Ocean Water Drink

Ocean Water at Sonic is a fan favorite with its fun blue color, great coconut and citrus combo, and base of lemon-lime soda. Getting a Sonic drink is always a fun experience, and when you get an Ocean Water on a hot summer’s day, you feel like you’re on vacation. With such a great fun summer drink, you might get the idea to make an Ocean Water at home. It’s actually a pretty easy recipe to make at home. It uses simple ingredients like lemon-lime soda, a coconut flavoring, and blue food dye. The blue dye makes your drink look fun and like Sonic’s Ocean Water but doesn’t change the flavor at all. The recipe drinks ingredients might even be lying around your house. It is simple to recreate the fun summer drink at home, without all of the ingredients, but you can make it with lemon-lime soda and coconut flavoring. With Sonic’s Ocean Water, we can cool off in a fun way and make summer drinks that kids can enjoy making. Just like the Ocean Water is a fan favorite, your home-made version can be fun too. Enjoy the summer sun with your family and friends by making your version of Sonic’s Ocean Water. Dip the drink for a fun Sonic vacation.

In this recipe, a quick simple syrup is made to use the coconut extract. This is a much better way to achieve flavor distribution than just pouring in extract into soda. I will also show you all the Torani shortcut (my favorite), the sugar-free version, and how to make this look like something you’d actually want to take a picture of.

Helpful Tips

Ice Matters More Than You’d Think

Sonic’s Ocean Water comes with their special pebble ice (or nugget/pellet ice), which really makes a difference with how you experience the drink. Since the ice soaks in the flavors, each sip (or chew) hits different. If you own a countertop nugget ice maker, this is the time to break it out! Otherwise, opt for crushed ice, which is better than nugget ice to keep the drink from getting watered down.

Use Clear Glasses

The color really draws you in. The blue color in these drinks looks nicer in a clear container like a regular pint glass, mason jar, or even a plastic cup, than it would in a colored or opaque cup. For kids, a clear plastic cup with a lid and straw would work best.

Adjust the Color to the Occasion

Three drops of blue food coloring will give you a blue shade, similar to what Sonic serves. If you want a lighter and more tropical look, use 1-2 drops. Aim for a deep ocean look? Add a 4th drop. The food coloring won’t change the flavor, so feel free to adjust based on what looks right to you.

The Torani Shortcut Is Worth It

I already said this in the ingredients, but it’s important enough to say again. Grab Torani Coconut Syrup, which is usually with the coffee stuff in stores (might have to look near the registers), or you can get it on Amazon. It replaces the whole simple syrup step. For a batch, use 2-3 tablespoons, add your blue food coloring, then pour in your soda. And that’s it. The flavor will be a little more rounded and slightly less artificial than if you used coconut extract.

Make the Syrup Ahead

The simple syrup should be kept in the fridge in a sealed jar where it will stay good for two weeks. If you’re doing Ocean Water for a party, you can always make a larger batch of syrup the night before. On the day of the party, all you have to do is pour it out and add the soda.

Variations and Flavor Options

Sugar-Free Ocean Water

Substitute the simple syrup for Torani Sugar-Free Coconut Syrup (available on Amazon) and mix with diet lemon-lime soda (Dew Zero, Sprite Zero, or 7UP Zero). It’s worth mentioning that the sugar-free Torani syrup is one of the few that tastes decent, and in this case, you’re losing the coconut flavor rather than gaining it. Also, this isn’t a guess, it’s a good version of a drink and not just some watered down pretend drink.”

Ocean Water with Lemonade

Mixing lemonade with lemon-lime soda adds some tartness to the flavor profile of the drink. If you are serving it alongside food at a backyard party, you don’t have to worry about it drowning in sweetness.

Sparkling Water Version

To lower the sweetness significantly, replace the soda with plain sparkling water. You will need to increase the simple syrup a little. However, the final product will be lighter and closer to spa water than a copycat Sonic drink. Good option if you want the coconut flavor and less sweetness.

