Sonic Is Turning Its Slushes into Hard Seltzer Flavors

Hard seltzers have exploded onto the beer scene over the past couple of years, with these flavored malt beverages quickly becoming the fastest-growing category churned out by breweries. Meanwhile, before the world went wild for boozy sparkling lemonade, one of the biggest brewery trends was collaborating with big-name brands—from Wawa to Waffle House and the other 25 letters of the alphabet, too.

With that in mind, hard seltzer collaborations have 2021 breakout potential (just ask Gordon Ramsay), and here's one fast food fans may get excited about: Oklahoma City-based Sonic Drive-In has teamed up with the local COOP Ale Works to produce hard seltzers inspired by Sonic's popular Slush flavors.

Greg Horton, a writer for Oklahoma's 405 Magazine, broke the news on Twitter late last week. "Definitely the biggest beverage news this year for Oklahoma," he posted, explaining that the two OK brands "have entered into an agreement that will triple COOP's production. Sonic is bringing some of their famous flavors to hard seltzer starting May 1."

His tweet also included a few mockups including a 12-can "Citrus Variety Pack" featuring Lemon Berry, Classic Lemonade, Cherry Limeade, and Original Limeade flavors; a "Tropical Variety Pack" with Orange Pineapple, Mango Guava, Ocean Water, and Melon Medley flavors; and two individual large cans labeled at 5 percent ABV with 160 calories and 2 grams of sugar. In a later reply, Horton also implied he (or someone) had tried the forthcoming seltzer adding, "Pre-release cans have been very promising."

We've reached out to Sonic for more details, but Oklahoma City's KOKH News reports that the fast food chain has confirmed the collaboration, adding that the new hard seltzers will not be sold at Sonic Drive-In locations—and just where they will be distributed had not yet been announced. That said, COOP Ale Works has its own line of hard seltzers, Will & Wiley, and when those launched last year, they were distributed in six states: Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Arkansas.

Sonic has certainly been liberal with their Slushes in the past: In 2018, the chain released a pickle juice version of the icy drink, and in 2019, they offered a slush accentuated with uber-spicy Carolina Reaper peppers.