Sonic Drive-In, a quick-service leader in beverage innovation, is adding a slew of new items for spring and summer.
The lineup includes both thirst-quenchers and sweet drinks that can double as desserts.
Scott Uehlein, Sonic’s VP of product innovation and development, introduced an Asian-inspired ingredient—bursting bubbles—to create an entirely new drink format for the chain. The small, edible spheres provide sweet bursts of flavor to the Blue Burst and Cherry Burst, both of which are also available as slushes. They’re served with an oversized straw for slurping, much like Asian bubble tea, for what Sonic is calling “sippable fun.”
The bursting bubbles can be added to any drink or slush, from May 31-Aug. 1.
Along with these two slushes is the return of the original Red Bull Slush. It’s available from March 29-Aug. 29, along with a new iteration: The Red Bull Summer Edition Dragon Fruit. For the slush variation, Red Bull is infused with the tropical flavor of dragon fruit, an ingredient classified as a superfood for its antioxidant benefits.
Customers can also go the indulgent route with Sonic’s new Banana Pudding Shake. The LTO, running from Aug. 2-29, offers the comforting taste of a homestyle banana pudding with its combination of ice cream, bananas and vanilla wafer cookie crumbles.
It joins another cookie-inspired shake, the Oreo Big Scoop Cookie Dough Blast. Sweet seekers can grab one of these a lot sooner; it’s on the menu from now until May 2. The shake is embellished with a scoop of cookie dough infused with chocolate chips and cookie pieces.
To continue the decadence later in the spring (May 2-June 27), the chain is offering up two more dessert shakes: The Cheesecake Blast and the Strawberry Cheesecake Blast. Both start with a blend of creamy cheesecake, crunchy graham cracker pieces and ice cream, with strawberries added in for the fruity version.
Sonic is famous for its nonalcoholic happy hours, offering half-price discounts on most of its beverages from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and often, on shakes after 8 p.m. Although some restrictions apply, many of the items in the new lineup fall into the happy hour promotion.
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