‘Heavy soda’: Why TikTok is packing soda with more and more syrup

Rumor has it that soda fountains at a handful of gas stations and convenience stores across the Midwest are serving a thicker, more syrupy variant — with extra sweetness. 

Aptly dubbed “heavy soda”, the drink option can be traced back to a singular post on the subreddit r/Soda, and a few TikTok videos. “You know when the gas station fountains have this option you’re in gods country,” creator Kate Boyer wrote in the caption of a post earlier this year. The video has since gained almost seven million view. The drink has recently been picked up by a number of news organizations. 

Not to be confused with the recent dirty soda or protein soda trends, heavy soda is all about dialling up sweetness and flavor (also rumored to be the secret recipe behind McDonald’s Coke’s superiority to all other types of Coke).

The soda fountain supposedly dispenses an extra blast of syrup, resulting in a sweeter, more concentrated version of popular sodas like Pepsi, Mountain Dew, and Dr Pepper. Taking it a step further, one TikToker, an employee at a movie theater, even claimed that co-workers skipped the water altogether and drank straight from the Mountain Dew syrup fountain. 

Some commenters have taken this as an opportunity to dunk on America’s sweet tooth culture. “Heavy soda is the most American culture,” one wrote. “Gods country is the reason we can’t have free healthcare,” another wrote. 

Many, however, protested their innocence, claiming they’ve never seen the heavy option out in the wild. “I’ve lived in and been all over the South most of my life, and I have never heard of or seen this anywhere,” one Reddit user responded. “This must be some very backwoods rural area place.”

It seems most of the confirmed sightings have been in Missouri. “For everyone asking, Heavy Pepsi is a Missouri thing,” one wrote. Another responded: “I’ve seen it in Missouri gas stations south of St. Louis. I tried the ‘heavy’ Mountain Dew. It’s way better than it should be.” 

Another explained that the fountain option is ideal for those who need their Big Gulp to last all day, with the ice diluting the heavy soda over time to the perfect ratio, thereby avoiding a watered down drink by the end of the day. 

Viral soda recipes?

While heavy soda may not have caught on in other parts of the U.S. just yet, companies like McDonald’s and Crumbl Cookies are trialling their own versions of viral soda recipes to capitalize on the social media-fueled frenzy for ultra-customized and made-to-order beverages. 

Beverages have been one of the hottest growth businesses for U.S. restaurants, the Wall Street Journal reported, with sales up 9.6% in 2024, the biggest annual increase of any restaurant category. At Starbucks, one-quarter of the chain’s custom drinks sold in the U.S. have more than three customer modifications — like an extra shot or pump of flavored syrup, a company spokeswoman recently told The New York Times.

In an era of personalization and “little treat” culture, an off-shelf soda no longer hits the same. 

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