Blue Coconut Refresher {Starbucks Copycat}

This Starbucks Blue Coconut Refresher copycat is bright, tropical, and a stunning shade of blue that looks almost too pretty to drink. It's also one of the easiest drinks to make at home!

Jump to:

• 💙 Why this recipe works
• 🗒 Ingredients
• 🥥 Recipe tips
• 🎉 Variations on recipe
• ☕️ More Starbucks summer 2026 drinks
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

It's new Refresher time at Starbucks and in 2026, the coffee shop is all about the blue-hued drinks. Luckily, it's a natural color blue (thanks to blue spirulina powder!) and is incredibly tasty in this Blue Coconut Refresher just like it is in the Iced Blue Coconut Matcha.

The Blue Coconut Refresher is essentially a Strawberry Acai Refresher without the dried fruit inclusions with toasted coconut syrup and blue spirulina powder added to make it blue.

This made it a bit of a challenge for me to make at home since my Strawberry Acai Refresher recipe is red before adding the freeze-dried strawberries in (since I use fresh strawberries to make it).

I briefly considered using my white cranberry strawberry juice shortcut, but I feared even that was too pink to result in a blue drink once I added the spirulina powder. So, I came up with a new easy formulation that resulted in a beautiful blue drink packed with all the fruity flavors!

💙 Why this recipe works

White grape juice is used: white grape juice concentrate is used in the base of most Starbucks Refreshers and while I don't think it always works in the at-home versions, it does in the Strawberry Acai Refresher lineup and brings in that lightly sweet, slightly tart base. It's also white/clear, which allows the blue color to shine!

Syrups can be purchased or made from scratch: this Refresher has both strawberry and toasted coconut flavor and you can either make my homemade strawberry syrup and homemade toasted coconut syrup from scratch or simply purchase bottles of them.

Blue hue is from natural blue spirulina powder: I love that the blue color isn't achieved through artificial dyes at Starbucks and blue spirulina powder is also easy to purchase and use at home!

Optional caffeine add-in: some people love that Refreshers have caffeine, but some would prefer they didn't. The caffeine is added via green coffee extract powder and you can either add it or leave it out in this recipe.

Easy to whip up: once you have all the ingredients, this drink is so quick and easy to make by basically just putting everything in a shaker and combining with ice. Which means you can enjoy one whenever a craving hits.

🗒 Ingredients

Here's everything you need to make a copycat Starbucks Blue Coconut Refresher (be sure to view the recipe card at the bottom of this post for ingredient amoutns and full recipe instructions):

• White grape juice
• Water
• Strawberry syrup: you can either use store-bought syrup or homemade with the recipe linked.
• Toasted coconut syrup: you can either use store-bought syrup or homemade with the recipe linked. If you can't find toasted coconut syrup, regular coconut syrup will also be just fine.
• Acaí powder: if you can't find this, you can omit it as it simply adds the subtle acaí flavor in the drink.
• Blue spirulina powder
• Green coffee extract powder: you can omit this if you don't want caffeine in your drink.
• Freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Ice

🥥 Recipe tips

• Add the liquids and powders to your shaker and shake well without the ice first. This is important for getting the acai powder and spirulina powders (and green coffee extract if using) fully dissolved. If you skip this step, you may end up with powder clumps.

• Then you can add the ice and shake well again! The ice will chill the drink and create a slightly frothy, aerated top.

• Taste the Refresher and adjusted it to your own taste. If you want a sweeter or fruitier drink, you can add a little more strawberry syrup. If it's too sweet, add a bit more water. If you want it more tart, add an extra squeeze of lemon.

The Blue Coconut Refresher is such a simple drink, but somehow it's also pretty perfect for summer! It's light, fruity, and tropical, with a sweet berry coconut flavor and a slightly tart finish from the lemon.

The blue spirulina doesn't add any noticeable flavor; it's really just there for color. And it certainly delivers!

This is the kind of drink your kids will love as much as you because what kid isn't obsessed with blue foods and drinks?? And with no artificial dye, this one is a huge win.

🎉 Variations on recipe

Starbucks customers are already making this drink in tons of different ways at the coffee shop. And you can do the same thing at home! Here are some fun variation ideas:

• Make it extra coconut-y: add a splash of coconut water in place of some of the regular water for an extra refreshing drink.

• Top with a cold foam: top the drink with a simple coconut cold foam for a creamier, more indulgent version of the Refresher.

• Amplify the tropical flavors: add a splash of pineapple juice (or pineapple syrup) and replace the lemon juice with lime juice for even more of a tropical vibe.

• Make it bubbly: top off the drink with a little sparkling water to give this Refresher some fun fizz.

• Turn it into a pitcher drink: multiply all the ingredients by however many servings you need, mix the liquid base in a pitcher, and let guests shake their own portions with ice.
  
• Starbucks also makes a lemonade version of this drink and a coconut milk version of the drink (The Ocean Drink). Just swap the water in this recipe with lemonade or coconut milk to make your own.

This Blue Coconut Refresher is a great alternative to the Sonic Ocean Water copycat (which uses blue dye) as it's naturally colored and has added fruity flavor.

I guess it's the summer of blue coconut drinks over here!

☕️ More Starbucks summer 2026 drinks

I've been having a blast creating copycat recipes for all of the Starbucks summer 2026 drinks. Here's what's new to the menu for the year:

And sure to check out all my Starbucks copycat recipes... I have A LOT!

Do you have a favorite Starbucks summer drink?

Let me know if there's a drink you want to see a copycat recipe for here!

And if you make this one, I'd love to see it. Tag me [@wearenotmartha] on Instagram!

📖 Recipe