This copycat

Jump to:
It's always a fun
Like with any Refresher launch, this means we're getting three new drinks: the standard Refresher, the coconut milk Refresher, and the lemonade Refresher.
And like with all new
The new Refresher is very easy to make with just a handful of ingredients.
😍 What is the Blackberry Sage Refresher?
According to the
While blackberry seems to be a popular and obvious choice for
For me, sage has fall vibes and is a traditional Thanksgiving herb. It's also a pretty divisive herb and some people really dislike it (one benefit of making an at-home version is that you can leave it out!).
In any event, this Refresher is pretty delicious. I find it to be sweeter than other Refreshers, but another great thing about making it at home is that you can control the level of sweetness in your own. Some people are even comparing it to the old retired Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher.
The coconut milk version of the Blackberry Sage Refresher is called the Midnight Drink and features a milky purple look.
🗒 Ingredients
Making the drink at home is pretty simple with a few ingredients. I do recommend making your own blackberry sage syrup, though you can also feel free to purchase a bottle of blackberry syrup and infuse it with sage yourself (or leave the sage out).
Starbucks actually incorporates the sage flavor into the drink via the freeze-dried berries, which are dusted with sage. So, if you're ordering from there, you can request the drink be made without the berry inclusions.
They also use a white grape juice concentrate for all of their Refresher bases, but I've done a lot of experimentation over the years with all of their new drink releases and find that it's not necessary for at-home drinks and that the white grape flavor often overshadows the other flavors in the drink.
But if you prefer to use the white grape juice base instead of the syrup, you can follow my recipe for the Strawberry Acai Refresher and replace the strawberries with 6 oz. of blackberries and omit the acai and passionfruit powders.
Here's everything you need to make the drink (be sure to view the recipe card at the bottom of this post for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions):
- Blackberry sage syrup: I share my recipe with you, but if you prefer, you can buy a bottle of blackberry syrup and infuse chopped sage into it.
- Water
- Citric acid: you can replace this with lemon juice if you prefer
- Green coffee extract: this is what adds caffeine to the Refresher and you can leave it out if you don't want any caffeine in yours.
- Freeze-dried blackberries
Here's what you need for the blackberry sage syrup:
- Water
- Granulated sugar
- Blackberries: if you can't find fresh, you can use frozen.
- Fresh sage
🫙 How to make blackberry sage syrup
The homemade blackberry sage syrup is easy to make and just requires a little time for the sage to infuse and for the syrup to cool.
To start, put water, sugar, and blackberries in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
Once boiling, lower heat and let mixture simmer for about 15 minutes until blackberries are softening and mixture has thickened.
Remove saucepan from heat and mix chopped sage into syrup. Cover saucepan and let sit to infuse sage flavor for about 15 minutes.
Strain the syrup into a bowl, pressing down on the blackberries with a wooden spoon or spatula to extract as much juice as possible.
Keep the syrup in the bowl or pour it into a mason jar and place it in fridge to cool completely before using. Syrup will continue to thicken as it cools.
The blackberry syrup is packed with fruity flavor and has just a touch of sage flavor. I love it because you can taste the sage, but it doesn't take over.
I have lots of recommendations for how to use blackberry syrup and the blackberry sage syrup can be used in all of the same ways.
👩🍳 How to make Refresher base
All
This copycat Blackberry Sage Refresher base consists of just the blackberry sage syrup, water, citric acid, and green coffee bean extract.
I used ¾ cup of the syrup and 1 ¼ cup water. This makes for a sweet Refresher (like the one from
Honestly, the drink is a bit too sweet for me, so I prefer to use less syrup in my base.
Just put the ingredients in a large jar or container and shake it up.
Refrigerate the base until you're ready to use it.
🥤 How to mix drink
And now that your base is made, you can easily mix up a Blackberry Sage Refresher whenever you want!
Just add about ½ cup blackberry sage base, ½ cup water, and ¼ cup freeze-dried blackberries to an ice-filled shaker. Shake well to combine.
And pour entire mixture, ice included, into a glass.
And take a sip of your homemade Blackberry Sage Refresher and marvel at how you can make this whenever you want right at home.
The drink is sweet with the perfect balance of fruitiness and sage.
The jury is still out on whether this will become a
🎉 Modifications
Of course, with any of
Here are some ideas:
- If this drink is too sweet for you, you can cut down on the amount of blackberry syrup you use in the base or you can use a higher water ratio in the drink.
- If you're not a fan of sage flavor, leave it out of the syrup.
