Since first joining the menu in 2012, Starbucks’ Refreshers have become the coffee giant’s fastest growing drink category — that much is clear by the sheer variety of flavors they’ve come in. From the Cran-Merry Orange Refreshers on the 2024 holiday menu to the boba-inspired Summer-Berry Refreshers with bursting raspberry flavor pearls, and from the Spicy Lemonade Refreshers to the iconic “Pink Drink” Refreshers with creamy coconut milk to the Frozen Lemonade Refreshers, these drinks seem to do it all.
However, as our taste tester’s ranking of 23 Starbucks Refreshers from worst to best shows, these fruity drinks do some things better than others. But the absolute best flavor just so happens to be the same one that looks the best: the Mango Dragonfruit Lemonade Refresher. This vibrant-hued Lemonade Refresher from Starbucks is, undoubtedly, the chain’s prettiest offering on the menu. It shines in bright fuchsia, with rehydrated pink dragon fruit floating on the top (along with a satisfying layer of froth from being hand shaken).
If it were a beauty contest, the Mango Dragonfruit Lemonade Refresher would easily take home the crown. But these drinks are as pretty on the inside as they are on the out. Made from a refreshing combination of freeze-dried dragon fruit pieces and Mango Dragonfruit Refresher base and shaken with Starbucks Lemonade instead of water, you get something sweet, tropical, tart, tangy — and much better than the original. Plus, as one customer pointed out on Reddit, “It’s soooo pretty.”
The many customizations of Starbucks’ Mango Dragonfruit Refresher
The Mango Dragonfruit Refresher is just one of many Refresher varieties that’s graced the Starbucks menu over the years — and it’s one that’s been done in many, many different ways. The tropical combination of mango and dragon fruit, plus the bright pink color the fruit lends to the drink, make it a very popular choice. But just like any other drink at Starbucks, there are a lot of ways that you can customize it.
Some people like to order it with coconut milk instead of water (also known as the Dragon Drink), some like it frozen over the summer, and some, including our taste tester, enjoyed it as a Spicy Refresher (which we sampled back in 2024). Others have even substituted the water in the drink with offerings like apple juice or iced tea. Still, out of all these customizations, the Mango Dragonfruit Lemonade Refresher is one of the few to became an permanent menu item — which is a relief because it makes it a lot simpler to order.
That’s good for both you and the baristas working, because, apparently, a lot of people do just that. In a Reddit thread, one Starbucks barista said the drinks are super popular at their store, claiming that they “make dozens and dozens of them every day.” After describing their special love for it in another Reddit post, one Mango Dragonfruit Refresher fan even went as far as to call the drink “the gateway drug” that got them into Starbucks in the first place.
