Sonic Ocean Water Easy Copycat Recipe
Sonic Ocean Water is one of those drive-thru drinks people order on autopilot every summer. This copycat recipe recreates the bright blue coconut-flavored soda at home using a simple homemade syrup stirred into lemon-lime soda. The syrup takes under 10 minutes to make, and you can adjust the sweetness and coconut intensity to your taste. It works as a single serving or scaled up into a party punch, and the syrup keeps in the fridge for up to 10 days.
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Sonic Ocean Water is a signature drink at Sonic Drive-In: a vivid blue, coconut-flavored soda served over ice. The color comes from blue food coloring stirred into a homemade simple syrup, which gets its tropical flavor from coconut extract.
This recipe has two parts. First, you make a small batch of blue coconut syrup by dissolving sugar in hot water, then adding food coloring and coconut extract. Then you combine that syrup with lemon-lime soda and ice to build the finished drink.
Both steps are straightforward, and once you have syrup stored in the fridge, you can mix a glass in under two minutes on demand.
Why this recipe works
The heart of this recipe is the homemade blue coconut syrup. Making it yourself lets you control the ratio of sweetness to coconut intensity, something the drive-thru cannot offer. The base is a classic simple syrup (equal parts water and sugar), which dissolves completely and blends smoothly into carbonated soda without settling or going grainy.
Coconut extract is the right choice over coconut milk or cream of coconut. Extract delivers a clean, concentrated coconut flavor without adding fat or dairy, which would mute the carbonation and cloud the bright blue color.
Lemon-lime soda is the correct mixer because its citrus brightness matches the refreshing quality of the original Sonic version. Cola or club soda would shift the flavor profile away from what Sonic fans recognize.
Ingredients for Blue Coconut Syrup
With simple ingredients, you can recreate the blue coconut flavor at home.
Here’s a list of what you need to make the blue coconut syrup:
- Water – Forms the base of the blue coconut syrup
- Granulated sugar – Dissolves to create the sweet syrup foundation
- Blue food coloring – Creates the signature ocean blue appearance
- Coconut extract – Provides the distinctive tropical coconut flavor
To build the Sonic Ocean Water, you will need:
- Sprite or lemon-lime soda – Adds refreshing fizz and citrus notes
- Blue Coconut Syrup – from the syrup you just made
- Ice cubes – Chills the drink and maintain the perfect refreshing temperature
How to make blue coconut syrup and the Sonic Ocean Water
For this recipe, you will make a simple syrup and then add color and flavor to get the treasured
- Place boiling water in a bowl or pitcher.
- Combine the water and the sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
- Add a few drops of blue food coloring and coconut extract. Stir to combine the sugar mixture.
- Fill a glass with ice.
- Pour some blue coconut syrup into the glass.
- Add Sprite to fill the glass.
Enjoy this refreshing summer drink any time of the year! This copycat Sonic Ocean Water recipe is one that you will love. If you enjoy slushies, be sure to mix the drink in your blender and add some extra ice.
You don’t need to serve this drink only in July, August, or even during the summer. It can be served at any time of the year!
How to store blue coconut syrup
Please store the leftover syrup in the fridge in an airtight container or a squeeze bottle. It will last for 10 days in the refrigerator.
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Sonic Ocean Water
Ingredients
Blue Coconut Syrup Recipe
- 2 cups water boiling
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 drops blue food coloring
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
Drink Recipe
- 1 cup Ice cubes
- ⅓ cup Blue coconut syrup
- 1 cup Sprite
Instructions
Blue Coconut Syrup
- Place 2 cups of boiling water in a bowl or pitcher.
- Add 1 cup of sugar to the boiling water and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
- Add 4 drops of blue food coloring to the sugar syrup.
- Add 1 teaspoon coconut flavoring to the syrup. Stir to combine.
- Allow the syrup to cool to room temperature or cooler.
Ocean Water Drink
- Fill a glass with ice.
- Add ⅓ cup of the blue coconut syrup.
- Fill the glass with 1 cup of Sprite.
Video
Notes
- Let the syrup cool completely before adding it to the soda. Hot syrup poured over cold carbonated liquid causes the fizz to release rapidly, and the drink goes flat faster.
- A squeeze bottle makes portioning quick and easy, especially for multiple servings. It also stores neatly in the refrigerator door.
- The syrup is intentionally sweet and concentrated, so a small amount goes a long way. Add more or less per glass depending on how intensely flavored you want the finished drink.
