Starbucks Strawberry Acai Refresher Copycat

How to make the Strawberry Acai Refresher at home with real strawberries & 100% fruit juice—no added sugar or flavorings! Make it a Strawberry Acai Lemonade Refresher by adding lemonade, or you can add coconut milk to make the Starbucks Pink Drink.

Starbucks’ Strawberry Acai Refresher is sweet & tart, with chewy pieces of freeze-dried strawberries in every sip. The drink is actually described as having strawberry, passionfruit, & acai flavors. But besides those strawberry pieces, the drink doesn’t actually have any strawberry, passionfruit, or acai in it…only “natural flavors,” plus sugar for sweetness.

I, personally, always prefer the taste of real fruit over added flavorings. (As tasty as Starbucks Very Berry Hibiscus Lemonade is, I liked my homemade version made with real fruit more!) So I decided to make my own homemade Strawberry Acai Refresher using real strawberries, passionfruit juice, & acai powder. And honestly, I think it turned out even more refreshing than the original!

How much sugar is in the Strawberry Acai Refresher?

A grande (16oz) Strawberry Refresher from Starbucks has 21g of total sugar, and so does this DIY version. But the big difference is this homemade drink has no added sugars—they’re all natural sugars from fruit & fruit juice. So it’s just as sweet & flavorful, but less-processed and even simpler to make!

Homemade Strawberry Acai Refresher Ingredients

Fresh Strawberries

To pack real fruit flavor into this homemade Strawberry Refresher, I simmered fresh strawberries in the base mixture. I also did this with peaches to make Starbucks Iced Peach Green Tea Lemonade, and it’s a great way to add fruit flavor in lieu of juice. For another real-fruit option, you could also try making this recipe with strawberry puree—which worked great in my Strawberry Lemonade!

Passionfruit & White Grape Juice

For all-natural sweetness & flavor, I use 100% fruit juice with no sugar added. Look for juices not from concentrate if you can find them, since they’re less processed than juice concentrates. If you can’t find passionfruit juice, try substituting with guava juice, mango juice, pear juice, or orange juice. I think the fruit juice makes this drink plenty sweet, but you can also add sugar or simple syrup to make it sweeter if you want!

Green Tea Bag

Starbucks uses green coffee extract to add flavor & caffeine to their Refreshers, so I used brewed green tea as a simplified alternative. If you want a caffeine-free drink, just skip brewing the green tea & use water instead.

Acai Powder

This simple addition gives my homemade Strawberry Acai Refresher some actual acai flavor—plus a gorgeous, vibrant color & a dose of antioxidants! I order my acai powder online, but if you don’t have any or just don’t want to buy it, you can still make a tasty drink without it.

Freeze-Dried Strawberries & Ice

To make a true copycat Starbucks Refresher, serve your drink over freeze-dried strawberry pieces & plenty of ice! Of course, the drink is totally delicious on its own, so you can still enjoy it over ice alone if you don’t have any freeze-dried strawberries.

How much caffeine is in a Strawberry Acai Refresher?

In a grande (16oz) Starbucks Strawberry Refresher, there are 45mg of caffeine from the green coffee extract. (Which is in the base mixture, so you actually can’t order the drink without it.) Your homemade drink will have around 30-50mg caffeine (per green tea bag). But you can also make your own Strawberry Acai Refresher without tea so it’s caffeine-free!

How to Make the Strawberry Acai Refresher from Starbucks

1. Bring Mixture to a Boil. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine halved strawberries, passionfruit juice, white grape juice, and water and bring it to a boil.
2. Optional: Add Green Tea. Once the mixture is boiling, add a green tea bag (if desired) and turn down the heat to simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the tea bag after 2 minutes, then continue simmering for another 3 minutes, until the strawberries soften and start falling apart.
3. Drain Mixture. After simmering, remove the pan from the heat and use a slotted spoon to remove the softened strawberries. (You can discard them or save them to use in a smoothie!)
4. Add Acai. While the mixture is still hot, whisk in the acai powder until it dissolves.
5. Chill in Fridge. Before serving, transfer your homemade Refresher to the fridge for 20-30 minutes to cool it down.
6. Serve. When you’re ready to serve, add freeze-dried strawberries & ice to a glass, then pour your DIY Strawberry Acai Refresher mixture on top!

1 Base Recipe, 3 Copycat Starbucks Drinks

Starbucks uses their Strawberry Acai Refresher Base to make 3 different summer drinks, and you can do the same with this copycat recipe! Here’s how:

• Classic Refresher: Serve Strawberry Refresher base mixture over ice with freeze-dried strawberries.
• Strawberry Acai Lemonade Refresher: Combine base mixture + 1 cup lemonade, then serve in 2 glasses.
• Pink Drink Refresher: Combine base mixture + 1 cup coconut milk, then serve in 2 glasses.

For more summer Starbucks drink recipes:

Try my homemade Pineapple Passionfruit Refresher, which you can use to make a Lemonade Refresher or the Paradise Drink!