There's A New Sonic Slush Flavor Coming This Summer & No One's Ready For It

While I personally haven’t craved pickles at all during my entire pregnancy, I know many, many women who do. So perhaps the stereotype is sometimes true, since it seems to be the go-to snack food for a lot of moms-to-be I know. Pregnant women seem to crave the salty, tangy, sour flavors of pickles, and Sonic is here for all of them. Because this summer, there will be pickle juice slushes at Sonic for all your pregnancy craving needs. And while we now know that pickles don’t necessarily cure morning sickness, sometimes that sour flavor does the trick when it comes to intense pregnancy cravings.

And why do pregnant women tend to crave pickles? Amanda Capriglione, a registered dietitian nutritionist and active member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, as well as founder of Mommy and Me RD, tells Romper in a separate article that pregnant women crave that salty, tangy taste because of the pickle's bold flavors, and because of heightened hormones during pregnancy.

As for this bold and tangy flavored beverage, Food & Wine reported this tangy slush will be available at Sonic locations nationwide in June, and it comes at a time when it seems like pickles are all the rage. Have you heard about HeluvaGood! Pickle Dip? This tantalizingly tart dip has a cream base with dehydrated cucumbers, dill weed, mustard and garlic powder to dip anything and everything in. Just talking about it makes my mouth water, and I don’t even have pickle cravings. It may sound weird, but it just might work. However, drinking a sweet pickle juice concoction in a slush may be where I have to draw the line. That thought is making my mouth water in a bad way.

And it’s also worth noting that when my editor was a child, she and her family apparently were entrepreneurs and created this beverage way back in the day first, and it was a hit. So if it was that popular back then, I’m sure it will be even more popular now that the trend of pickle-flavored everything is in vogue everywhere. So, Sonic, you totally stole their idea.

But I digress and must go back to the newest pickle fad at hand. According to Food & Wine, it will be a “sweet slush flavored with pickle juice … and will be bright green.” And if this isn’t enough to quench your taste for pickles, Food & Wine reported that a member of the Sonic team told them you can add the pickle-flavored syrup to anything on the menu, whether it’s in a “shake, on your burger, or whatever your sick heart desires.” Hey, now. Those are fighting words. And isn’t that the beauty of Sonic anyway? Being able to customize each menu item to your heart’s desire? God bless you, Sonic.

Now while I’m not sure of the sodium content of this slush, I do know that it’s important to satiate those pickle cravings in moderation, because a ton of salt and a pregnant person is not a good combination to have. And if you have preeclampsia, you definitely need to avoid excess salt, because that will lead to higher blood pressure and worsening preeclampsia symptoms, Capriglione says in a Romper article. However, I have a feeling if you were super worried about sodium content, you probably wouldn’t be eating at a Sonic in the first place, am I right? But if your sodium intake is good, there’s no reason you can’t "treat yo’ self" to a delicious greasy cheeseburger, fries, and pickle juice slush from your local Sonic. The only complaint Food & Wine reporters had when performing a taste test of the new beverage at Sonic’s headquarters in Oklahoma City was that the slush was “too sweet, as if overcorrecting for the acidity.”

Come June, you may want to take a number, because I’m sure the drive-in will be full of crazy pickle-loving people from all over. But you should totally get first dibs if you’re pregnant, of course. Enjoy and remember, you can add that pickle juice flavor to anything and everything Sonic has to offer. I may just have other pregnant ladies report back to me and tell me what they thought. I don't know if I'm brave enough to take the plunge.

Check out Romper's new video series, Bearing The Motherload, where disagreeing parents from different sides of an issue sit down with a mediator and talk about how to support (and not judge) each other’s parenting perspectives. New episodes air Mondays on Facebook.