As a dietitian, I have a few complaints about soda, but \u201cnot sweet enough\u201d isn\u2019t one of them; at most restaurants, a medium soda over ice has as much carbohydrate as most people need in a whole meal. It\u2019s OK with me on occasion, but in general I suggest making sugary soda a \u201csometimes treat.\u201d <\/p>\n
It seems like at least one part of the country might have a differing opinion.<\/p>\n
TikTok is fizzing with posts about \u201cheavy soda,\u201d reportedly found at some convenience stores. It\u2019s all your favorite soda fountain delights, but turned up to 11 like that amplifier in \u201cThis Is Spinal Tap.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not a soda brand-sanctioned practice, but if the photos are to be believed, stop at the right gas station and you might be rewarded with the option to choose a soda with extra syrup added straight from the spout.<\/p>\n
\u201cPepsi Diesel,\u201d quipped<\/a> one commenter. <\/p>\n I\u2019ve been suspicious that this supposedly common practice is fake, because most posts are using the same photo, and it would increase the business\u2019 costs without a way to recoup.<\/p>\n Still, commercial soda dispensers work by running carbonation through a chiller to encourage lasting bubbles, and mixing with filtered water and a super-concentrated flavored syrup on demand. Though the industry standard is a ratio<\/a> of about 5 parts carbonated water to 1 part syrup, there have long been rumors that some restaurants use more syrup than others for a signature soda hit that\u2019s resistant to dilution from melting ice.<\/p>\n Some TikTokers claim to be able to tell the difference between a McDonald\u2019s Coke and a Chick-fil-A Coke in a blind taste test<\/a>, for example. I wasn\u2019t easily convinced; though I often mention to nutrition clients that a 20-ounce Coca-Cola at Chick-fil-A<\/a> has 170 calories, while the same size at McDonald\u2019s<\/a> is listed at 270, I attributed that to less ice in the cup for a long time. That is, until I realized that a bottled 20-ounce Coca-Cola has 240 calories, even without accounting for ice, which is usually over half of a fountain drink\u2019s volume. McDonald\u2019s didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment by the time of publication, but that math doesn\u2019t seem like it\u2019s mathing.<\/p>\n The idea makes my teeth cringe, and switching to a ratio of 2:1, for instance, would double the syrup, the calories and the cost to the business. But if some restaurants are accepting those odds, there must be an actual demand for even sweeter sweet stuff. Is it possible, then, that convenience store heavy soda is real?<\/p>\n A few commenters claim to have encountered this monster in the wild, but there are few details<\/a>. Pepsi, Mountain Dew and Dr Pepper are frequently mentioned but not diet varieties. Some say it\u2019s found in my home of the South, but that\u2019s a vile accusation based solely on our local worship of sweet tea. I\u2019ve never seen it, and other Southern commenters protest they haven\u2019t, either.<\/p>\n One Reddit thread<\/a> decided it is limited to Southern Missouri, but again, others from there deny having seen it. Half my extended family lives in Missouri or Illinois, along with dozens of friends in surrounding states, and I spent all day today messaging them. They asked their friends and family, too, and I called a long list of bewildered convenience stores to ask whether they offer it.<\/p>\n My pharmacist brother-in-law lives in the southeast quadrant of Missouri, near where some alleged witnesses have reported seeing heavy soda, and he agreed to ask all of his co-workers if they had encountered it.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone said no,\u201d came the update; although, in the interest of journalistic integrity, I feel I should specify that one of his fellow pharmacists said, \u201cEwww.\u201d I\u2019m gratified that my fellow health care workers agree with my assessment.<\/p>\n We all came up empty for a total of eight Midwestern states, from Oklahoma to Indiana, and Michigan to Missouri. I was starting to wonder whether this supposed \u201ctrend\u201d is less beverage, and more Bigfoot.<\/p>\n I did find one Wisconsinite, Jen Chekouras, who remembers a concentrated soda they called 50-50 (not to be confused with Milwaukee\u2019s dearly departed citrus 50\/50 brand soda<\/a>), but it was a \u201csecret menu\u201d item at just a few restaurants in the 1990s. If it really was 50-50, that would be a ratio of 1:1 \u2014 enough to make a dietitian curl into a fetal position.<\/p>\n Describing it as \u201ctooth coatingly, stomach-turningly sweet,\u201d Chekouras maintained she was never able to finish one, not even on a dare. \u201cThey were also a semi-clandestine thing,\u201d she remembered, \u201conly available after dark, if the restaurant wasn\u2019t crowded, as though you were ordering an illicit substance. And you kind of were.\u201d Hardly the stuff of viral TikTok legend.<\/p>\n