Chick-fil-A Style Sunjoy Drink Recipe – Copycat in 4 Steps
When your body is dehydrated, and you can feel your soul leaving your body because of heat, only a drink from heaven can fix your problems. Sunjoy is that drink. It refreshes your palate and brings the shine back to your eyes, even in 45 °C.
If you want to try Sunjoy Drink Recipe at home, all you need is black tea, lemonade, and water. Brew the black tea with sugar, then make fresh lemonade and mix the two together in a pitcher. Chill the drink for about 30 minutes so it gets nice and cold. Pour it over ice and enjoy.
If you want to know the steps in detail, along with the variations you can try, then don’t go anywhere. Stick to the end.
Sunjoy Drink Recipe Takeaways
| Recipe Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Drink Name | Homemade Sunjoy Drink |
| Cuisine | American |
| Difficulty | Easy |
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 5 minutes |
| Chilling Time | 30 minutes |
| Total Time | 45 minutes |
| Servings | 6 glasses |
| Serving Size | 1 glass (about 8 oz / 240 ml) |
| Calories | Approximately 80 kcal per serving* |
| Main Ingredients | Black tea, lemonade, sugar, water, ice |
| Taste | Sweet, tangy, refreshing |
| Best Served | Ice cold |
| Perfect For | Summer afternoons, BBQs, family gatherings, picnics |
| Garnish | Lemon slices or fresh mint |
| Storage | Refrigerate for up to 3 days |
| User Rating | ⭐ 4.7 / 5 |
| Based on | 225 Reviews |
Ingredients You Need For Sunjoy Drink Recipe
You only need 5 key ingredients to make homemade Chick-fil-A style Sunjoy drink.
- The first ingredient you need is black tea, which is the base of the drink. It is used to make the Sunjoy more bitter and add extreme depth, as without it, it would just be plain lemonade.
- The second ingredient is lemon juice. You can take 4-6 fresh lemons if you don’t want to use lemon juice and want the drink to have a much cleaner taste.
- The third ingredient is sugar or splenda. It sweetens the tea and the lemonade. The last two ingredients include cold water and an ice cube that add to the experience and dilute the drink as well.
Sunjoy Drink Recipe in 4 steps
Making the Sunjoy is easier than you assume, as you only need to follow 4 easy steps correctly. These steps are not complex at all, and you do not need any kind of tools to make the drink.
I assure you that everything you need to make the drink is already present in your kitchen.
To make Sunjoy drink, brew the tea and let it cool. Then, make fresh lemonade and mix it with the tea. Chill the drink in the fridge until it’s cold. Pour it over ice, add a lemon slice if you like, and enjoy every sip.
So, here’s how to follow the Chick-fil-A copycat Sunjoy drink recipe in detail:
Step 1 – Prepare and Brew the tea
The first step might look intimidating, but brewing tea is a really simple task that you can’t do wrong. Take 2 cups of water and boil it before removing it from the heat, then proceed to add in tea bags, or you can use two teaspoons of loose-leaf tea.
Add sugar to the tea during this process. Let the tea steep for at least a few minutes, give it some time to develop the flavor. Once you think the flavor is strong enough, you can strain the tea or remove the bags, and you are done with your first step.
It will be like:
Step 2 – Add lemonade and Mix
Make fresh lemonade by taking 4-6 lemons and rolling them on the counter to get the maximum juice out. Then cut the lemons and squeeze the juice into cold water, mixing it together. It’s better to use fresh lemons instead of bottled lemon juice if you want a vibrant citrus flavor.
Once you are done making the lemonade, it’s time to mix both ingredients. Take your black tea and lemonade and pour them both into a large pitcher, ensuring that none of the drinks overpower the other, as it ruins the flavor.
Step 3 – Chill the Drink
Let the drink chill in the refrigerator. The recommended time for this is at least 30 minutes to an hour. I know it is really tempting to just drink it right away, but you need to give it enough time to cool, allowing the tea and lemonade to blend together perfectly. Here’s the picture:
Chilling the drink beforehand also means you don’t need a lot of ice, which is good as it prevents it from becoming watered down too quickly.
