Sippa is lining up a second Richmond-area drive-thru, with a planned opening in Midlothian on Nov. 20.
The custom soda shop already pours at 1415 Eastridge Road. The new stop would put the same build-your-own cup just off Courthouse Road, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Thursday.
A Lease Off Courthouse Road
Sippa announced the date on Instagram. Food and drink reporter Meredith Lindemon wrote that the new location would open Nov. 20 at 11556 Busy St., right off Courthouse Road.
A separate commercial listing is a half-step off that address. Taylor Long Properties said on May 28 that Sippa leased 1,820 square feet of retail space at 11556A Busy St. in Courthouse Place. The announcement and the listing agree on the shopping pocket. They do not agree on the suffix.
That is a planned opening, not a shop already pouring. Hours, a phone number and a Midlothian-specific menu were not part of Thursday's report.
What Goes in the Cup
Sippa is a drive-thru custom soda concept from Salt Lake City natives and spouses Michelle and David Wride, Richmond Magazine reported when the first local shop was on the way. The brand calls dirty soda a mix of fizzy soda, sweet flavored syrups and fresh lime juice.
At the Eastridge Road drive-thru, the order starts with a base and then gets dressed. Axios Richmond counted 12 bases and more than 20 syrups, purees and creamers when that location opened, with prices starting at $3.
The bases are not limited to fountain soda. Sippa also offers energy drink and seltzer, then mix-ins such as guava, pomegranate or coconut, plus puree, cream and a garnish. In an 8News visit, the pitch was practical: pick Diet Coke, root beer, Fresca or Sprite, then pile on flavored syrups, creamers and garnishes.
A Utah Habit That Traveled
Dirty soda did not start as a Richmond invention. Richmond Magazine traced the trend to Utah's Latter-day Saints communities, where it caught on as a social drink that was not alcohol. Al Jazeera describes the cup more plainly: fountain soda mixed with syrups, cream, fruit purees and citrus, grown from a regional curiosity into a national habit.
Swig opened its first shop in St. George, Utah, in 2010 and later put a Dirty Dr Pepper on the menu. The chain became especially popular among members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A 2012 church clarification said caffeine itself was not prohibited. FiiZ Drinks also started in Utah and has since passed 70 locations nationwide.
The same reporting frames soda shops as inexpensive third spaces for younger customers, at a moment when nonalcoholic drinks are getting more of the social calendar. A $3 starting price at Sippa's first Richmond drive-thru fits that pitch more than a cocktail menu does.
What Nov. 20 Actually Means
The only Richmond shop already described as open is the one at 1415 Eastridge Road. Midlothian is the second location on the calendar, eight days out from Thursday's announcement, on a Busy Street site beside Courthouse Road.
Whether the door reads 11556 or 11556A is the detail still sitting between the Instagram post and the May lease. The drink, at least, is already defined: a fizzy base, a sweet add-in, and whatever cream or garnish the line will stand for.
