Anyone of a certain age knows the refrain: “Soda, OJ, purple stuff, Sunny Delight!” For as long as that commercial has been rolling around in our heads, we’ve gone to Sunny D for one thing: bottles of something close enough to orange juice. Despite that singular ubiquity, the folks at Sunny D have been branching out into new Sunny D flavors (and alcohol contents) for a while now—and they might have just landed on a jackpot. Yes, for a limited time only, you can find two new summer flavors of Sunny D on store shelves: Sunny D Rocket Pop and Sunny D Rainbow Sherbet.
I love seeing how quickly different sectors of the beverage industry pick up on trends. Faygo got the rocket pop ball rolling with the limited release of “Faygo Firework” back in 2021. And I think we can thank last summer’s Mountain Dew for really opening the public’s eyes to the flavor profile. We’ve since seen the flavor adopted by many different brands within hydration drinks, craft sodas, and energy drinks.
I spent months looking for these new Sunny D flavors at many different retailers, but I ended up finding them in a truly unexpected place: Dollar Tree! I picked up these nearly 2-liter jugs for just $1.25 a piece. It’s hard to beat that value in the land of $10 12-packs and $3 energy drinks. But are these new Sunny D flavors any good? Read on for the individual reviews.
- Sunny D Rocket Pop
-
Pros: Some rocket pop-flavored drinks have trouble balancing the three flavors at once without muddling them all together. By design, the flavors in an actual rocket pop are layered. But I can absolutely distinguish all three advertised fruit flavors in this drink: cherry, lemon, and blue raspberry are all present and accounted for.
Cons: Nearly everyone else who tasted this drink with me deemed it too sour to enjoy. I personally like the tartness, but I might be the anomaly here. I wouldn’t complain if there was a little more cherry considering it’s the only non-sour fruit in play here.
Credit: Liv Averett / Price Rite
- Sunny D Rainbow Sherbet
-
Pros: Rainbow Sherbet Sunny D really tastes like they bottled a tub of rainbow sherbet that got left out a little too long at the cookout. While Rocket Pop Sunny D was somewhat unbalanced, Rainbow Sherbet Sunny D’s raspberry, lime, and orange flavors are harmonious. At the time of this writing, I’ve gone through twice as much Sunny D Rainbow Sherbet as the Sunny D Rocket Pop.
Cons: A few of the other taste testers said this was a little sweet for them. I see where they’re coming from, but you have to remember that this is Sunny D. I can’t imagine a little sweetness is going to turn off the kind of people (my kind of people) who are interested in new Sunny D flavors.
Credit: Liv Averett / Shop Rite
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!