What's In A Chick-Fil-A Sunjoy?

The name "Sunjoy" just seems to radiate the friendliness that Chik-fil-A tries to exude with its "my pleasure" sayings. The Sunjoy debuted at the fast food chain in 2021, becoming a massive hit with customers. It was sweet, zesty, and cold — the perfect storm for a refreshing summer drink (and in the South, it can feel like summer for most of the year). The ingredients are simple: Sunjoys are half sweet tea and half lemonade.

You might be thinking, "Well, that just sounds like an Arnold Palmer!" — and you'd be right because the classic Arnold Palmer drink is part iced tea and part lemonade. However, the golfer preferred his beverage unsweetened and with a higher tea-to-lemonade ratio, which is different from Chick-fil-A's equivalent (but making it this way may be preferred for those looking for a lower-sugar option).

The Arnold Palmer has also become synonymous with the alcoholic version of the recipe, which wouldn't work well with Chick-fil-A's family-friendly brand image. The restaurant has long served both iced sweet tea and lemonade, and customers asked for the original "Arnold Palmers" for years despite the fact that it wasn't an official menu item. Chick-fil-A decided to give the people what they wanted — perhaps something even sweeter in the Sunjoy.

Chik-fil-A is so successful that it's the slowest fast food drive-thru because the lines are always backed up with customers. The brand is no less strategic when it comes to rolling out seasonal flavors for hit menu items. The Sunjoy has come with limited-time-only Cherry Berry, White Peach, Cloudberry, and Mango Passion versions which are pretty unique spins compared to the flavored lemonades of Wendy's and Panera.

The Sunjoy, in addition to being a licensed drink name, is made of two things that Chick-fil-A knows how to make well: lemonade and tea. Its lemonade is made of real non-concentrated lemon juice, cane sugar, and water (the diet version replaces cane sugar with Splenda). The recipe leaves the juicy lemon pulp as a part of the drink, making it as tart as it is sweet.

Chik-fil-A's iced teas are freshly brewed each day with a blend of unspecified tea leaves. That definitely gives it an edge over some nasty store-bought teas. The sweet iced tea uses real cane sugar, and the unsweetened iced tea comes sugar-free, though you could add Splenda to get the sweetness without the calories of cane sugar. All of this goodness is poured over a cup of that satisfyingly crunchy round restaurant ice (though chewing ice is not recommended by dentists) and served in a small, medium, or large-sized cup. If you're looking for a sweeter Arnold Palmer, the Sunjoy might be a ray of sunshine for your drink order.

For more on Chik-fil-A's offerings, check out this hack for making their banana pudding shake even better.