The mango dragon fruit refresher is a vibrant pink drink from Starbucks that offers an excellent flavor and refreshing experience to enjoy through the summer.
But we all know that Starbucks overpriced their drinks - for good reason! They’re delicious, but our bank accounts are begging us to stop buying so many mango dragon fruit refreshers.
So, how do we get the best of both worlds by enjoying our mango dragon fruit refreshers without spending so much money? Make them at home, of course!
We have found the perfect mango dragon fruit refresher recipe that you can make at home with only six ingredients.
The mango dragon fruit refresher is one of the most popular drinks on the Starbucks menu, but we bet that a lot of people don’t know what even is in it.
We didn’t before we started our research! Now we are confident that we know exactly what is found within this drink, enough to recreate the entire thing.
There are three ways that you can order the mango dragon fruit refresher, either on its own, with lemonade, or coconut milk (otherwise known as the Dragon Drink).
Today we’ll be looking at how you can make all of these drinks at home for a fraction of the Starbucks price!
The mango dragon fruit refresher is a tropical ice-cold drink served at Starbucks, known for its bright pink color and sweet flavors.
The mango and dragon fruit complement each other enormously without overpowering your taste buds with sweetness.
You can purchase the mango dragon fruit refresher at Starbucks in four different sizes, which are as follows:
Tall (12 fl oz)
Grande (16 fl oz)
Venti (24 fl oz)
Trenta (30 fl oz)
You have the opportunity to adjust the ingredients such as the juice options, toppings, sweeteners, and tea preferences. The mango dragon fruit refresher has between 70 and 180 calories depending on the size of your drink.
You can also add milk into your drink, making it the Dragon Drink, or leave it without for a more refreshing drink.
The cost of these drinks from Starbucks is between $3.25 and $4.95, which is much more expensive than it is to make your own at home.
Once you have bought all of the ingredients, you can store the rest away and use them time and time again.
So, while the initial cost of making your own mango dragon fruit refresher is higher, bulk buying can actually save you a lot of money in the long run.
Ingredients You’ll Need for the Mango Dragon Fruit Refresher
1 ¼ tsp freeze-dried dragon fruit powder
You can order freeze-dried dragon fruit powder online which is the main ingredient you need for the vivid pink color and unique taste.
You can flavor your drink from fresh dragon fruit, but this will take a lot more time and the color might not be as impressive.
There is also a substitute found at health food stores such as Whole Foods. It is called frozen dragon fruit packs and can often be found near acai powders.
Again, this might offer you a more muted color but the taste will be similar to the Starbucks drink.
4 cups water
Most of the mango dragon fruit refresher is actually made from water, so this is easily attainable for most people. Tap water or bottled water will work the same way, so we suggest using tap water to save some money.
For the mango dragon fruit lemonade refresher, you should substitute the water for lemonade. The dragon drink will require you to use coconut milk instead of water.
Alternatively, you can use white grape juice instead of water to give your mango dragon fruit refresher a fruitier flavor.
¾ cup mango juice
Mango juice is easily found in any store, so you shouldn’t have trouble locating this. Just make sure that the juice is pure without added ingredients so that you’re not consuming more sugar and artificial ingredients than necessary.
If you have a mango juice with pulp, strain this out before adding it to your drink. A good substitute if you cannot find mango juice in the local store is mango puree, but the drink will look cloudier than it should.
If you’re using puree, you’ll need to strain this before using it as well.
4 tbsp simple syrup
Simple syrup is a good sugar substitute that is much easier to mix into liquids than granulated sugar. However, you can use a number of different substitutes for this if you cannot easily find it in the supermarket.
Honey, sugar, or sweetener can be used instead of simple syrup. Honey is less healthy but richer and offers a more unique flavor. If you’re wanting a healthier option, the sweetener is a good choice.
Ice cubes
We like using crushed ice cubes rather than large ones as it is the closest pairing to what Starbucks uses. However, the type of ice cube you use will not affect your drink, so just use whatever you enjoy the most or have in your home.
2 tbsp green tea (optional)
Green tea can be added to your mango dragon fruit refresher to add a small amount of caffeine. It wouldn’t be a Starbucks drink without a nod to their roots, would it?
