Have you ever thought about making your own fresh fruit juice? Now you can easily make your own juice at home with How To Make Mango Dragon Fruit Refresher. It’s easy, healthy and much cheaper than buying juice. In this article I’ll show you how to make mango dragon fruit refresher, which can refresh your mind on a hot summer day.
Starbucks Dragon Drink Recipe
Made with nutty and creamy coconut milk, sweet mango and apple juice, and bits of dragon fruit, this Starbucks dragon fruit drink recipe copycat is full of dreamy sweet flavors! This specialty pink drink is made with simple ingredients and is easy to make caffeine-free. Everyone will love this vibrant-colored drink!
In the mood for something sweet and refreshing with a little bit of caffeine? This Starbucks dragon drink recipe is a fruity paradise packed in a beverage. Simple to make, this Starbucks copycat recipe is a lightened up, better way to enjoy one of our favorite drinks at home!
Whenever I’m near my local Starbucks, I love grabbing our usual treats: chocolate croissants, cake pops, and this delightful drink similar to the Starbucks mango dragonfruit refresher. What’s the difference between the two? This dragon fruit Starbucks drink is sweeter and creamier than the refresher recipe! It’s vibrant and sweet, and you can easily customize it to make it as sweet (or not) as you want, and you can make it with or without caffeine!
Instead of ordering this drink off of the Starbucks menu, I figured we could make our own pink drink that had less sugar but was still just as delicious as the original. And wow, was I right!
This beverage is perfect for a hot day whenever you and the kids are craving cold drinks. It’s also great for adding to a picnic or summer menu, or for fans of coconut milk. We have so much fun making this recipe year round because of all the different shades of pink and violet it creates. People of all ages will enjoy the dragonfruit flavors in this amazing drink!
🥤What Is Dragon Drink?
This refreshing dragon fruit and mango drink is a combination of mango juice, caffeine, dragon fruit, and creamy coconut milk. Once a secret menu item at Starbucks, you can now find it as a permanent menu item anytime you’re craving something with a sweet tropical flavor. You can learn more about this vibrant colored drink on the Starbucks website!
There are three ways you can make this drink: 1) As the standard Mango Dragonfruit Refresher which is made with water, 2) The Dragon Drink which is made with coconut milk and 3) Mango Dragonfruit Lemonade which is made with lemonade!
🥥 Does Starbucks use Real Dragon Fruit?
Yes, the little pieces of fruit you find in the beverage are real pieces of dragon fruit! Yummy, right? We decided to add dragon fruit to our own pink drink to mimic the natural sweetness and lovely texture.
👩🏽🍳 Why This Recipe Works
- Healthy: Way less sugar than the mango dragon fruit refresher or the other Starbucks refreshers, this new drink recipe is made with natural fruit juices and dairy-free milk. The dragon fruit powder and pieces has antioxidants too!
- Easy: With only a few easy steps, you will have a yummy beverage ready in minutes. This recipe is perfect for whenever you’re searching for a recipe that is quick and basic.
- Kid-Friendly: Since this version of the mango dragon drink can be caffeine-free, it is suitable for toddlers and children! Want to make your kid’s day? Surprise them with this vibrant sweet drink in their favorite cup!
- Customizable: So versatile, you can add extra ingredients to this pink drink and easily change things up.
🥘 Ingredients
You’re going to fall in love with how the list of ingredients is so small! It doesn’t take much for this Starbucks dragon drink recipe to deliver strong flavors. You can easily find these items online or at your local grocery store!
Dragon Fruit: You will need freeze-dried dragon fruit powder. You can find this fruit powder online, at Whole Foods, or other well-stocked grocery store. As an optional ingredient for serving, you can use some freeze dried dragon fruit pieces, or fresh or frozen dragon fruit as a garnish.
Green Coffee Powder: Also known as green coffee extract, this ingredient is optional. If you want some caffeine in the refresher, then you’ll want to add some green coffee powder to it. Green coffee powder is made from raw coffee beans (or berries) and is known to have health benefits such as regulating blood sugar levels.
Fruit Juice: We used both mango and apple juices to make this drink taste as delicious as possible. This is a great way to squeeze in some Vitamin C!
Ice: Any kind of ice will do, but we like to use ice cubes.
Coconut Milk: I recommend using light unsweetened coconut milk, or an unsweetened coconut milk beverage vs. coconut milk from the can.
📖 Variations
- Milk: Use skim milk or any type of dairy-free milk you prefer. We like to use coconut milk because of its creamy and nutty flavors. For more decadence, try coconut cream or heavy cream.
- Sparkling: Want some carbonation? Add some soda water or sparkling water to this recipe to give it a natural fizz.
- Green Tea: Instead of green coffee powder, use matcha or green tea bags.
- More Sweetness: Add some white grape juice concentrate to give this refresher even more flavor.
- Dragon Fruit: Add a scoop of dragon fruit or freeze-dried dragon fruit pieces to mix within the drink.
