of things you wouldn't expect there. And then a very classic, 1979, coconut, lime, Coke. Everybody loves that too.
Sawkar: How much do these run? Did you bring the large size?
Taylor: So these are smalls actually. They're 24 ounces, so they're the smallest we have. I don't know if that makes them a small, but we get up to, we have a lot of people that walk out with a 44 ounce. But we're in the $4, $5, $6 range. We tried to stay below coffee and blizzards, but you know, obviously above like a gas station fountain drink.
Sawkar: Should I ask how many calories are in these things because they're so good. Do you keep track?
Taylor: Well, we don't have all our calorie information. I mean we can get it all. It's all made out of the same stuff that we all have. Coke, Pepsi, all that other stuff, but we have diet versions of everything. We have water, sparkling waters, lemonades, there's kind of something for everyone, we like to think.
Sawkar: Why do you think that there's a market for this? Were people looking for just variations of pop now?
Taylor: I just think, especially if we think of the last five years with the pandemic and everything that's gone on, I think people are just in a world where they need little moments to treat themselves, right? And we love treats in Minnesota, but if the reality is there's not that much if you compare it to other places across the U.S. where you can go get a treat that's really unique and something that's real quick, affordable that you can do for yourself. So that was my reason for bringing it here. I saw lines and lines of happy people out west waiting for these kind of drinks, and I thought there's no reason Minnesota can't have the same, you know, treats that that really make them happy.
There are three locations of Sota:
13630 Grove Dr Maple Grove, MN
10 Southdale Ctr Suite #2290A Edina, MN
5327 W 16th St St Louis Pk, MN