This Mango Dragonfruit Refresher brings your favorite coffee shop drink home! The Starbucks dragon drink copycat recipe gives you all the amazing flavor and beautiful pink color of the store-bought drink at the fraction of the price. It’s a perfectly refreshing fruity drink that takes less than 5 minutes to make with a few ingredients. It’s incredibly delicious with or without coconut milk!
I’ve been obsessed with Starbucks mango dragon fruit drink but I was never really sure what’s in it. I wanted to create a version at home, made from scratch, and I could customize the sweetness. It still has the same incredible flavor! This recipe is a real deal, as it tastes amazing with a vivid pink color!
With summer around the corner, it’s a perfect time to make this beautiful and healthy iced beverage! It’s really easy to make, and this homemade dragonfruit drink tastes just like the one from Starbucks! The best part? You can make a healthier version and adjust the ingredients according to your own desired sweetness.
What is mango dragonfruit refresher?
Mango dragonfruit refresher is a popular iced beverage at Starbucks. It’s described on Starbucks’ website as a “tropical-inspired pick-me-up—crafted with a refreshing combination of sweet mango and dragonfruit flavors—is hand-shaken with ice and a scoop of real diced dragonfruit. Contains caffeine.”
This drink has a vibrant bright pink color but it doesn’t contain any artificial colors. A 16-ounce up has fewer than 100 calories.
It comes two ways: regular refresher which is made with water; and “dragon drink”, which is made with creamy coconut milk.
What’s in mango dragon fruit refresher?
Original Starbucks mango dragonfruit refresher contains ice, water, sugar, freeze dried dragonfruit pieces, white grape juice concentrate, citric acid, natural flavors, and green coffee flavor.
To recreate the flavor with simple and easily accessible ingredients: we’ve used mango juice, dragonfruit powder, simple syrup (or honey), ice, and water, with optional green tea, grape juice and coconut milk.
Best dragon fruit to use:
Dragonfruit (pitaya) is the key ingredient for this recipe. It gives this drink beautiful pink color while adding mild sweet flavor without being overpowering. If you can find real dragonfruit (pitaya) with red flesh, you can definitely use them in this recipe.
As red-fleshed dragonfruit is not widely accessible in North America, I recommend using freeze-dried red dragon fruit powder from amazon for the best result. You can also use frozen dragon fruit pitaya packs (under the Pitaya Plus brand) at health food stores or Whole Foods next to acai packets.
I love dragon fruit pitaya. It’s packed with nutrients and low in calories. Dragon Fruit Smoothie and this dragonfruit drink are my favorite ways to use pitaya in recipes.
Mango Juice: You can use bottled mango juice or freshly squeezed mango juice. Make sure to remove the pulp before adding to the drink.
Green Tea: The original recipe from Starbucks uses green coffee extract. I substitute green tea to keep it simple. You can also skip this ingredient and it won’t affect the taste too much.
Water: Regular mango dragon fruit refresher recipe calls for water. You can also use soda water if you’d like your drink bubbly. Alternatively, you can use coconut milk to make it creamy with a softer pink color.
How to make mango dragon fruit drink at home
- Prepare the green tea and let it chill in the refrigerator.
- Whisk together dragonfruit powder and water until dissolved.
- Add in mango juice and chilled green tea. Mix to combine.
- Add simple syrup or honey to your desired sweetness.
- Fill a glass halfway with ice and pour the mixture into the glass.
Serve and enjoy this beautiful and delicious mango dragonfruit drink immediately.
Mango dragonfruit refresher with coconut milk
You can order this beverage with coconut milk at starbucks. It’s called “dragon drink” when the coconut milk is mixed in. You can substitute soy milk or almond milk, but I would give coconut milk a try first because it’s pretty amazing!
To make dragon drink with coconut milk, simply replace water with coconut milk beverage that you can buy in a carton. Alternatively, mix the canned coconut milk with water. Note that some canned coconut milk contains solid chunky lumps of white stuff that’s difficult to dissolve, and you might need to use a sieve to strain out the small lumps.
Tips for making the perfect mango dragon fruit drink:
- Make sure to chill your green tea until it’s very cold before making the drink.
- Your drink will have the bright vivid pink color if you use water. If you use coconut milk instead, your drink will become creamy with the soft pink color.
- You can customize the sweetness of your drink. If you’d like to have the similar sweetness as Starbucks, you’ll need to add syrup or honey to your refresher. Taste and adjust the amount for the perfect subtle touch.
- Add lemon juice to your drink to turn it into mango dragonfruit lemonade.
Is Starbucks mango dragonfruit refresher healthy?
This drink is one of the healthiest options at Starbucks compared to other high sugar drinks they sell. You can make it even healthier at home by using high-quality ingredients and lower the sugar level.
Does a mango dragonfruit drink have caffeine?
The mango dragonfruit refresher from Starbucks is lightly caffeinated. But if you make it at home, you can skip green tea and make this drink completely caffeine-free.
If you are looking for a beautiful and refreshing treat that is light with a touch of sweetness, you will love this Copycat Starbucks Mango Dragonfruit Refresher recipe.
More Drink Recipes You’ll Love:
Mango Dragonfruit Refresher {Starbucks Copycat Recipe}
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ teaspoons freeze-dried dragon fruit powder
- 4 cups water
- 3/4 cup mango juice
- 2 tablespoons simple syrup (or honey, you can adjust the sweetness by using more or less)
- ice cubes
- 2 tablespoons optional green tea (chilled)
Instructions
- Make the green tea and let it chill in the refrigerator.
- Whisk together dragonfruit powder and water until dissolved. It takes a few minutes for the powder to dissolve completely.
- Add in mango juice and chilled green tea. Mix to combine.
- Add simple syrup or honey to your desired sweetness. Mix well.
- Fill each glass halfway with ice and pour the mixture into the glass.
- Serve immediately and enjoy!
Nutrition
I love mangoes and dragon fruit so this beverage is right up my alley! Not only is this drink so eye-catching, it’s also so refreshingly good and is the perfect thirst quencher!
Thanks Abigail! Glad you like it!