Butterfly Drink {Starbucks Copycat}

The Butterfly Drink is the coconut milk version of the Starbucks summer 2026 Tropical Butterfly Refresher, with a creamy passionfruit-guava base, tropical popping pearls, and a stunning butterfly pea flower layer on top. This easy homemade version comes together in just a few minutes!

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why this recipe works
• 🗒 Ingredients
• 🦋 Recipe tips
• ⏲️ How to store
• 🥭 Other ways to use base
• 🥥 More coconut milk Refresher recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

Are you all in on the Starbucks Butterfly Refresher craze yet? I was thrilled to share with you how easy the Tropical Butterfly Refresher is to make at home.

And now I'm bringing you the easy Butterfly Drink copycat recipe!

This is the coconut milk version of the summer 2026 Refresher (like the Pink Drink is to the Strawberry Acai Refresher and the Dragon Drink is to the Mango Dragonfruit Refresher).

It's packed with tropical flavor and incredibly sweet and creamy. The Butterfly Drink is likely going to be the drink of the summer at Starbucks!

❤️ Why this recipe works

It's quick to make with easy-to-find ingredients: the base and infusion both take just a few minutes to throw together and you can find every ingredient online (most at your regular grocery store). Once your components are ready, the actual drink comes together in 5 minutes.

You get creamy tropical summer vibes: swapping water for sweetened coconut milk makes this richer, sweeter, and creamier than the standard Refresher. If you're a Pink Drink or Dragon Drink fan, this is likely to be your new favorite.

The blue butterfly pea flower layer still floats on top: it took me a little testing to get this right, but I learned that mixing the butterfly pea flower infusion with a little coconut milk keeps this layer opaque and pretty against the peachy passionfruit-guava base.

You can make all the components ahead of time: the passionfruit-guava base keeps in the fridge for about a week, and so does the butterfly pea flower infusion. This makes it easy to enjoy a refreshing drink whenever you crave one! Both components can also be used for the standard Tropical Butterfly Refresher, too.

Caffeine is optional: you can add green coffee extract powder to the base if you want it and leave it out if you don't.

I offer simple substitutions: pineapple boba can be tough to track down, so I've included swaps that get you the same tropical flavor.

🗒 Ingredients

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

For the Passionfruit-Guava Base:

• Passionfruit syrup: I use store-bought, but hope to bring you a homemade recipe soon!
• Guava nectar: if you're purchasing this in the grocery store, look near the juices, often in the international aisle.
• Freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Water
• Green coffee bean extract: optional if you want caffeine in your drink

For the butterfly pea flower infusion:

• Dried butterfly tea flowers
• Hot water

For the finished drink:

• Mango boba and pineapple boba: also known as popping pearls. If you can't find pineapple boba, pineapple juice or pineapple syrup work as a substitute.
• Sweetened coconut milk: be sure to get the kind in the carton and not the can. If you want a less sweet drink, you can use unsweetened.

🦋 Recipe tips

• Start by steeping your butterfly pea flowers in hot water, since the infusion needs to cool before going into the drink. Steep for 10 minutes to get the deepest blue color.

• The base is the easiest part of the drink (and SO much easier than most of my other Refresher recipes). Passionfruit syrup, guava nectar, lemon juice, and water shaken together in a mason jar and that's it. Double the batch if you plan to make drinks all week.

• If you want caffeine in your Refresher, add the green coffee extract directly to the base.

• Want a less sweet drink? Cut the passionfruit syrup back to about ⅓ cup and increase the water in the base. The coconut milk also adds some sweetness on its own and this tastes much sweeter than the standard Refresher.

• In my experience, mango popping pearls are much easier to find than pineapple. So, if you can't get pineapple, just use all mango and then add 1-2 tablespoon of pineapple juice into the shaker when you're mixing the base and water. Alternatively, you can add 1-2 teaspoon pineapple syrup to the base (start with less since syrup is sweeter).

• The key difference from the regular Refresher version (aside from mixing the base with coconut milk instead of water) is that you need to mix the butterfly pea flower infusion with a little bit of coconut milk before layering it on top. The coconut milk gives the topper that pretty pastel blue-lavender look (instead of the deep indigo) and helps it float more reliably. I made this quite a few times until I got it to look like it does when you order it at Starbucks!

• After I shake my passionfruit-guava base and coconut milk together, I pour it over the boba and then put the remaining coconut milk and butterfly infusion into the shaker,

• To layer the blue/purple topper, hold a spoon upside down right at the surface of the drink and slowly pour the coconut-butterfly mixture over the back of it. This is the trick to getting it to sit on top instead of sinking.

• If your topper isn't turning purple as much as you want it to, stir a tiny bit of lemon juice into it. The acid is what triggers the color change. But be careful you don't add too much as lemon juice and coconut milk can curdle.

• If you don't care about the layered look, you can actually skip the butterfly pea flower infusion entirely. It doesn't add any flavor, so the drink tastes exactly the same. But it does look incredible, so I say you should try it out!

Don't you love a pretty layered drink? Starbucks obviously launched these new Refreshers because they knew they'd be a hit on visual platforms like Instagram.

But luckily, they're also really tasty and bring lots of fun summer vibes! The coconut milk version of this Refresher certainly makes this even more tropical.

Lots of Starbucks fans are disappointed the shop won't be bringing back the Summer-Berry Refresher and Summer Skies Drink, but I do think the Butterfly drinks are a fun substitute.

⏲️ How to store

This Butterfly Drink is best made right before you want to drink it. The longer it sits, the more the layers blend together (still pretty, but you lose the dramatic effect).

That said, you can keep the passionfruit-guava base and the butterfly pea flower infusion in separate airtight containers in the fridge for about a week. That way you can throw a drink together in 5 minutes whenever you want.

🥭 Other ways to use base

Once you have the passionfruit-guava base in your fridge, you have lots of options:

Tropical Butterfly Refresher: mix the base with water (not coconut milk) for the standard Refresher version.

Tropical Butterfly Lemonade Refresher: mix the base with lemonade for a sweet, tart twist. You can also order this one right off the menu at Starbucks.

Cocktail version: add a splash of vodka, white rum, or coconut rum for a tropical summer cocktail. It's basically a vacation in a glass.

You can also feel free to add additional syrups (vanilla, mango, etc.) to the drink. Or juice like peach juice.

🥥 More coconut milk Refresher recipes

If you love a creamy, tropical Starbucks drink, you'll want to bookmark these coconut milk Refresher recipes, too:

And I have A LOT more where those came from! Be sure to check out all my Starbucks copycat recipes for coffee, juices, tea, and more.

The Butterfly Drink might just be the prettiest coconut milk Refresher Starbucks has ever served up.

And making it at home means you can have one whenever you want without leaving your house.

Have you tried the Butterfly Drink at Starbucks yet? Let me know what you think in the comments!

📖 Recipe