Coconut Cream Dirty Soda Dream

Danni Wanner

“Most people underestimate what a small amount of cream can do to a drink. It doesn’t add sweetness; it adds cohesion,” says Dani Wanner, VP of operations at Ziggi’s Coffee, explaining this fundamental element of a dirty soda. But proper calibration of the amount and flavor of the cream—and other ingredients—is not a casual process. For Ziggi’s Iced Ridin’ Dirty Soda, which features Dr Pepper, vanilla creamer and coconut creamer, the goal was to create a balanced drink that felt familiar enough to be approachable while remaining distinctive enough to be memorable.

“We spent a lot of time making sure the Dr Pepper still tasted like itself. The coconut and vanilla are there to complete it, not compete with it. That’s a hard thing to engineer, and I’m proud of how it came out,” Wanner says.

While the Dr Pepper retains its crisp base, the vanilla creamer smooths out the profile, with the coconut creamer bringing a distinctive note to the mix. The big R&D surprise was “realizing how little it took to change everything,” she notes. “A small pour of creamer pulled all the flavors into alignment in a way that was more dramatic than anyone expected. What started as a finishing touch turned out to be the thing that made the whole drink work.”

The Ridin’ Dirty has been a favorite since its launch and remains the top seller on the brand’s dirty soda menu. “People don’t walk in expecting a soda to feel this refined, and that surprise has driven strong repeat interest,” says Wanner.

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