- Add Protein: If you want to amp up this Mango Dragonfruit Starbucks Refresher, add 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder to this drink and blend it in a blender (instead of a shaker bottle!)
🔪 Instructions
Combine Ingredients, Stir: First, in a mixing bowl, combine both the dragon fruit and green coffee powder with a little bit of apple juice. Stir until smooth.
Add Rest of Ingredients: Next, in a cocktail shaker, add a scoop of ice, the dragon fruit mixture, remaining apple and mango juice, and coconut milk.
Shake! Attach the lid and shake until combined.
Pour, Serve: Add ice cubes and dragon fruit pieces to a large glass. Pour the pink drink into the serving glass and serve immediately.
❓Recipe FAQs
WHAT IS THE NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION FOR DRAGON DRINK?
A 16 ounce grande size Starbucks Dragonfruit Drink has 130 calories, 3 grams of fat, 26 grams of carbs, 23 grams of sugar, and 45 mg of caffeine. It doesn’t contain much protein (only 1 gram) or fiber.
Our version has about 150 calories and 7 grams of healthy fats, but only 14 grams of sugar and 19 grams of carbs. That makes our recipe better for you than the Starbucks version because doesn’t contain as much sugar – it has only about half the amount of sugar than the original drink!
IS THE DRAGON DRINK HEALTHY?
Although the dragon drink does not contain any added refined sugar, it does contain a ton of sugar from the real fruit juice. 26 grams of sugar in the Starbucks drink is way too much for every day use. So think of enjoying this bright pink drink when you feel like treating yourself and the family!
IS THE DRAGON DRINK GOOD? WHAT DOES DRAGON DRINK TASTE LIKE?
Yes! It’s delicious – we love this fruity paradise beverage so much we had to make our own to enjoy at home! Anytime we need a pick-me-up, we love to make this specialty drink. It has a smooth, creamy, sweet and refreshing taste – like a fresh tropical fruit juice that also happens to be creamy!
ARE DRAGON FRUIT GOOD FOR YOU?
Dragon fruit does have health benefits and contains fiber, antioxidants, natural sugars, and nutrients your body needs. Whether you’re using fresh dragonfruit or ground dragon fruit powder, you’ll find that one serving of dragon fruit has 7 grams of fiber, and is high in iron, magnesium and vitamin c.
IS THE DRAGON DRINK THE SAME AS THE PINK DRINK?
Although both drinks are pink and contain coconut, they are slightly different. The Starbucks dragon drink recipe is made with a refreshing combination of sweet mango and apple juice where the pink drink is made with only coconut water and dragon fruit. We like to call them both pink drinks!
DOES THIS DRINK HAVE CAFFEINE?
Both the Starbucks drink and my version have caffeine, but you can easily omit the green coffee powder and make it caffeine free!
🧊 How To Store
Chill: Make a large batch of this beverage and stick it in a glass jar or other type of airtight container and store it in the refrigerator until ready to enjoy. It will keep in the fridge for 2 days.
Freeze: Easily turn this pink drink into popsicles by pouring the liquid into popsicle molds and freezing with popsicle sticks. It will keep in the freezer for 3 months!
MANGO DRAGON FRUIT REFRESHER (STARBUCKS COPYCAT)
When you need a flavorful drink, try our Mango Dragon Fruit Refresher Recipe. It’s a Starbucks copycat recipe with a twist, and you’ll love it on a hot summer day.
Iced coffee and frappes can be very rich and sweet, this is more of a vibrant fruity flavor with floral overtones. One of the best things about making your own is that you can control the sugar content and find the right sweetness balance for your personal taste.
Refreshers got their name for a reason. This drink is incredibly light and well, refreshing, making it a perfect summertime caffeine choice. Make the recipe right before you head to the pool and keep yourself cool without getting in the water.
WHAT IS DRAGON FRUIT?
A native of the American continents, dragon fruit is the fruit of several cactus species and is actively grown in central and South America as well as the United States.
A flavorful fruit when picked ripe, dragon fruit can be bland and flavorless if picked early which makes it tricky to purchase and use fresh.
Freeze-dried fruit and freeze-dried fruit powder are both available for this reason. The fruit itself is sweet and crunchy with seeds reminiscent of kiwi and full of essential fatty acids.
The flesh of dragon fruit is often an intense red or purple which gives this drink its beautiful signature color.
INGREDIENTS FOR THE STARBUCKS COPYCAT DRAGON FRUIT MANGO LEMONADE REFRESHER
- Lemonade. You can use regular lemonade or use a sugar-free lemonade to control the calorie content. You could also do half sugar-free, half regular. This ingredient gives you an easy way to adjust the sweetness of the drink. One of the things I loved about the original drink is that it’s not too sweet and didn’t taste syrupy like the typical restaurant lemonade or summer drink. Keep it nice and light!
- Welch’s dragon fruit mango juice. Alternatively, just use mango juice as this juice can be tricky to find. The Starbucks version uses a grape juice base instead. I prefer it with the mango juice base.
