Do you love the Starbucks Strawberry Acai Refresher? Today, we will learn to make this recipe at home. This drink is fruity and sweet, contains a boost of caffeine, and is filled with antioxidants.
The Strawberry Acai Refresher is the most popular refresher drink from Starbucks, and for good reason! This recipe is so good.
And the best part is—once you make this base recipe, all you have to do is swap the water for sweet coconut milk to make the Pink Drink at home as well.
More Starbucks copycat recipes to try at home: Paradise Drink Recipe, Mango Dragon Fruit Refresher Recipe, and Starbucks Egg White Bites.
Ingredients in a Strawberry Acai Refresher
- Freeze Dried Strawberries – These freeze dried strawberries are a big part of the recipe, as they give the drink that fun sensory experience of having dried fruit bits in the drink. It’s my favorite thing about the refresher recipes!
- Fresh Strawberries – You will also need fresh strawberries to make your base syrup with.
- Sugar – White granulated sugar.
- White Grape Juice – This naturally sweetens your syrup recipe as this recipe uses less sugar than some of the other refresher base recipes.
- Acai Powder – I found my acai powder from Amazon.
- Green Coffee Extract Powder – Green coffee bean extract powder gives your drink a boost of caffeine. If you wish to make your drink caffeine free, omit this ingredient.
- Passion Fruit Powder – I found my passion fruit powder on Amazon.
- Lemon Juice – For a nice citrus zing.
- Water
- Ice
How to Make the Strawberry Acai Refresher Base
The base is the syrup for your recipe. Once you have made this base, you can make the Strawberry Acai Refresher or the Pink Drink Recipe from this same base.
To make the base: in a sauce pan, combine white grape juice, sugar, and hulled and sliced strawberries. Heat the syrup and simmer for 10 minutes, and then set aside and let the strawberry flavor steep into the syrup for 10 more minutes.
Strain the syrup, removing the strawberry pieces from the syrup. Return the syrup to the sauce pan.
Return the syrup to low heat and add the acai powder, green coffee extract, passion fruit powder, and lemon juice. Whisk them together until fully blended. Decant the syrup into a mason jar and refrigerate until ready to use.
How to Mix a Strawberry Acai Refresher Drink
In a shaker, combine some freeze dried strawberries (set aside a few to use as a topper at the end) and about half a cup of the base, and half a cup of water with ice.
Shake the drink until it is fully mixed and pour it over ice. Garnish with a few more pieces of freeze dried strawberry on top.
Tips for Making
- If you prefer a sweeter drink, use lemonade instead of water to mix with the base to create the drink. It tastes like a sweet strawberry lemonade drink.
- To make a Pink Drink, use sweetened coconut milk instead of water.
- To make your refresher caffeine-free, simply omit the green coffee extract from this recipe.
Serving Suggestions
Other recipes you may like:
- Taco Dip Recipe
- Oreo Dip Recipe
- Matcha Green Tea Smoothie
- Dragon Fruit Smoothie
- 40+ Picnic Food Ideas
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
How much caffeine is in a Strawberry Acai Refresher?
In a 16-ounce drink, there is about 50 mg of caffeine, roughly 1/3 the caffeine in an iced coffee of that same size.
What kind of tea is in a refresher?
Refresher drinks are not made with tea—they are a cold drink that gets its caffeine from green coffee extract. There is no tea in a refresher.
What is the most popular fruity drink at Starbucks?
The Strawberry Acai Refresher is the most popular refresher drink. It’s a great choice for someone who wants a refreshing alternative to coffee and tea.
Strawberry Acai Refresher
Ingredients
- ¼ cup freeze dried strawberries
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2½ cups white grape juice
- 1 cup strawberries sliced and hulled
- 1 teaspoon acai powder
- ½ teaspoon green coffee extract powder
- ½ teaspoon passion fruit powder
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
To make the base:
-
In a sauce pan, combine white grape juice, sugar, and hulled and sliced strawberries. Heat the syrup and simmer for 10 minutes, then set aside and let the strawberry flavor steep into the syrup for 10 more minutes
-
Strain the syrup, removing the strawberry pieces from the syrup. Return the syrup to the sauce pan.
-
Return the syrup to low heat and add the acai powder, green coffee extract, passion fruit powder and lemon juice. Whisk them together until fully blended. Decant the syrup into a mason jar and refrigerate until ready to use.
How to mix the drink:
-
In a shaker, combine some freeze dried strawberries (set aside a few to use as a topper at the end), about half a cup of the base, and half a cup of water with ice. Shake the drink until it is fully mixed and pour it over ice. Garnish with a few more pieces of freeze dried strawberry on top.
Notes
- If you prefer a sweeter drink, use lemonade instead of water to mix with the base to create the drink. It tastes like a sweet strawberry lemonade drink.
- To make a Pink Drink, use sweetened coconut milk instead of water.
- To make your refresher caffeine-free, simply omit the green coffee extract from this recipe.