Strawberry Acai Refresher

Homemade Starbucks Strawberry Acai Refresher gives you all the delicious flavor of the store-bought beverage at the fraction of the price. You’re going to love this DIY copycat recipe as it tastes and looks just like the real thing! Plus you can make it healthier and customize how much sweetness or caffeine you prefer. 

Featured on 15 Best Starbucks Refreshers

Strawberry Acai is my favorite summer drink to order at Starbucks, right along with a delicious Mango Dragonfruit Refresher! You can easily turn this DIY strawberry acai drink into a Pink Drink by adding coconut milk; or make a Strawberry Acai Lemonade Refresher by substituting lemonade for water. All the ingredients can be found at your local grocery stores or Amazon. 

I love this fruity refresher from Starbucks coffee shop, as it’s loaded with strawberry and acai berry flavors. But I’d like to make my OWN homemade strawberry açai base using fresh strawberries. After watching how a Starbucks Barista made it, I did a few experiments. Now I’m completely satisfied with my version and it tastes just like the one from Starbucks!

The best part? You can make it healthier and adjust according to your own personal desired sweet level. 

Ingredients in This Recipe

My version uses some easily accessible ingredients to create an equally delicious flavor combination: fresh strawberries, acai powder, white grape juice, simple syrup, ice, and water, and optional green tea (see photo below). 

• Best strawberries to use: As one of the star ingredients for this recipe, strawberries add the refreshing fruity flavor to this drink while giving it a bright red color. I find that fresh strawberries taste best. Alternatively, you can use freeze-dried strawberry powder or freeze-dried whole strawberries. 
• Acai Berry Powder: Acai has a flavor somewhere between wild berries and chocolate. It adds a wonderful berry flavor to the drink. I ordered the acai powder online, and you can also use acai juice for this recipe.
• White Grape Juice: It adds a refreshing, sweet, and crisp flavor to the drink. They’re available at your local grocery stores. You can substitute other fruity juice such as apple juice. Just make sure to avoid the ones with dark colors.
• Simple syrup: I like simple syrup for easy mixing. You can also substitute honey or sugar. Alternatively use stevia for a healthy drink.
• Green Tea: The store-bought version uses green coffee extract, but I didn’t feel like getting the expensive green coffee bean powder. I substitute green tea to keep it simple. You can skip this ingredient and it won’t affect the flavor. 

You’ll also need some cold water and ice cubes.

How to Make a Strawberry Acai at Home

1. Prepare the green tea ahead of time: pour hot water over the green tea bag.

2. Steep the tea for 2 minutes. Then let it chill in the refrigerator. (You can skip these 2 steps if you use the green coffee powder or you’d like to make a caffeine-free drink.)

3. Slice strawberries into halves and add them into a blender together with 1 cup of water.

4. Blend until smooth and then strain them through a fine mesh.

5. Whisk together acai berry powder and 1/2 cup water until dissolved.

6. Add açai mixture, white grape juice, and chilled green tea to the strawberry juice. Mix well, and now you have a delicious strawberry acai base!

7. In a large pitcher with ice cubes, pour in the strawberry acai base and the rest of the water. Stir and mix well. Add simple syrup or sugar to your desired sweetness.

8. Fill the glass about 1/3 full of ice and pour the mixture into the glass. Garnish with a scoop of fresh strawberry slices and serve immediately!

Tips & Tricks

• Chill your green tea completely before making the drink.
• The regular strawberry acai drink has a light red color when you use water. If you use coconut water, the drink will become creamy with a soft pink color.
• Mix the acai powder with water until it’s completely dissolved. It may take a few minutes but it’s important to dissolve the powder.
• If you don’t like the tiny black particles from the acai powder, strain the mixture through cheesecloth or a coffee filter.
• You can customize the level of sweetness and caffeine of your drink. Start with less amount of syrup and slowly add more. Taste and adjust for the perfect flavor. You can skip the green tea for a caffeine-free drink. 

Strawberry Acai Refresher with Lemonade

If you love lemonade, you can replace the water with lemonade. Depending on the lemonade you use, you’ll need to adjust the amount slightly to thin out the flavor.

Strawberry Acai Refresher with Coconut Milk: Pink Drink

Pink drink is another popular drink at Starbucks. It’s actually a strawberry acai refresher made with coconut milk instead of water. You can substitute soy milk or almond milk, but I would give coconut milk a try first because it adds creaminess and depth to the drink, making it absolutely amazing!

Coconut milk beverage works better than canned coconut milk for this recipe, as some canned coconut milk contains solid chunky lumps of white stuff that could be unsightly in the drink.  

Healthy Strawberry Acai

Replace simple syrup with stevia, and substitute water for grape juice for a completely healthy beverage!

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a Strawberry Acai Drink Have Caffeine?

Yes, the strawberry acai refresher from Starbucks is lightly caffeinated. A grande cup has about 50 milligrams of caffeine. For a homemade version, you can skip green tea and make this drink completely caffeine-free.

Is Strawberry Acai Refresher Good?

Yes, both strawberries and acai have many health benefits. When making this drink at home, you can make it even healthier by using high-quality ingredients and lower the sugar level.

How Many Calories Doe it Have?

According to Starbucks, a grande (16-oz) Strawberry Acai Refresher has 90 calories, a tall cup has 80 calories, and venti has 130 calories.

How Much is a Strawberry Acai Drink at Starbucks?

A Tall of the regular Strawberry Acai Refresher is $3.99; Grande is $4.49; Venti is $4.99 and $Trenta is $5.29. The lemonade version and pink drink version are more expensive. So it’s much cheaper to make it at home if you drink it very often.

If you like this recipe try these out:

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If you’ve tried this Strawberry Acai Drink then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know. I love hearing from you!

UPDATED JULY 8, 2020: This post was originally published on May 29, 2020. We added more details to help you make the best strawberry acai refresher ever. Enjoy!