Summer-Berry Refresher

It’s nearly impossible to avoid catching the summer fever with only a matter of weeks away from beach getaways, park picnics, tank tops, and tan lines. With temperatures consistently being in the high 70s lately, we can’t wait for summer and neither can the world’s largest coffeehouse chain.

On May 7, 2024, Starbucks released its Summer-Berry Starbucks Refreshers®, describing these drinks as “a sweet summer blend of raspberry, blueberry and blackberry.” Starbucks has also featured lemonade and coconut milk add-on versions of this drink, calling the latter the “Summer Skies Drink.”

Aside from making the berry drink a striking blue color, Starbucks took a unique turn on this summer’s new refreshers by adding raspberry syrup popping pearls, much like the tapioca pearls in bubble tea drinks or “boba.” 

Starbucks was clearly committed to making the drink of the summer, so I decided to try the regular Summer-Berry refresher out for myself after seeing its increasing popularity. Will this new Berry refresher top Starbucks’s famous Strawberry Acai and Mango Dragon fruit ones this summer, or will it meet the same timely demise as the Unicorn Frappuccino eight years ago?

From the first sip, I could taste a subtle sweet blue raspberry flavor similar to the flavoring you’d find in a blue raspberry Jolly Rancher candy. After that, the blue raspberry flavor seemed to fade out with every subsequent sip, as with the flavor in all the other Starbucks refreshers but the berry flavor in this one dissipated surprisingly quickly. 

In an effort to reclaim the elusive berry taste, I decided to try one of those raspberry syrup popping pearls. I was immediately greeted with a thick, honey-like texture that also had a faint taste unless I popped at least five pearls in my mouth at once. I usually enjoy bursting flavor-filled popping pearls, but I’m not sure if I’m the biggest fan of the duality that exists in this refresher between the raspberry syrup pearls and the diluted blue raspberry drink. It tasted like popping a honey stick followed by a sip of water.

All in all, I would encourage anyone who enjoys berry flavors to try this drink without expecting any strong, lasting flavors. I have yet to try the lemonade and Summer Skies (coconut milk) versions of this refresher, but from what I got out of the regular Summer-Berry refresher, I would still personally prefer to stick with my regular, timeless Strawberry Acai or Mango Dragon fruit drinks.

Spicy Lemonade Refresher

I’m normally one for trying new things, but the new Spicy Lemonade Refreshers® from Starbucks, introduced on Tuesday, April 16, were an addition to the menu that didn’t need to happen. 

I ordered the Dragon fruit flavor, which has mango and dragon fruit flavoring, real dragon fruit, lemonade, and the Starbucks Spicy Chili Powder Blend. Starbucks describes all the Spicy Lemonade Refreshers as “Inspired by the ‘swicy’ trend, which combines sweet and spicy flavors in all sorts of creative ways,” and while the intention was clear, the execution was clumsy. 

The sweetness hits your tongue first, a sickly sweet sugary flavor that has little depth. The chili powder blend, which hits the back of the throat after several seconds, is indeed spicy, but it’s not a heat that burns the tongue – it’s  more of a peppery sensation. While the spice itself wasn’t bad, the chili mixed with the cloyingly sweet flavor created a salty after-effect that was almost heavy or nauseating, the opposite of “refreshing.” 

I normally love the mix of sweet and spicy, especially in Mexican candies and Korean cuisine, but in this drink, the sugar and the spice didn’t have any sort of harmony. It felt as if they were flavors that didn’t benefit from being combined, and the result was extremely disappointing. 

However, the drink itself was very aesthetically pleasing. The deep maroon color was vibrant, and there was a fair amount of dragon fruit chunks floating on top. 

While I appreciate the fact that Starbucks attempted to try something new, I couldn’t take more than a few sips, and I wouldn’t recommend this drink if you’re looking for something to enjoy. However, if you’re a massive fan of the “swicy” flavor, you might still want to give this drink, or any of the other Spicy Lemonade Refreshers a try.