Step 4 – Garnish it and Serve
When it’s time to serve the drink, give it a good stir and enhance its presentation by garnishing with a fresh lemon slice or mint. These little things aren’t necessary, but they make it look more aesthetic and add a luxurious look to the drink.
Now the cooking is finished, and all that is left to do is take a straw, have a sip, and enjoy your homemade Sunjoy all by yourself or with friends while it’s nice and cold.
Variations of Sunjoy Drink Recipe You Can Make
Here are a few variations you can make:
- Strawberry Sunjoy is one of the best variations of Sunjoy out there. In this, you include the classic tea and add strawberry flavoring alongside your lemonade. This is a treat for strawberry lovers. You can add ¼ to ½ cup of homemade strawberry syrup or fresh strawberries.
- Another variation is the cloudberry sunjoy; this drink includes 2 or 3 tablespoons of cloudberry syrup. The syrup adds this bright and luscious sweetness.
- Mango passion sunjoy is delicious as well. After preparing the original version of the sunjoy, you can add 2 to 4 tablespoons of mango passion fruit syrup and mix it all really well.
You can also try the Stok Cold Brew with these variations. If you want something interesting, then a homemade Sonic Boba drink is another great choice.
What Can You Have With the Sunjoy Drink
Sunjoy is so versatile that you can pair it with almost any food out there. In my opinion, you can have this drink with any unique combo like:
- Fried chicken
- Grilled burgers
- Sandwiches
- Wraps
- Fresh fruit
- Any kind of yummy dessert
- Homemade Dr Pepper Coconut Cream Soda.
It goes great with everything and cleanses your palate with its citrusy flavor. Once you try it with your favorite meal, you will understand why this refreshing drink has become so popular all around the world.
Is Sunjoy Good for Your Health?
Whether the Sunjoy drink is healthy or not purely depends on how you make it. Here’s what you need to understand. If you made it with diet lemonade and you did not add any kind of sweet tea to it, the drink is healthy. But if you made the Sunjoy with sweetened tea and regular lemonade, it’s bound to be less healthy, as it contains sugar.
So if you need to be careful with your sugar intake and be healthy, you have to go with the diet lemonade and unsweetened tea version; it tastes just as good as the regular one.
Arnold Palmer Drink vs Sunjoy Drink
Arnold Palmer Drink and Sunjoy Drink are both made with iced tea and lemonade, but they are not exactly the same. An Arnold Palmer is the classic drink made by mixing black iced tea with lemonade in equal parts. Sunjoy is Chick-fil-A’s signature version that lets customers choose different tea and lemonade combinations.
If you want the original classic, choose an Arnold Palmer. If you like more customisation, Sunjoy is the better option.
Here’s the comparison:
| Feature | Arnold Palmer Drink | Sunjoy Drink |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | Named after golfer Arnold Palmer | Signature drink from Chick-fil-A |
| Main Ingredients | Black iced tea and lemonade | Chick-fil-A iced tea and Chick-fil-A lemonade |
| Tea Choices | Usually black iced tea | Sweet tea, unsweet tea, or peach tea (at selected locations) |
| Lemonade Choices | Regular lemonade | Regular lemonade or diet lemonade |
| Mixing Style | Usually equal parts tea and lemonade | Customers can choose different tea and lemonade ratios |
| Sweetness | Depends on the recipe | Depends on the tea and lemonade selected |
| Customisation | Limited | Several tea and lemonade combinations |
| Taste | Classic balance of tea and lemon | Similar flavour with Chick-fil-A’s signature ingredients |
| Where to Buy | Restaurants, cafés, grocery stores, or homemade | Only at Chick-fil-A restaurants |
| Contains Caffeine | Yes | Yes |
| Can You Make It at Home? | Yes | Yes, using a copycat recipe |
| Best For | People who enjoy the classic tea and lemonade drink | People who want more flavour choices |
Conclusion
Sunjoy is an easy recipe to replicate. You need to start by gathering the ingredients, which include black tea, lemonade, sugar, cold water, and ice.
To make the Sunjoy drink recipe, you need to brew the tea while mixing sugar in it, make the lemonade fresh, mix both of the drinks together, and add water and ice. The drink can be served right after you chill it, but if you want it to be a little extra special, you can garnish your drink however you like and serve it with style.
