Dirty Soda 101: How to Order Your First Sip in Hermitage

What makes a soda “dirty”?

A dirty soda starts with a familiar soft drink and adds flavors or extras. That might mean coconut syrup and lime, cherry and vanilla, a splash of cream, or popping pearls. Cream creates those cloudy swirls you may have seen in a drink photo, but not every recipe includes it.

Think of it as a way to give your favorite fizz a new personality. A regular soda offers its familiar flavor; a dirty soda introduces another combination to explore. Our dirty soda menu shows the named drinks and prices.

Start with a flavor you already enjoy

At The Straw, the six soda bases are Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Orange Fanta, Dr Pepper and root beer. Choose one you already enjoy, then decide whether you want a fruit flavor, coconut, vanilla or a creamy finish. You can also start with a named drink from the menu instead of building your own combination.

We stock more than two dozen flavor syrups and popping pearls in flavors including mango and strawberry. Ask which combinations are available for your base and whether extras change the price. For a closer look at what additions change, read our regular soda versus dirty soda comparison.

Three easy starting points

These combinations make it easy to see how much the add-ins can change a familiar drink.

• Coconut Lime Dr Pepper combines Dr Pepper, coconut syrup, lime juice and cream.
• Vanilla Cherry Coke combines Coke with cherry and vanilla syrups.
• Root Beer Float combines root beer with sweet cream over ice.

Your first order, step by step

You do not need to know every syrup on the counter. Start with a soda you like and one flavor direction. A request such as “I like Sprite and fruity flavors—what would you suggest?” gives our team a useful starting point.

If you are ordering for several people, have each person choose a base and size first. Keep any ingredient questions with that person’s order so we can discuss the actual recipe. Custom options can vary between ordering channels; check what is offered before placing an online order.

• Choose a named drink or one of our six soda bases.
• Pick the flavor direction: fruity, coconut, vanilla or creamy.
• Ask about popping pearls or other extras, ingredient questions and any added cost.
• Choose Regular or Large and confirm the finished order. Current prices are on the menu.

A little extra texture

Popping pearls offer bursts of fruit flavor. The Straw keeps flavors including mango and strawberry; ask about the choices for your drink. They are different from the chewy tapioca pearls on the milk boba menu.

You can explore the pearls and flavor options before your visit. If you prefer a cream-free recipe, ask the team about the specific drink rather than assuming every dirty soda is made the same way.

Your Hermitage soda stop

Find The Straw at 4640 Lebanon Pike. Come inside, use the drive-thru, or order ahead. Our visit page has the current hours and directions.

A dirty soda is a treat to choose by taste. A Diet Coke base does not make all of its add-ins sugar-free, and we do not publish caffeine amounts or allergen information. Talk with the team about ingredients before ordering. For another kind of sip, explore jasmine fruit tea or milk boba.