Layered Blue Gradient

Prepare two small batches: one with 1 drop of blue food coloring and the other with 4-5 drops of blue food coloring. With ice in your glass, fill it halfway with the lighter batch, then pour the darker batch down the inside of the glass using a spoon to slow it down. You’ll get a two-tone blue effect that looks especially complicated.

Party Punch Version

For a full punch bowl, do the following: For syrup, multiply by 6 (approx ¾ cup of Torani syrup), add 2 liters lemon-lime soda, and 8–10 drops of food coloring. To keep the punch from getting too watery, add a block of ice or a ring of frozen lemonade. If you want the presentation to be a moment, blue raspberry sherbet or frozen blueberries can float on top.

Garnish Ideas

• Lime wedge on the rim — the green against the blue is a good color combo
• Maraschino cherry — Sonic does this, it works
• Fresh mint sprig — adds a little visual interest without changing the flavor much
• Striped paper straws — purely aesthetic, but they photograph well
• Frozen pineapple chunks — for a more tropical look and a slight flavor addition as they thaw

Recommended: Nugget Ice Maker

A countertop nugget ice maker seems like a good option if you consume iced drinks daily. For example, the GE Profile Opal Nugget Ice Maker creates genuine pebble-style ice and is designed to sit on a countertop. If you are looking for a more budget friendly option, a basic ice maker does not produce pebble ice but is much more efficient than a freezer when it comes to ice production. It can be useful when entertaining guests.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Ocean Water at Sonic?

Sadly, the only true part of the name is the ‘ocean’ part, for all it is is a coconut-flavored lemon-lime soda. Their in-house coconut syrup is used in this drink, so the Torani coconut syrup copycat versions taste closer to the original than using just plain coconut syrup. Lastly, the drink is topped off with Sonic’s signature pebble ice, which is a very enjoyable part of the whole experience.

Can I make Ocean Water without coconut extract?

Yes, this is when Torani Coconut Syrup comes into play. It will take the place of both the simple syrup, along with the extract, with one step. If you have neither, you could try a splash of coconut-flavored drink mix, or a small amount of cream of coconut (the sweet, thick kind used in piña coladas) but keep in mind both will change the texture and the sweetness level quite a bit. If you’re starting from scratch, the extract-plus-syrup method is the most dependable.

Why does my Ocean Water taste flat?

Here are some possible explanations: you added the soda while the syrup was still warm (warm liquids kill carbonation), you stirred too much after adding the soda, or the soda was already somewhat flat when you opened it. Remember to always use a new cold can and to let the syrup cool completely before adding it. When you pour the soda, do it gently down the side of the pitcher. Don’t pour it directly into the syrup.

How far in advance can I make this?

You can make the simple syrup and keep it in the fridge for 2 weeks and the syrup will still be good. However, you should prepare the drink only just before serving the drink since the soda will lose carbonation and will flatten in an hour or two. This is even more true once melting ice is added to it. If you are preparing this for a party, I recommend setting up a self-service station with the cold syrup, food coloring, and chilled soda cans so others can mix their own.

Can kids make this themselves?

The soda-mixing part is a great option for kids, but they’ll need adult supervision when it comes to simple syrup because that involves a hot stovetop. If you make the syrup ahead of time and let it cool, older kids (10+) can do the whole drink by themselves. It’s one of those good ones kids can “make” for guests because it looks really impressive with very little effort done.

Does the blue food coloring affect the taste?

Incorrect. At these amounts, food coloring is tasteless. Three to five drops in a 24 oz drink is negligible and mainly for show. If you want to avoid the coloring, you won’t taste a difference; it will just look like soda instead of a blue drink. Because gel food coloring is a more concentrated than liquid, you’ll need to use fewer drops for the same blue intensity.

Related Recipes

• Shirley Temple Drink — another classic mocktail that’s easy to make at home and a hit with kids
• Copycat Sonic Drinks — more Sonic-inspired drinks you can make yourself
• Watermelon Agua Fresca — a light, fresh drink that’s great for summer gatherings
• Homemade Lemonade — the base you can mix with almost anything for a quick flavored drink