Before Dirty Soda, Pepsi's Vintage Cookbook Mixed These Ingredients For A Refreshing, Creamy Drink

If you're an avid TikTok user, or live in Utah, you may already be well acquainted with the dirty soda. A social media sensation that can be traced to Utah's famous soda shops, which started popping up around 2010, a dirty soda is essentially a fountain soda mixed with flavored syrups, creams, juices, and candy. The concept is often credited to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who abstain from drinking coffee or alcohol, but it's become widespread across the country over the years. As it turns out, there were similar versions of the dirty soda back in the day. In fact, Pepsi even shared a recipe for one in a cookbook released in 1970, and it mixed Pepsi with cream and chocolate syrup.

"Pepsi Cola's Beverage Book" was written by Mary-Jane Raphael. The small, 96-page book focuses on recipes for easy party beverages for any occasion, like the Pampered Pirate, a berry drink with milk and orange soda, and the Strawberry Festival, a lemon lime soda-based mocktail with strawberries, powdered sugar, and cream. There's one featured recipe that really evokes the modern dirty soda vibe though: the Curtain Closer. YouTube user Cooking the Books recreated some of the recipes from the book for a video, where they explained exactly how to recreate the creamy, chocolatey Curtain Closer.

The recipe from "Pepsi Cola's Beverage Book" calls for blending two ounces of Pepsi with one tablespoon of chocolate syrup, two tablespoons of cream, and some crushed ice. The mixture is then strained into a glass and topped with shaved chocolate. The result is a delicious, refreshing drink reminiscent of an old-style two-ingredient chocolate fountain Coke. It's sweet but balanced, with a creamy texture that's heightened by the icy cold temperature. It's just like a dirty soda you'd get from any chain, but with a retro twist. 

If you prefer an icier texture, feel free to skip straining the drink, and you can mess with the proportions a bit too. Use more syrup if you're a big chocolate fan, or try white chocolate to switch things up. You can make this with Coca-Cola too if you're a fan of that soda, and no one will judge you for adding some whipped cream on top.

People love adding coffee creamer to dirty sodas too, so you can go down that route if you'd prefer to skip the heavy cream. Experiment with different flavors, like almond or sweet cream. Half-and-half works as well, as does a non-dairy, coconut-based cream. A little vanilla or cherry syrup would be delicious additions too. You just might want to double the recipe if you're thirsty –- Pepsi's proportions make a fairly small drink.