You can also use green coffee extract, which is what Starbucks uses in its recipe. However, this is more expensive than green tea and tastes the same, so we use green tea instead.
If you want to create a caffeine-free drink you can skip the green tea or green coffee altogether.
Make a cup of green tea up and put it in the refrigerator to cool down before using it in your mango dragon fruit refresher. If you’re using green coffee or no caffeine content at all, you can skip this step altogether.
Step Two: Making up the dragon fruit powder
Add your dragon fruit powder to the bottom of a small container and mix in your water. Continue to mix the drink until all of the powder has been completely dissolved.
Some dragon fruit powders can leave you with a lumpy mixture thanks to it being difficult to dissolve. To avoid this, you can add only a small amount of water to start with before adding the rest.
We have found success with adding only half a cup of water to the dragon fruit powder and mixing until there are no lumps.
If your mixture still contains stubborn lumps, strain these out before moving onto the next step. You should have a ½ cup of thick pink liquid by the end of step two.
Step Three: Get your pitcher out!
Get your pitcher or container that you’ll be serving your drink from and add the rest of the water (3 ⅓ cups) into it. Mix in your mango juice so that you’re left with a light yellow liquid. This might resemble lemonade.
Now add in your dragon fruit blend and green tea if you’re using it. Again, make sure that your green tea is properly chilled before adding to your pitcher. Mix all together until you have an even pink color throughout.
Add the simple syrup and mix. Give it a quick taste test to see whether you want to add more simple syrup or not. Keep doing this until you have reached your perfect level of sweetness.
Step Four: Serve and enjoy
Fill a glass halfway with ice and pour some of your mango dragon fruit refreshers over the top of it. Drink immediately for the best results and the most refreshing experience.
If you’re serving the pitcher to multiple people, add a few ice cubes to your pitcher to keep it cool as you offer second servings. We guarantee that your pitcher won’t be full for long!
Recipe Tips
The mango dragon fruit refresher served at Starbucks comes with a scoop of diced dragon fruit within it, adding an interesting look to the drink as well as enhancing the flavor.
This is an optional step, although it can make your drink much more similar to the Starbucks original.
If your dragon fruit powder is leaving you with too many lumps in your drink that will simply not go away no matter how much you mix, you can strain them out.
Either use a coffee filter or a cheesecloth to remove the stubborn lumps and leave you with a much more enjoyable drink.
Play around with the sweetness of your drink by adding more or less simple syrup to the pitcher.
Simple syrup is thinner than honey so it is easier to mix in. Plus, it doesn’t need to dissolve like sugar or sweetener does, making it the most convenient sweetening choice for your mango dragon fruit refresher.
The Dragon Drink at Starbucks is simply the mango dragon fruit refresher made with coconut milk rather than water. This gives the drink a creamier texture and taste, making it slightly less refreshing but just as enjoyable.
The coconut milk will also dilute the bright pink color to a muted baby pink, making this a very picturesque drink. You can either use coconut milk, almond milk, or soy milk for this drink, but our favorite is coconut milk.
Coconut milk offers your mango dragon fruit refresher a creamy texture that cannot be replicated with other plant-based milk.
To make the Dragon Drink, simply follow the instructions above but substitute the 3 ½ cups of water in step three for coconut milk.
Make the dragon fruit powder up as we have suggested in step two, though, as water will avoid lumps better than coconut milk will.
Making a Mango Dragon Fruit Lemonade Refresher
You can also opt for a mango dragon fruit refresher made with lemonade, giving your drink a slightly more bitter taste with the signature lemony flavor.
To make this drink, all you need to do is substitute the 3 ½ cups of water in step three for lemonade.
Again, make the dragon fruit powder up with water to avoid lumps. This might dilute the lemonade flavor slightly, but this is the better alternative to having lots of powdery lumps floating around in your glass.
Summary
We hope that you have learned something new about the mango dragon fruit refresher and can’t wait to try it at home for yourself.
This drink is incredibly easy to make with only a handful of ingredients but will have you wanting more instantly.
Don’t forget to try it with coconut milk or lemonade to try out these new flavors and experiences. Have fun making your new favorite drink of the summer!