- If you want to make the base with white grape juice, like
Starbucks does, I recommend following the process I use in my Strawberry Acai Refresher recipe. Make the base with 2 ¼ cups white grape juice and 6 ounces of blackberries. Let the sage infuse into the base once it's off the heat before straining.
- Leave out the green coffee extract powder if you don't care about having caffeine in your Refresher.
- If you don't have citric acid, you can add about a tablespoon of lemon juice instead. I do love the extra little zing citric acid gives the drink, but lemon juice will have a similar effect.
- If you don't have freeze-dried blackberries, you can use fresh blackberries or just leave them out all together. They do alter the color of the drink a bit, but since you're already using a blackberry syrup to make it, the color will be similar.
🍋 More ways to use base
Like with all Refresher drinks, three drinks are launched at once. And you can make all of them at home!
This Blackberry Sage Refresher is the base mixed with water.
But you can also make a Midnight Drink simply by mixing the base with sweetened coconut milk instead of water. This is a deliciously sweet and creamy drink idea, similar to the pink drink but with a purply-black "midnight" color.
You can also make a Blackberry Sage Lemonade, which is basically just this base combined with lemonade instead of water. If you don't think the Refresher is sweet enough, definitely try mixing the base with lemonade instead. It also adds a bit more tartness.
⏲️ How to store
I recommend storing the Refresher base in a large mason jar in your fridge. When stored properly, it should last about a week.
Which means you can make the base on a Sunday and mix up a Blackberry Sage Refresher whenever you want throughout the week.
And you can also easily double the base recipe; just make sure you have a large enough jar or container to keep it in. I recommend these 4 cup mason jars.
⚡️ Is there caffeine in Refreshers?
A lot of people think that because they're not made with coffee or tea,
The coffee shop uses green coffee bean extract to add caffeine and you can't order a Refresher drink caffeine-free since the extract is in the pre-made base.
But when you make the drink at home, you can simply leave the green coffee bean extract out of your base.
For reference, when ordered at
🍓 More Starbucks Refresher recipes
Over the years,
Here are some of my favorite
With the launch of Blackberry Sage, the Cran-Merry Orange Refresher has been removed from the menu. But you can still make the holiday Refresher at home all year long!
Refresher launches may just be my favorites and I can't wait to see what fruity flavors
In addition to the new Refreshers,
📖 Recipe

Blackberry Sage Refresher {Starbucks Copycat}
Ingredients
- ½ cup Blackberry Sage Base (recipe below)
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup freeze-dried blackberries
Blackberry Sage Base
- ¾ cup blackberry sage syrup (recipe below or store-bought with sage infused)
- 1 ¼ cup water
- ¾ teaspoon citric acid (can replace with 1 tablespoon lemon juice)
- ½ teaspoon green coffee extract optional (you can omit if you don't want caffeine in your Refresher)
Blackberry Sage Syrup
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 6 oz blackberries (one small container)
- 1 tablespoon chopped sage
Instructions
- Add about ½ cup blackberry sage base, ½ cup water, and ¼ cup freeze-dried blackberries to an ice-filled shaker. Shake well to combine.
- Pour entire mixture (ice included) into glass.
- Feel free to make alterations based on your sweetness preferences. Add less base/more water for a less sweet drink. You can also feel free to use less syrup in the base recipe if the drink is too sweet for you.
Blackberry Sage Base
- Add blackberry sage syrup, water, citric acid, and green coffee bean powder (if using) to a large jar or container. Shake well to combine and refrigerate until ready to use.
Blackberry Sage Syrup
- Put water, sugar, and blackberries in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, lower heat and let mixture simmer for about 15 minutes until blackberries are softening and mixture has thickened.
- Remove saucepan from heat and mix chopped sage into syrup. Cover saucepan and let sit to infuse sage flavor for about 15 minutes.
- Strain syrup into a bowl, pressing down on the blackberries with a wooden spoon or spatula to extract as much juice as possible.
- Keep syrup in bowl or pour into a mason jar and place in fridge to cool completely before using. Syrup will continue to thicken as it cools.
Notes
- The base recipe makes enough for about 4 full drinks if using ½ cup of base per drink.
- The base should keep in your fridge for about 1 week; the blackberry sage syrup should keep in your fridge for about a month.
- Mix base with lemonade for a sweeter, tart drink or mix with sweetened coconut milk for a Midnight Drink.
- If you prefer the white grape flavor, instead of making the syrup for the base, follow the base instructions in this post, but replace strawberries with 6 oz. blackberries and omit acai powder and passionfruit powder.
- Leave the sage out of the syrup if you don't like the flavor.
Comments
No Comments