Starbucks Refreshers Taste Test
From 12 to 3 today, Starbucks handed out free tall beverages from their new handcrafted Refreshers line of drinks. Never one to resist a freebie, we headed over to the coffee chain to see what all the fuss was about.
The new drinks are low in calories and marketed as such, boasting 40 calories for a Tall (small) Cool Lime drink and 60 calories for a Tall Very Berry Hibiscus drink.
The drinks have a small amount of caffeine from green coffee bean extract but taste “nothing like coffee," the company wrote in a press release.
The Very Berry Hibiscus had an overpowering taste of hibiscus. The berry flavor was hidden and the drink was cloyingly sweet. The drink had small pieces of fruit floating in it but whole pieces of raspberries were missing. We’d skip this one next time in favor of the lime version.
The Cool Lime flavor is the better of the two. It has a lighter, less-sweet flavor that could work as an afternoon pick-me-up. It has a flavor reminiscent of a mojito but it’s not as minty. One tester described the drink as “refreshing” but noted it had a slight “artificial taste.” She said it wasn’t the flavor she had expected.
Torn between trying the new drinks and sticking with your regular order? We think the chain’s iced Passion tea or green tea are better options.
