The pink drink is one of Starbucks’ most iconic offerings. A tasty combination of strawberry, acai, grape juice, and coconut milk, it’s also bubblegum pink — hence the name! If you want to try this delicious drink without heading to your nearest coffee shop, we’ve got just the recipe for you.
Here’s our simple Starbucks pink drink recipe, plus brewing tips and a few variations.
Homemade Starbucks Pink Drink
Equipment
- Mason jar
- Saucepan
- Metal or paper filter
- Kettle
- Coffee mug
- Tall glasses
- Spoon
Ingredients
Green Coffee Concentrate Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon green coffee beans
- 1 cup water
Pink Drink Ingredients
- 1 Tazo passion tea bag or acai berry
- 1 cup filtered water
- Fresh strawberries sliced
- ½ cup white grape juice
- 4 tablespoons coconut milk
- 1 cup ice
- 1 tablespoon green coffee concentrate optional
- 2 teaspoons simple syrup or honey optional
Instructions
Green Coffee
- Making green coffee concentrate is optional, but it will make your drink taste the most like the real thing. Soak 1 tablespoon of green coffee beans in 1 cup of water overnight.
- Then simmer the coffee beans and water for 15 minutes.
- Let the mixture cool completely and pour it through a metal or paper filter.
Pink Drink
- Time to make tea! Boil your water and place a teabag in a coffee mug. Pour the water over the teabag and let it steep until the water cools (at least 5 minutes).
- Add the grape juice to the cooled tea and mix thoroughly.
- Fill your tall glasses with ice. Split the tea and grape juice mixture evenly between them. Then add the coconut milk, green coffee concentrate, and simple syrup or honey. Stir to get a consistent pink color.
- Top with sliced strawberries and enjoy your creamy pink drink!
Nutrition
Homemade Starbucks Pink Drink Variations
Curious about some of the pink drink ingredients? Here’s what to know about this recipe — and a few tasty variation tips!
Green Coffee Concentrate
This is the one ingredient that might take you by surprise. What is green coffee concentrate, and why are we adding it to our pink drinks? Green coffee is an earthy, tea-like drink made from raw, unroasted coffee beans. It contains some caffeine and has an interesting grassy flavor. We like adding it to pink drinks because of the flavor and the little bit of caffeine. Starbucks uses “natural green coffee flavor” — and this is the easiest way to replicate that at home! You can also buy green coffee extract online.
Types of Tea
Starbucks uses a “strawberry acai base” in its pink drinks, but if you don’t have acai flavoring lying around, herbal tea is the simplest option. Look for an acai or passion fruit herbal tea that turns pink when you brew it. You don’t want to end up with a pink drink that’s not pink!
Sweeteners
How sweet do you like your pink drinks? The Starbucks version is pretty sweet, with added sugar and sweetened coconut milk. But since you are making your drink at home, you can decide when to add a sweetener. If you are using sweetened coconut milk, the drink may be sweet enough without adding any more sugar. If your coconut milk is unsweetened, we recommend stirring in a spoonful of honey or agave and tasting the drink. Use your favorite sweetener and adjust to your taste!
Strawberries
At Starbucks, you’ll find freeze-dried strawberry slices in your pink drink. We like to use fresh, sliced strawberries for the best-tasting drink, but feel free to use the freeze-dried or even frozen version available at your local grocery store or online. In a pinch, you can substitute any other berry, like raspberries, blueberries, or blackberries.
The Bottom Line
Ready to start whipping up your favorite drink? If you’ve never made a pink drink at home before, you’re in for a real treat! Our pink drink recipe may seem like it has a lot of steps (though some are optional), but the result is very much worth it. We hope you enjoy this recipe and expand your homebrewing repertoire! If you’re looking for a new challenge, why not try making a velvety beet latte?
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