The Hands-Down Best Starbucks Refresher Has A Green Coffee Extract Kick

Far from just a coffee and espresso bar, Starbucks has a slew of popular drinks that run the gamut from dessert-like Frappuccinos to fruity juice and tea-based drink. Starbucks Refreshers, for example, are refreshing fruit waters with a sugary, white grape juice base, offering a small caffeinated boost with the help of Green Coffee Extract that come in wide variety of seasonal and year-round flavors. Tasting Table's taste tester actually ranked 20 of them according to overall flavor, and the hands-down best was the Strawberry Acai Lemonade Energy Refresher. 

Starbucks' Energy Refreshers come with that extra helping of Green Coffee Extract, which some people compare to the flavor of green tea. If this sounds less than appetizing, fret not. It only adds a subtle depth of flavor to this utterly delicious, thirst-quenching beverage. Paired with the sweetness and fruitiness of the standard Starbucks Strawberry Acai Refresher, the extra bit of Green Tea Extract brings balance to the sweet and tart lemonade base for a winning combination. Furthermore, this Refresher features freeze dried strawberries for a delightful chewy bite. 

Whereas many coffee drinks are anything but refreshing, the Strawberry Acai Lemonade Energy Refresher is both hydrating and caffeinated. It doesn't have as much caffeine as a cup of coffee, but it's certainly an invigorating drink to enjoy all summer long.

In a YouTube Short, user @distilledbrewedreviewed was complimentary of the standard Strawberry Acai Lemonade Refresher. "That lemonade flavor ... adds to it ... As far as I'm concerned it's got the right combo of sweetness and tartness," said the reviewer. Indeed, others have compared the classic Strawberry Acai Refresher to Kool Aid, Caprisun, and Fruitopia — all overly sweet and sugary fruit concentrates in their own right. 

Knowing that, the tartness of the lemonade and the slightly bitter finish from the extra Green Coffee Extract in the Strawberry Acai Lemonade Energy Refresher should only help to balance out the sweet, fruity elements. Of course, if you don't want that strong of a caffeine boost, you can always order a standard Strawberry Acai Lemonade Refresher instead of the Energy Refresher, which has less than half the caffeine content. 

A grande Strawberry Acai Lemonade Refresher has 45 milligrams of caffeine compared to the Energy Refresher version, which contains around 125 milligrams. Of course, you'll miss out on the added earthiness of the additional Green Tea Extract that our taste tester claimed balanced out the drink.  Paired with one of Starbucks' bakery items — like our highly ranked lime-frosted coconut bar — that might be necessary.