Sips of Summer

Starbucks incorporates spice, popping pearls into new seasonal drinks

Zosia Paciorek, Lancer Feed Asst. Editor In Chief

May 23, 2024

Officially releasing on April 16, Starbucks came out with their new Spicy Lemonade Refreshers: Spicy Dragonfruit (left), Spicy Strawberry (middle) and Spicy Pineapple (right). What makes these drinks unique is the addition of the Starbucks Spicy Chili Powder Blend which gives the drinks that hint of spice combined with the fruity, tropical flavor of the lemonade. (photo illustration by Zosia Paciorek)

To kick off summer, Starbucks released several new drinks including the Spicy Lemonade Refreshers and Summer-Berry refreshers.

These drinks caught my attention as they incorporate unusual elements. Specifically, I was interested in the addition of spice and heat to the new Spicy Lemonade Refreshers and the use of pearls in the Summer-Berry Refresher. As someone who enjoys tasting new flavors, I was eager to try the new drinks.

Summer Berry Refreshers

(Zosia Paciorek)

Original Summer-Berry Refresher

The original Summer Berry Refresher on the Starbucks menu is “a sweet summer blend of raspberry, blueberry and blackberry flavors, shaken with ice and poured over raspberry flavored pearls.” With this description, I expected the drink to taste extremely sweet and like fresh fruit. When I took my first sip of the drink, I was delighted with the fruitiness of the blue raspberry taste. It wasn’t sweet, but tangy, which I liked. I enjoyed the coolness of the ice pared with the tangy juiciness of the blue raspberry which made the overall taste very refreshing. The popping pearls provided a much-needed sweetness that balanced out the overall drink. The pearls were delicate and when popped in my mouth, would explode with a syrup-like raspberry flavor. What surprised me about the pearls was their unusually small size. I wish the pearls were slightly larger so they could have a larger kick of the raspberry syrup flavor that I enjoyed so much.

(Zosia Paciorek)

Summer-Berry Lemonade Refresher

However, I was not as delighted by the Summer-Berry Lemonade, which turned out to be my least favorite. This drink had the same ingredients as the regular Summer-Berry refresher. It still had the same blue raspberry syrup and raspberry popping pearls but incorporated sour lemonade into the mix. This made the flavors in the refresher to be overpowering, with an overly sour sting from the lemonade and a sugary punch that overpowered the delicate blue raspberry flavor that I enjoyed most. This made me think that I was just drinking a plain lemonade with popping pearls as the blue raspberry flavor was completely lost among the other flavors. As I chewed on the sugary raspberry pearls, the syrup flavor did not complement the sour lemonade at all. To me, the addition of lemonade was too overwhelming for my taste buds, and left me with a sugary after-taste in my mouth that made me want to water it down.

(Zosia Paciorek)

Summer Skies Refresher

Finally, the Summer Skies Refresher turned out to be my absolute favorite. This drink incorporated rich coconut milk. As someone who is not a big fan of coconuts, I was surprised at how I absolutely loved the blend of tangy blue raspberry and smooth coconut milk. This drink's taste reminded me of something I would buy at a summer festival or concert. Unlike the Summer-Berry Lemonade, this drink was mildly sweet and the flavor of the raspberry pearls were able to shine through as they popped. The vibrant light blue color of the drink also looks very visually appealing and truly does remind me of the sky.

Starbucks introduced the New Spicy Lemonade Refreshers on April 16 in three flavors: Spicy Dragonfruit, Spicy Peach and Spicy Strawberry. This release brings together the original sweetness of the Starbucks refreshers but adds a spicy new taste.

Spicy Lemonade Refreshers

(Zosia Paciorek)

Spicy Dragonfruit Lemonade Refresher

This drink combines mango and dragon fruit flavors, with lemonade and freeze-dried dragon fruit pieces, all mixed with Starbucks Spicy Chili Powder Blend for a spicy kick. Before trying this drink, I expected it to be overwhelmingly spicy. However, after taking my first sip, my mouth was filled with tropical fruity flavor, something I was definitely not expecting. Not long after, I felt a light tingle on my tongue coming from the chili powder. The chili was also sprinkled over the dragon fruit pieces so even when I bit into the dragon fruit chunks, I felt the heat. Even as someone who has very low spice tolerance, the heat wasn’t too intense. Sure, it did leave me with a little tingle on my tongue, but I wasn’t displeased with the taste it left.

(Zosia Paciorek)

Spicy Pineapple Lemonade Refresher

The second drink of this release is the Spicy Pineapple Refresher with Lemonade. This drink incorporated pineapple and passionfruit flavors with freeze-dried pineapple pieces and the Starbucks Spicy Chili Powder Blend. Like the previous lemonade, the first thing I noticed while trying this drink was the overpowering sweetness of the lemonade. However, the addition of pineapple made it more sour, contrasting nicely with the spicy aftertaste it left in my mouth. It's safe to say that out of all the spicy lemonades, pineapple complements the chili powder best. The taste reminded me of a fruity salsa with its sour tang and tingly aftertaste.

(Zosia Paciorek)

Spicy Strawberry Lemonade Refresher

Lastly, the Spicy Strawberry Refresher combines the flavors of strawberry, açaí and chili powder. Out of all the drinks in the release, this one had to be my least favorite. I disliked the artificially sweet taste of the strawberry that seemed to overpower the other flavors. Other drinks from this release like the dragonfruit and pineapple had a tropical taste, with a citrusy and tangy flavor to them. However, the flavor of strawberry to me felt artificial and too sweet, failing to mimic the subtly-sweet, juicy flavor of a real strawberry. This made the drink genuinely taste like drinking nasty medicine. Although I have always loved strawberry flavors in foods and drinks, Starbucks failed to blend the cool juiciness of a strawberry lemonade with the slight spice of chili powder. It even left a bad aftertaste in my mouth that ensured I won’t be drinking it again.

Although my opinions varied for each drink, I think overall, Starbucks made a good move by releasing the new refreshers and lemonades.

The Summer-Berry refreshers captured a good balance of subtle blue raspberry flavor while providing a kick of intense raspberry syrup through the popping pearls dissolving in my mouth for that sweet aftertaste. The Spicy Lemonades maintained the original tangy and sugary flavor of the tropical fruit but added chili pepper for that spicy kick that I tasted after.

If you’re looking for a new favorite Starbucks drink for the summer, I would definitely recommend giving these a try.

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About the Contributors

Zosia Paciorek, Lancer Feed Asst. Editor In Chief

As a member of StuPub, I get to pursue my writting passion and work with like-minded people. Being part of StuPub has taught me a lot about not just writing, but leadership skills, critical thinking, and being able to problem solve! Grade: Junior Pronouns: She/Her Years on Staff: 3 Hobbies: Tennis and music. Favorite Quote: “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”- Oscar Wilde

Maddy Cox, Lancer Feed Editor In Chief

I've always loved writing but it wasn't until I joined the newspaper staff that I developed a passion for journalistic newswriting. Sharing the stories of those too scared to share their own and breaking the news important to our community is an incredible feeling I am always pursuing. Grade: Senior Pronouns: She/Her Years on Staff: 3 Hobbies: Reading, writing, watching horror movies, playing with dogs and doom scrolling on any and all social media. Favorite Quote: "And as he stares into the sky, there are twice as many stars as usual." - Laura Gilpin's poem "Two-Headed Calf"

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