Make a delicious Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher at home! This Starbucks copycat recipe gives you all the refreshing flavor and beautiful color of the store-bought iced beverage at the fraction of the price. It’s incredibly easy to make this tea-based drink and you can easily customize by adding lemonade or coconut milk!
It’s no secret that I love Starbucks iced beverages, right? Through my blog, you can find Mango Dragonfruit Refresher, Iced Pineapple Matcha, and my favorite –> Strawberry Acai Refresher.
I recently discovered Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher. When tired in the afternoon during the hot summer days, I find this drink really helps to boost my energy levels. After some experiments, I was able to re-create a version at home, made from scratch, with the incredible flavor that tastes just like the one from Starbucks! This very berry hibiscus copycat recipe is Fast. Simple. Delicious.
What is a Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher?
Very Berry Hibiscus is a popular iced beverage at Starbucks. It’s described on Starbucks’ website as “Real fruit juice and whole blackberries shaken with Green Coffee Extract for a boost of natural energy, served over ice.”
It’s a fruity iced drink laced with the “natural energy” from the green coffee extract. A 16-ounce grande cup has about 70 calories.
It comes 3 ways: regular Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher which is made with white grape juice; Very Berry Hibiscus Lemonade Refresher which is made with lemonade, and “Violet Drink”, which is made with creamy coconut milk.
What’s in a Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher?
Original Starbucks’ very berry hibiscus contains ice, water, sugar, white grape juice concentrate, citric acid, natural flavors, green coffee extract, and freeze-dried blackberries.
My version is made with some easily accessible ingredients: hibiscus tea, white grape juice, ice, and fresh blackberries, with optional green coffee extract.
Hibiscus Tea Bags: Hibiscus tea gives this drink a beautiful red color while adding a tart, cranberry-like hibiscus flavor. You can order tea bags online from Amazon or buy them at Whole Foods. You can also substitute dried hibiscus flowers.
Blackberries: I used fresh blackberries for this recipe, but you can also use freeze-dried whole blackberries.
White Grape Juice: It adds a refreshing, sweet, and crisp flavor to the drink. It’s available at your local grocery stores. You can substitute other juice such as lemonade.
Green Coffee Extract: Green coffee beans are not roasted and taste differently than traditional coffee. You can order green coffee bean powder or pill online from Amazon. If you use the coffee bean pills, you’ll need to pop them open and use the powder from the capsules. You can substitute green tea if you want your drink to have caffeine in it, or skip this ingredient and it won’t affect the flavor.
How to Make a Very Berry Hibiscus Drink at Home
- First, prepare the hibiscus tea. Pour hot water over the hibiscus tea bag.
- Add optional green coffee powder and steep for 5 minutes. Then let it chill in the refrigerator.
- In a medium jar, add white grape juice and chilled hibiscus tea. Mix well.
- Fill a glass halfway with ice and pour the mixture into the glass. Add blackberries to garnish.
Serve and enjoy immediately.
Very Berry Hibiscus with Lemonade
If you love lemonade, you can replace the white grape juice with lemonade. Depending on the lemonade you use, you’ll need to adjust the amount slightly to thin out the flavor.
Very Berry Hibiscus with Coconut Milk: Biolet Drink
You can make this beverage with coconut milk. It’s called “violet drink” or “purple drink” when the coconut milk is mixed in. Coconut milk adds a nice creaminess to this drink.
Replace white grape juice with coconut milk beverage. It’s best to use the one in a carton instead of canned coconut milk. If you use unsweetened coconut milk, you’ll need to add simple syrup or sugar to the drink.
Tips and Tricks
- Make sure to steep your hibiscus tea to let the flavor develop. Then let it chill until it’s very cold before making the drink.
- Your drink will have a vivid deep red color if you use white grape juice. If you use coconut milk instead, your drink will become creamy with the violet color.
- Add lemonade to your drink to turn it into a very berry hibiscus lemonade refresher.
Is Starbucks Very Berry Hibiscus Tea Healthy?
Very berry hibiscus is one of the healthiest options at Starbucks compared to other high sugar drinks they sell. When making it at home, you can use the higher-quality ingredients for an even healthier drink.
Does a Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher Have Caffeine?
Starbucks’ very berry hibiscus refresher is lightly caffeinated from the green coffee extract. But if you make it at home, you can skip the green coffee extract and make this drink completely caffeine-free.
Other Starbucks Copycat Recipes You’ll Like:
Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher Recipe (+VIDEO)
Ingredients
- 1 hibiscus tea bag
- 1 cup hot water
- 1 cup white grape juice
- 1 scoop fresh blackberries (or freeze-dried whole blackberries)
- ice cubes
- 1/2 teaspoon green coffee extract* (this is optional, and it’ll add caffeine to your drink)
Instructions
- Place the hibiscus tea bag in a cup and add hot water.
- (Optional) Add the green coffee extract to the tea. (If you use the coffee bean pills, you’ll need to pop them open and use the powder from the capsules. You can skip this ingredient and it won’t affect the flavor.)
- Let the tea steep for 5 minutes and chill in the refrigerator.
- In a medium jar, add white grape juice and chilled hibiscus tea. Mix well.
- Fill a glass halfway with ice and pour the mixture into the glass.
- Add blackberries to garnish.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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