Strawberry Acai Refresher (Starbucks Copycat)

If you need a pick-me-up without drinking a cup of coffee, you’re going to love this Strawberry Acai Refresher! This Starbucks copycat recipe is easy, delicious, full of natural flavors, and a breeze to adapt!

Every now and then, I become mildly obsessed with something. It could be a song, a type of food, or even a recipe.

My latest obsession is Starbucks’s Strawberry Acai Refresher! I LOVE anything strawberry, so this strawberry refresher is my favorite – especially on a hot day.

If you’ve been visiting my little corner of the internet for any length of time, you know that I’m a fan of the drinks the treats Starbucks offers (like cake pops).

But I’m NOT a fan of paying Starbucks prices on a regular basis when many of their items are a breeze to make at home!

Well, my current obsession has offered me the opportunity of plenty of testing to make sure I got the Strawberry Acai Refresher recipe just right!

If you’re a fan of Starbucks’ Strawberry Acai Refreshers, this copycat recipe is for you! Starbucks copycat recipes are surprisingly easy to make. And all you need are a few simple ingredients to make endless refreshers right at home!

If you want even more delicious drink options, check out my Easy Cherry Limeade (Sonic Copycat) or Starbucks Iced Matcha Green Tea Latte!

What are Starbucks Refreshers?

Refreshers are right up my alley because they aren’t coffee. So they’re ideal for anyone who doesn’t love tea or coffee – and anyone who loves fruity drinks!

These iced Starbucks drinks have fruit juice, green coffee extract, and slices of real fruit.

They’re PERFECT for a hot summer day!

But best of all, they don’t taste like coffee or tea – and they’re pretty low in calories compared to other drinks that Starbucks offers.

Strawberry Acai is their most popular Refresher flavor (and I totally see why!). You can also grab their Mango Dragonfruit (recipe coming soon, so check back!) and Pineapple Passionfruit flavors.

How to make a strawberry acai refresher

Starbucks lists sugar as one of the ingredients. I decided to use honey instead in my own strawberry acai drink, but feel free to omit it if you want to keep your drink tart!

Alternatively, if you want it sweeter, feel free to add a little extra honey.

Ingredients list

To make this drink as close to what you get at Starbucks as possible, you will need a couple of special ingredients that you can easily find on Amazon.

Here’s everything you need:

• Acai Powder
• Strawberry Powder
• Strong Steeped Green Tea – or you could use a little bit of Green Coffee Bean Extract Powder or Matcha (which is green tea powder)
• Cold Water
• White Grape Juice concentrate – or apple juice
• Passionfruit Juice or passion fruit puree or passion fruit powder
• Honey
• Ice, as desired
• Sliced fresh strawberries – or freeze-dried strawberries as optional garnish
• Coconut Milk, optional mix-in (as desired, I recommend 1/4 cup per serving)
• Lemonade – optional, if you want to make the strawberry acai lemonade refresher version.

Note: Please check out the handy printable recipe card at the end of the post for the full recipe!

Starbucks Strawberry Acai Refresher directions

Follow this simple process! The strawberry acai refresher base is the key ingredient to this recipe, so start with it.

Step 1

Start by making the strawberry acai base. Place the acai and strawberry powder in a large pitcher and add the hot green tea (or green coffee bean powder) to dissolve.

Step 2

Pour in the cold water, grape juice, passionfruit juice, and honey, and whisk to combine.

Take a sip and see if it’s sweet enough for your taste! Some people like it sweeter, while others like it less sweet.

Step 3

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

How to serve your strawberry acai refresher

To serve, fill glasses with a handful of ice and fill them with the strawberry acai refresher. Garnish with strawberry slices.

If you’d like to make the coconut version, fill the glass 3/4 of the way full and top with 1/4 cup of coconut milk before garnishing with strawberries.

Or, if you want to make the lemonade version, do the same thing as the coconut version but replace the coconut milk with lemonade and then garnish with strawberry slices.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Strawberry Acai Lemonade Refresher recipe notes

• Many acai powders don’t completely dissolve into liquid. Just beware that you’ll probably have some granules at the bottom of your mixture. Although it’s normal, if it bothers you, I have heard you can try adding a little bit of acai extract instead.

Variation ideas

• If you don’t like the flavor of green tea, add green coffee bean extract instead of the steeped green tea. It doesn’t add any flavor, so it’s really just a way to add caffeine.

• You can use matcha green tea powder, but it will add a slightly bitter taste to your drink (which you may love!).

• Make it lemonade! Replace the fruit juices with lemonade instead. You may want to omit the honey if you do this.

• Make it caffeine-free by eliminating the green tea/green coffee extract.

• To add a bit more tart and fruity flavor to the drink, just add some ground-up freeze-dried strawberries.

• Turn this drink into a Starbucks Pink Drink by eliminating the fruit juices and replacing them with coconut milk.

Strawberry Acai Lemonade Refresher FAQs

Here are a few questions I frequently see readers ask about making this delicious drink. If you have a question and don’t see it answered down below, leave them in the comments!

How do I store leftovers?

A large mason jar in your fridge is excellent for storing leftovers. When stored properly, it should last about 2 weeks.

When you are ready to serve the leftovers, shake before serving because the ingredients may settle.

How can I make more Strawberry Acai Refresher at a time?

Simply double or triple the recipe to make more of this tasty drink so you can serve it for a gathering.

Do Starbucks Refreshers contain caffeine?

Yep! Many people think that since these drinks are juice-based, they’re caffeine-free. But if you need a caffeine pick-me-up and don’t enjoy coffee, there’s good news!

Refreshers actually contain a good amount of caffeine (about 45 milligrams in a grande) thanks to the addition of green coffee extract.

Or, to put it another way, it’s more caffeine than a soda but less than a coffee.

The green coffee extract doesn’t add any flavor to the drink, so if you’re making it at home and would prefer to make a caffeine-free drink, you can certainly leave it out and not miss it a bit.

If you’re a fan of the Strawberry Acai Refresher at Starbucks, I hope this copycat recipe helps you enjoy an authentic version at home!

More delicious drinks to enjoy

• Hocus Pocus Frappuccino Starbucks Copycat
• The BEST Harry Potter Pumpkin Juice Recipe
• Refreshing Homemade Blueberry Lemonade
• Smooth Homemade Non-Alcoholic Eggnog
• Best Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix