This Strawberry Acai Refresher recipe will be sure to satisfy and quench your thirst on a hot summer day! Plus it's super healthy, so keep reading to learn more.
Who doesn’t enjoy a brilliant ruby-red strawberry? Combine the fruit with acai and other marvelous ingredients to create a delicious strawberry acai refresher drink right at home.
No wonder why this beverage is a summertime favorite!
Even the coffee house giant Starbucks has embraced the refresher drink trend with their own line of Starbucks Strawberry Acai Refresher drinks.
But don’t worry about spending $4 for the beverage because we have a copycat Starbucks strawberry acai refresher recipe that you can make for a fraction of the cost.
So put on your apron and let's get refreshed!
A strawberry acai refresher is arguably one of the first and most popular refreshers that Starbucks created. It first came out in 2016 as a secret menu item, but gained so much popularity that they decided to bring it back permanently!
This Strawberry Acai Refresher recipe is something you can build upon to customize the drink to your own taste.
You can purchase a strawberry acai base that contains a mixture of sugar, water, white grape juice concentrate, natural green coffee flavors, rebaudioside A (a type of stevia), citric acid, and vegetable juice.
The strawberry acai refresher base ingredients can vary slightly depending on the brand, and unfortunately, we couldn't find one online that is worth sharing here.
Luckily, you can make the base yourself!
You can make the drink as sweet or tart as you want. The versatility of the beverage is ideal because it is fully customizable.
An overly sweet drink on a balmy day leaves you feeling thirsty. But the Starbucks strawberry acai refreshers combine the sweet and tart taste of strawberries to effectively satisfy your thirst. In a nutshell, the ice-cold strawberry flavor of the drink is completely refreshing just as its name suggests.
Some people don’t like an overly tart drink and prefer to add additional sugar to the beverage but others relish the tangy kick.
The drink is remarkably similar to a lemonade slushy. The fruit tastes tart on your tongue followed by a sweet rush as the sugar kicks in. The ice helps to dilute the flavors and actually makes each sip slightly different as the ice starts to melt and co-mingle with the fruit.
Psssst… check out our list of the best Starbucks Refreshers!
The appearance of the strawberry acai refresher deserves its own section because it’s part of the experience when you enjoy this beverage.
The sight of its ruby-red hue mixed with chunks of juicy strawberries (called inclusions) makes the drink intuitively appealing. You know it's going to taste cool and tart.
As the ice starts to melt and the juices blend, the drink looks almost like a beautiful sunset on a clear day!
Starbucks refreshers come with inclusions, which are freeze-dried fruit. You can get these online, like the one below:
When making a copycat strawberry acai refresher, you can cut the strawberries large or small. As you drink the beverage you’ll probably want to spear one of the berries with your straw to enjoy or smash it into the drink for a quick additional flavor blast.
There are many ways you can enjoy the strawberry-laden beverage and any little tweak you make to the recipe can add to its appearance. Put a sprig of mint on the glass rim to make it even more visually appealing or serve it in a frosted glass.
If you are ready to make your own at-home strawberry acai refresher then here is a Starbucks copycat recipe that you can alter to better fit your taste. This recipe consists of two parts:
The ingredients you’ll need to make the strawberry refresher include:
You can easily get these powders online from Amazon, see below:
The trick to making the drink is to create the base first. You can purchase the base, or you can make it yourself from scratch. After you make the base, you can store it in the refrigerator to use whenever you want.
This is the base for your refresher. Many people prefer this DIY recipe instead of buying a commercial base.
Usually, a 50/50 ratio of water and base is acceptable but if it tastes too tart then you can always add water or if the refresher is too weak then you can add more of the base to the drink.
You can modify your refresher so it tastes just the way you want it!
If you are looking for a caffeine free drink because you cannot drink it due to health reasons or simply because you don’t like the jittery feeling.
Also, if you are making this drink for children then you might want to skip adding the green coffee bean powder to the solution. You won’t notice that it's missing in the drink because it provides very little flavor to it.
It's mostly for the caffeine kick!
Make the strawberry acai refresher even more refreshing by adding fresh mint to the drink. Crush some mint at the bottom of the glass before adding the strawberry acai base and the water, and finish it off as garnish too!
Forego the acai powder or passion fruit powder. Both powders produce a great depth of flavor but if you don’t have them readily available then you can still enjoy a tasty refresher without them.
Add ½ a cup of sugar to the strawberry acai base if you like a sweeter drink, or better yet try adding some strawberry syrup for extra flavor.
You can even sweeten the drink using honey or agave!
The refresher not only tastes fantastic but it can also be healthy.
Research has shown that strawberries contain high levels of vitamin C and antioxidants which can prevent cellular damage, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer (1).
The juicy red berries can even keep you looking younger by helping the body continue to build collagen and elastin, according to researchers (2).
Acai contains ample antioxidants which may help in cellular repair, reduce inflammation, and stimulate the immune system (3)(4). Studies have also found that these berries can lower cholesterol (5)(6).
Even the white grape juice used in the drink’s base recipe is loaded with health benefits, such as potassium which helps improve heart health (7). Grape juice may also reduce inflammation given its high anthocyanin content (8) and may support digestive health (9).
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The refresher does not contain a lot of caffeine but it does contain some due to the green coffee powder. A 16 oz (473 mL) size usually has around 45 mg of caffeine which is considerably less than a Starbucks iced coffee of the same size which can contain up to 200 mg of caffeine.
When making the refresher yourself with a DIY recipe you can forego the green coffee extract if you want it to be caffeine-free. However, at Starbucks it is not possible to have a caffeine-free Refresher.
You can fully customize your refresher by adding coconut milk, lemonade, sweetened coconut milk, strawberry lemonade, passion fruit puree, acai juice, and passionfruit juice.
The fruits used in the creation of the strawberry acai refresher naturally contain sugars but you can avoid added sugars. However, you cannot obtain a completely sugar-free refresher drink due to the fruit’s natural sugars.
The famous Starbucks Pink Drink found on the Starbucks Refreshers menu lineup contains coconut milk in place of water and that is the only difference between it and the strawberry acai refresher. When creating refreshers at home you can always add varying amounts of coconut milk to tailor the drink to meet your taste preference.
The base will last in the refrigerator for around two weeks, but you should check the smell, color, and taste before using it if it’s close to the expiration date. Always store the base in a sealed container. You should not leave a strawberry acai refresher in the refrigerator for longer than two or three days or the strawberries might spoil and the taste will change.
If you are seeking a refreshing, healthy beverage on a summertime day then you must try this strawberry acai refresher recipe!
Make the base and enjoy the drink any time you feel the urge. Tweak the recipe so it fits your tastebuds.
This article is intended for informational purposes only. It is not meant to replace professional medical advice, treatment or diagnosis. Do not consume any type of coffee, tea or herbal infusion if you are allergic to it. The information in this article is not intended to treat serious medical conditions. Please seek professional medical advice before using home remedies.
(1) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27172913/
(2) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22535616/
(3) https://www.academia.edu/14057003
(4) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16019315/
(5) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20022468/
(6) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23244543/
(7) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4963920/
(8) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7796143/
(9) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4512228/