The Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher, while no longer on most Starbucks menus, comtinues to be one of their most popular refreshers, second only behind the Strawberry Acai Refresher Recipe.
I love going to Starbucks and grabbing one of those iced coffee blended concoctions. However, probably my most favorite things there are those refresher drinks. It started with the Cool Lime Refresher, then Starbucks introduced the Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher followed by the Strawberry Acai Refresher. They are indeed, refreshing. Sadly, the Very Berry version isn’t on the Starbucks menu anymore. But here is a copycat recipe you can make at home.
How the Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher copycat recipe came to be
I was in New York City with my Mom back in 2014. We took a walk over to Starbucks and both ordered the Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher. On the way back to the apartment we started to brainstorm how to recreate the drink at home. The year before I made a copycat recipe of the Cool Lime Refresher and it has been an enormous hit on the blog. So why not make the Hibiscus version?
The Green Coffee Bean Extract
I flew back to Florida and decided to tackle the copycat recipe. All Starbucks refreshers use white grape juice and green coffee bean powder. I found the coffee extract at a health food store but Amazon sells the Green Coffee Bean Extract as a powder too.
The Hibiscus Tea Bags
I order the hibiscus tea bags from Amazon though you can find them also at Whole Foods. I always have some hibiscus and green iced tea in the fridge- definitely one of my favorite beverages.
Combine the syrup and the tea
The basis of this refresher is the ginger syrup and tea. Basically, you make both separately then combine them. Easy enough.
The Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher copycat recipe
Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher (a la Starbucks)
You will not know the difference between this copycat recipe and the real thing!
Ingredients
For the ginger simple syrup
- 2 cups filtered water
- 1/2 -1 tsp Green Coffee Bean Powder
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/4 cup ginger, loosely packed, peeled and chopped into chunks
For the Hibiscus tea
- 3 cups filtered water
- 3 Hibiscus Tea Bags
- 3 green tea bags
For the Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher
- 1 cups white grape juice
- 1 cup mixed berries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries etc.
Instructions
Make the hibiscus tea
- Boil 3 cups filtered water in a pot over medium heat. Remove from heat and add the teabags. Let steep 30 minutes.
Make the ginger simple syrup
- Bring to a boil 2 cups filtered water, 2 cups of sugar, and green coffee bean powder in a medium pot over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
- Remove from the heat and add the ginger. Let steep for 30 minutes.
- Pour through a fine sieve and discard the chunks of ginger.
Assemble the refresher
- Remove tea bags from the steeped tea and pour into a 2 quart pitcher.
- Add the ginger simple syrup and the two cups of white grape juice and mix.
- Add mixed berries. Place pitcher in the refrigerator for a minimum 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend and the tea to get chilled.
- Add a few frozen blueberries and/or raspberries to individual glasses for an extra berry touch.
Notes
** I prefer substituting filtered water for the grape juice as the juice makes the drink very sweet.
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Alice
Monday 17th of May 2021
Hi Anna Marie - When you mention in the recipe that you prefer to use filtered water as a substitute for the grape juice, is that across the board? This drink is my favorite drink at Starbucks but it gets EXPENSIVE getting it regularly. I can't wait to try this at home.
Jessica
Saturday 15th of October 2016
You didn't add the green coffee capsules into the recipe?... I'm confused!
Anna-Marie
Saturday 15th of October 2016
It's optional but I added it into the recipe now! Thank you for pointing that out!
Joanne Greco
Thursday 5th of May 2016
It's expensive to buy the hibiscus tea in the bags. I go to my local Latino store and purchase dried hibiscus petals in the loose bag for about $2.50 for 3-4 cups of the petals. The name you want to look for is called, jamaica (ha-mei-ca).
Alissa
Sunday 24th of April 2016
There is no tea in the Starbucks one. Will look for a different recipe.
Christie McNew, Orange County
Monday 16th of November 2015
I love this drink and I am so grateful for your post. I can't wait to try to make this on my own. Thank you for sharing this.
Best regards, Christie McNew, Orange County