Nutrition
Love Sonic Drive-In Drinks? Try these copycat recipes:
- Sonic Cherry Limeade Recipe
- Sonic Strawberry Lemonade
- Sonic Strawberry Limeade
- Sonic Rootbeer Freeze
Favorite Summer Drink Recipes
- Blueberry Water
- Chick-fil-A Sunjoy
- Frosted Lemonade
- Frozen Strawberry Lemonade
- Iced Mocha Recipe
- Orange Julius
- Pina Colada Smoothie
- Starbucks Lemonade
- Starbucks Passion Tea Lemonade
- Strawberries and Cream Starbucks Frappuccino
- Vanilla Bean Crème Frappuccino
Check out my easy drink recipes and the best fast food recipes here on CopyKat!
Great recipe! However, there’s a key ingredient you’re missing. When I was working at sonic, ocean water was made by mixing our blue coconut syrup with sprite. In fact, almost all of our special drinks use sprite as a base!
Hmm, I thought by giving a recipe for blue coconut syrup and using sprite, I made the copycat recipe.
This is so fun that you can make it at home!
What a fun recipe!
This is amazing! I will definitely try this!
Love the coconut syrup in here!
So fun! I love this so much!
Such a fun drink! Great with sparkling water too.
Oooh, delicious! And so fun to make at home!
Such a great idea
My kiddos will do backflips for this!
This recipe states that it makes (1) serving. If that’s so, I’d consume ONE WHOLE CUP OF SUGAR if I made this drink for myself! I can’t believe it, so PLEASE tell me that I misunderstood the recipe! BTW, “Sonic” is well noted for it’s unhealthy & fattening food, so I don’t know why anyone would care to eat there, nor to want any of their recipes….just sayin’….
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Your funny if you have a problem with sonic then why were you on this page no one told you to or held a gun to your head if you have an issue then leave and let the people who like it be.
I had to stop using Splenda because it causes my vision to blur, I think it dehydrates but I do wish I could use it without concern. I use Diabetic version of Whey Low because it is lactose based but has a lower glycemic index count than regular Whey Low ( ordered online). It’s called Whey Low D and dissolves best in hot liquid but can then be chilled. They have a wonderful brown sugar sub called Whey LowGold), but is not necessarily what diabetics should choose. Sometimes I combine stevia and Whey Low D.
Off Topic:
New copycat I would love to see Stephanie. Is Schlotzkey’s Tomato Basil Soup. LOVe it and would like to make it at home.
I love Sonic Drive Inn’s Happy Hour drinks! I fortunately live in Texas and there are plenty if Sonic Drive Ins! Yes, I do look forward to and partake in their drinks at least 2-3 times a week! Their mozzarella sticks (cheese sticks) are the best also! I asked a Sonic associate who made my ocean water drink what exactly is in that drink and she said it was simply lemon lime soda (Sprite or ginger-ale) and blue-coconut syrup, like they use on snow balls or cones!
just made this and holy cow it truly does taste like ocean water, gotta say this is a gokdmine website lol thaaaank you google! and i mixed tuaca with it and your right it is pretty tasty you cant even tell it has alcohol in it till youve had 2 or 3 LOL
Dear Stephanie, I live in a place without a Sonic, I know, I can’t believe it either. I would love this drink, but, I have type 2 diabetes. Would you possibly have a recipe that uses artificial sweeteners? I would like to thank you for all your copyKats.
Phillyb
I am sorry you don’t live near a Sonic. You could try making the syrup, I would construct it the same way, replacing the sugar with the sweetener of your choice, then you could use a diet lemon-lime soda.
I’m like Phyllis – Type 2 diabetes – so I don’t drink sugar sodas or anything similar, but I used to date a woman who loved to mix Tuaca, a naturally flavored brandy liqueur, with Ocean Water. I’ve never been much of a drinker, but it really was tasty.
Can diabetics use stevia? If so it might work as alternative
Try replacing the water, sugar, and coconut extract in the syrup with bottled coconut water sweetened with Splenda drops (5 drops = 1 tsp of sugar). Splenda, of course, is a natural sweetener (sucrose), and it won’t have the bad effect of sugar (glucose) on diabetic conditions. Add coloring as indicated.
Replace the lemon-lime soda with natural sparkling mineral water, add in 1 part juice (about 25%) from natural lemons/limes, sweeten with Splenda if necessary (about 5 drops).
Thank you for such a great recreation of a diabetic drink!
Splenda (sucralose) is NOT natural; however, it is artificial. Maybe you should look up how it was discovered. Stevia is a natural herb that is sweet. Go with Stevia!
Stevea is a god cup for cup sweetener you could use