Long Live The Refreshers! A New Dragon Fruit Drink Is Coming To Panda Express

When I think of Panda Express, my mind immediately goes to late nights where I absolutely cannot be bothered to do anything other than eating a satisfying and convenient meal without lifting a finger in the kitchen. Plus, it’s hard to beat Chinese food at the price they’re offering. But what struck me recently is how little I’ve ever considered the beverage alongside it.

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Since Panda Express is probably the closest that Chinese food is gonna get to fast food, I think the comparison is valid. And when you get any other type of fast food, a drink is included in the package. The picture isn’t complete without your choice of a nice, refreshing drink. But it’s not necessarily the standard meal procedure to have the drink included at Panda Express as it is with any fast food meal. What they have done though, is add a new item to their “Panda Crafted” drink menu to create that complete picture of an iconic sip to go with your meal.

A New Drink, You Say?

The new drink being offered at Panda Express takes us to a tropical destination, full of juicy dragon fruit. Unlike a lot of dragon fruit drinks on the market though, this one is paired with a berry. A strawberry, in fact. Essentially, it’s extra pink and extra fruity. And I appreciate the use of a berry rather than another tropical fruit like mango or pineapple to pair with dragon fruit since it’s not something we see in a lot of other refresher-type pairings. But at the end of the day… is this really needed?

Here’s What We Think

While I think dragon fruit drinks are delicious and super refreshing, I do also have a bit of an issue with the monotony of this flavor in seemingly every new drink. Now, every place from Starbucks to McDonald’s to Panda Express has their own kind of refresher and it’s gotten boring. If it’s not refreshers, it’s dirty sodas, and I think a lot of companies have gotten into it just to say “Hey! We Have Those, Too!” without adding anything new or interesting to the conversation.

The truth is not every establishment needs to make dragonfruit refreshers. Usually, the dragonfruit flavor is completely besides the actual fruit itself and the main flavor you can taste is whatever the other mix-ins are anyways. In this case for Panda Express, it’s going to have to be an absolutely exemplary execution of the strawberry dragon fruit flavor combination for this to even feel like a necessary addition to their menu, especially when the price of one of these drinks is comparable to a small à la carte entrée.