- Freeze-dried dragon fruit powder. This gives the drink beautiful floral notes to balance the fruity mango flavor. It’s super hard to buy dragon fruit and get it at exactly the ripeness needed for a pureed drink. Un-ripe fruit is very bland. Using the powder will protect the integrity of the flavor. This powder also gives the drink its gorgeous color. There are no added sugar in this powder with only 5 net carbs per serving.
- Dragon Fruit. Cubed dragon fruit adds a beautiful garnish to the drink. Dragon fruit and the freeze-dried powder are both high in anti-oxidants and have nutritional value you won’t find in soda or coffee. This isn’t absolutely necessary, but aren’t you intrigued to try the real fruit?
- Optional. Add Green Coffee Bean Extract if you want your drink caffeinated like the Starbucks original.
HOW TO MAKE THE MANGO DRAGON FRUIT REFRESHER
This drink is super easy to throw together in five minutes and makes three Venti cups which are twenty ounces each.
First, you put all of the ingredients except the cubed dragon fruit into a blender and puree.
Next, you pour the mixture over ice in a prepared cup. You’ll need three large cups to hold 20 ounces of liquid in each plus ice for this recipe or you can serve smaller portions.
Finally, top with the dragon fruit pieces. That’s it! Enjoy your drink and savor how much money and time you’ve saved.
TIPS TO MAKE THE BEST REFRESHER POSSIBLE
Add your ingredients according to your blender instructions. If it doesn’t come with instructions, simply add the liquids first, followed by the dragon fruit powder.
Did you know that the popular pink drink, violet drink, and dragon drinks at Starbucks are just the refreshers with coconut milk added? If you’d like a creamy version you can add 1/4 cup of coconut milk to your mango dragon fruit refresher recipe before blending.
One of the beauties of the original Starbucks Mango Dragon Fruit Refresher is that you get caffeine without coffee or soda.
Although, the original drink is caffeinated with green coffee bean extract. You can purchase this on Amazon and have it on hand when you want caffeine, and leave it out when you need to sleep. That’s the beauty of making it yourself.
Make it a frozen drink by adding the ice to the blender instead of pouring the drink over ice in the cup. This is an easy change that makes it seem like a whole different drink with a new texture and temperature but the same great taste.
Mango Dragonfruit Refresher
Make a delicious Mango Dragonfruit Refresher at home! Keep it healthy by using just a few healthy ingredients, and save money. I love this drink with soda water, but you can also make a Mango Dragonfruit Refresher with coconut milk for an indulgent fruity drink.
HOW TO MAKE A MANGO DRAGONFRUIT REFRESHER
This healthy drink is inspired by the Mango Dragonfruit Starbucks Refresher. The vibrant colored drink is as delicious as it is inviting to look at!
Mango Dragonfruit RefresherPlay Video
I adore dragonfruit. If you’ve been following along, you might remember my Pitaya Bowl and my Dragon Fruit Smoothie. The tropical fruit is delicious, packed with nutrients, and naturally low in sugar and calories, giving it superfood status.
If you’ve never tried it, try picking one up the next time you see it at a grocery store, or ordering a smoothie with the vibrant fruit the next time you notice it on a menu.
INGREDIENTS IN A MANGO DRAGONFRUIT REFRESHER
- Dragonfruit – if you can’t find this fresh, you can buy it frozen at health food stores. You can also sub freeze fried dragon fruit, like these dragon fruit chips. Starbucks actually uses freeze dried fruit in their drink!
- Mango – use fresh or frozen mango for the best flavor! Just peel the mango and chop up the flesh to use it in this drink.
- Lime juice (omit if using coconut milk)
- Green tea, strongly brewed. I use 2 green tea bags, and the amount of water I would typically use for 1 cup of tea. Starbucks actually uses a blend of green coffee extract and white grape juice. This adds a lot of sugar to the drink that is unnecessary. Green coffee extract on its own is a healthy addition, but I prefer to keep it simple with healthy ingredients I already have stocked in my kitchen. NOTE: the link here is just for your information. I have never used this product so I am not necessarily recommending it for this drink.
THE STEPS FOR MAKING A DRAGONFRUIT DRINK
- Brew some green tea. I use 2 tea bags, but the amount of water for 1 cup of tea (about a cup of hot water). Allow the tea to steep 5 minutes to fully extract the green tea, without over steeping and making the tea bitter. Allow the cool before using.
- Peel and chop the mango and the dragon fruit. Half of a cup of each fruit makes 2-3 drinks.
- Add the green tea, mango, and dragon fruit to a blender. Also add the juice of 1 lime (or 1-2 tablespoons of lime juice). Puree the fruit into a smooth mixture.
- Add ice to glasses, and then fill the glasses about 2/3s of the way full with the dragonfruit puree. Top the glasses off with soda water, or add coconut milk for a creamy treat.
MANGO DRAGONFRUIT REFRESHER WITH COCONUT MILK & OTHER VARIATIONS
I prefer to keep this drink light and refreshing, and top my drinks off with sparkling water. It’s fizzy, slightly fruit, and perfect for a hot day.