Apple Pomegranate Refresher {Starbucks Copycat}

The Starbucks Apple Pomegranate Refresher is a sweet and crisp green apple drink shaken with ice and poured over pomegranate pearls. You can make it at home in less than five minutes!

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why this recipe works
• 🗒️ Ingredients
• 🍏 Recipe tips
• 🥣 More ways to use base
• 🎉 Variations on recipe
• ⏲️ How to store
• 🥤 More Starbucks Refreshers
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

I LOVE when Starbucks launches new Refreshers! The flavors are always so fun and unique, especially since they've started using popping pearls (AKA popping boba) in many of them.

Lots of people are sad Starbucks isn't bringing back the Cran-Merry Orange Refresher or the Cran-Merry Drink for the 2026 holidays and didn't bring back the apple drinks for fall (of course, you can make them all at home with my copycat recipes!), but I think Refresher fans will be really happy with the new Apple Pomegranate Refresher line-up.

These drinks consist of a crisp green apple base mixed with water (for the basic Refresher), coconut milk (for the Snowy Apple Drink), or lemonade (for the Apple Pomegranate Lemonade Refresher) and poured over pomegranate pearls.

It may not taste exactly like Christmas (it DOES taste just like a green apple Jolly Rancher!), but looks just like it. And is delicious to boot!

It feels like Starbucks is really stepping out of the traditional holiday flavors this year (though they did bring lots of classics back) as the Tiramisu Velvet Cold Brew and other drinks in that lineup aren't necessarily holiday flavor-forward either.

❤️ Why this recipe works

It's packed with crisp and tart green apple flavor: if you like green apple Jolly Ranchers, you will love this drink! It's the perfect combination of sweet and sour.

It's so quick and easy to make: this is the easiest homemade Refresher base yet with just a few ingredients to mix together.

The base is easy to make ahead: you can make the base ahead of time (quickly!) and keep it in your fridge until you're ready to enjoy your drink. Double the batch and enjoy Apple Pomegranate Refreshers all week long.

You can omit the caffeine if you want: since the caffeine is added to Refreshers with green coffee bean extract powder, you can simply leave it out if you want a caffeine-free drink. Or you can add extra for more of a boost!

🗒️ Ingredients

Here's everything you need to make your own Apple Pomegranate Refresher at home (be sure to view the recipe card at the bottom of this post for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions):

• Apple Refresher Base: I share this recipe with you in this post
• Water
• Ice
• Pomegranate pearls or boba: if you can't find pomegranate, use another pink/red pearl, like strawberry or raspberry

Here's what you need for the Apple Refresher base:

• Apple juice
• Water
• Green apple syrup
• Lemon juice
• Green coffee bean extract powder: optional for caffeine

🍏 Recipe tips

• The base of this drink is so easy to make with just apple juice, water, green apple syrup, lemon juice, and green coffee bean extract powder (if you want caffeine). I like to keep my base in a large mason jar and sometimes double the batch since it keeps fresh for about a week in the fridge.

• I find this to be a very sweet drink. If you want a drink that's a bit less sweet, you can cut the green apple syrup and bump up the water, but note this will make your Refresher a paler color green and it won't taste as strongly of apple.

• Be sure to shake the base well before using, especially if you added the green coffee powder since that may settle.

• Add the pomegranate pearls, along with their liquid, into your cup first.

• Put equal amounts of the base and water (I use ½ cup of each) into an ice-filled shaker and shake really well to get it nice and frothy.

• Pour everything in the shaker over the pomegranate pearls, ice included.

• Taste the drink and adjust to your own preferences. If you want a sweeter drink, add more base. If you want a less sweet drink, add more water.

My first thought when I took a sip of this drink (both the Starbucks version and my copycat version) was "hello, green apple Jolly Rancher!" And I mean that in the best way possible.

It's sweet, tart, and exactly what you think of when you think green apple.

I do wish the pomegranate flavors were a little stronger, but they do bring in some slight holiday vibes.

And of course, the drink looks incredibly festive for the holiday season!

🥣 More ways to use base

Once you have the Green Apple Refresher base made, there's a lot you can do with it.

You can make a Snowy Apple Drink simply by mixing the base with sweetened coconut milk instead of water. This makes for an even more deliciously sweeter drink that's creamy and reminiscent of a winter's day.

You can also make an Apple Pomegranate Lemonade Refresher, which is just this base combined with lemonade instead of water. The lemonade adds both more tartness AND sweetness.

🎉 Variations on recipe

One of the fun things about making Starbucks drinks at home is that you can add any variations you want! This is such a simple drink, but here are some ways you can switch things up:

• Add a pinch of blue spirulina powder for an even more vibrantly green drink.
• Swap ¼ cup of the apple juice for white grape juice to add more sweetness and flavor dimensions.
• If you can't find pomegranate pearls, but want to keep those vibes, use fresh pomegranate arils instead.
• If you want even more pomegranate flavor, add a splash of pomegranate juice to the drink.
• Top the drink with some sweet cream cold foam. You can also swap the vanilla syrup to apple syrup or pomegranate syrup.
• If you want a less tart drink, use apple syrup in the Refresher instead of green apple syrup.
• Top the drink with prosecco for a festive holiday spritz.

⏲️ How to store

You can keep the Apple Refresher base in an airtight container in the fridge for about a week. Be sure to give it a good shake before using.

Wait to mix the drink up until you're ready to enjoy it.

🥤 More Starbucks Refreshers

I have lots of Starbucks Refreshers recipes on my blog, including the tried-and-true and the ones that were only on the menu for a fleeting moment.

Here are some of the discontinued drinks you can still make at home:

Of course, you can still get the classic Strawberry Acai Refresher and Mango Dragonfruit Refresher in-store or make them at home!

Despite its simplicity, I think this is going to be a very popular holiday drink at Starbucks. The green apple flavors are almost addictive and the popping pearls add even more fun.

This is the kind of drink you'll want to sip on long after the holiday season is over, so I hope you find my copycat recipe helpful!

📖 Recipe