Meet the sister duo bringing the dirty soda craze to Metro Vancouver and beyond

Depending on what side of TikTok you’re on, you might have heard of dirty sodas. These elevated takes on favourite soda flavours are seen all over the United States, with people hitting up their favourite dirty soda providers like the popular Swig.

But here in Metro Vancouver, we don’t really have a go-to spot for dirty soda. However, it looks like that’s going to change.

Co-owners and sisters Brooklynn and Mikayla Cantelon are gearing up to open a food truck called Pop Culture, bringing with them both classic and more unique takes on the beloved dirty soda.

Dished caught up with the sister team to learn more about Pop Culture, when it’ll be hitting the road, and, more importantly, what exactly a dirty soda is.

Starting a business together

The idea for Pop Culture was created by the duo simply missing spending time together and creating drinks.

The sister duo, who are only a year apart, had spent time working together in cafes before they both pursued what they called “big girl jobs.” However, this left both of them feeling unfulfilled.

Then, after Brooklynn came back from a trip to Australia in September, the two sat down and realized how much they missed making drinks and working with each other.

Instead of going down the more typical cafe route, the sisters decided to do dirty sodas as a way to stand out from the competition,

“We saw [dirty sodas] on Tiktok and started making them at home all the time,” said Brooklynn. “We grew up, like, in Langley, BC, and we always went to A&W and had root beer floats, and we go to the States to get the cool pop flavours all the time.”

But Pop Culture isn’t just a way for the soda-loving sisters to start working together; they also saw a need for more non-alcoholic options in the area.

“We’re not big drinkers, and Langley is a little bit more limited with alcohol-free options, especially at festivals,” said Mikayla. “So we thought, why don’t we just make a little food truck and try to do some alcohol-free and fun dirty soda creations?”

What is a dirty soda?

But what exactly is a dirty soda? Well, Mikayla described it as any type of pop that, at its most basic, is elevated with syrups or creamers. But with Pop Culture, they plan to take it one step further.

“We are trying to go over the top with unique, exciting flavour combinations, toppings, and foams, kind of as big as we can go with it,” said Mikayla.

In terms of an exact menu, Pop Culture said that just like pop culture, its menu will constantly change.

“Pop culture is always changing, and we have so many new and exciting ideas we’re wrapping our heads around,” said Brooklynn.

“We want to have a few signature ones as well, like the classic Diet Dr. Pepper with lime and vanilla cold foam. But we also want to do out-of-the-box creative ones.”

 

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One of these more creative ones that they’ve been testing is Sprite with Blue Raspberry, lemon, and a strawberry cold foam, or the Sabrina Carpenter-inspired drink consisting of Coke, sugar-free vanilla, a vanilla cold foam, and a shot of espresso.

But don’t worry, the sisters assured us that they will be offering the staple of the dirty soda scene: Diet Coke with lime and coconut creamer.

“We are still exploring and trying to nail it down to a few, even though we have so many ideas,” said Brooklynn. “We just want to constantly be changing and even catering our menu to each festival we go to to have it very customizable.”

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Opening date

While the sisters are still figuring out logistics, they want to open Pop Culture as soon as possible and are hoping for early spring.

As for where they’re going to open up shop first, they want to stay in their hometown of Langley. But that doesn’t mean they won’t be showing up in a city near you.

“That’s kind of why we wanted to do a truck as well, because we want something that people don’t really have, and going to their hometown and offering it instead of opening up a storefront in Langley and being like ‘Okay, now everyone come to us.'”

The sisters also said that this would be a great opportunity for them to travel, citing that they want to visit the island, Okanagan, Vancouver, Squamish, and more.

And it’s not just people in Metro Vancouver who are excited for Pop Culture. Mikayla said that people from Ontario have been messaging them, asking when Pop Culture was going to open because they wanted to fly in and try some dirty sodas.

Be sure to follow Pop Culture on Instagram and TikTok for more updates on their grand opening, and where they plan to take the truck first.

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