This No Sugar Mango Dragonfruit Lemonade Refresher is light, fruity, and refreshing—without the extra sugar. Inspired by Starbucks, made simple and clean.
My first taste of the Starbucks Mango Dragon Fruit Lemonade was on one of my trips to Chicago. It was peak summer, and it was such a reprieve in the sweltering heat. We had just finished a tour of the “Bean” and gravitated to the Starbucks right across from it. It was so refreshing and I fell in love! What I don’t love, however, is the amount of sugar in it. And I knew I had to recreate it once I was back in Houston.
Why you’ll love this copycat recipe
No refined sugar and no controversial ingredients.
It has minimal, easy-to-find ingredients. Just four real food ingredients that are easy to find. If you live in the United States, Ahmed Tea and Good & Gather are available at most grocery stores and online. As is frozen dragonfruit.
It’s low-carb/keto-friendly, thanks to the monk fruit.
It’s cheaper. While I didn’t crunch the exact numbers, I do know that a tall dragonfruit refresher costs close to $5 at Starbucks. We need the tea bags, which cost $4-$5 for a pack of 20 teabags. The only other cost is for the frozen dragonfruit, which is another $5. However, the bag can give us many dragonfruit drinks.
The ingredients
Mango-flavored tea bag: Other copycat recipes on the internet have mango nectar and other high-carb ingredients, but since we are keeping it low-carb, I found mango-flavored tea bags and have tried both black and green tea with great results. The caffeine is minimal in both.
A word of caution:
Don’t steep the black tea bag for too long as it makes the drink bitter and strong. A quick 30 second steep is perfect.
Lemon juice. I juiced 1 big lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
Sweetener. To keep it low-carb, I used monk fruit.
Dragon fruit. Available frozen in chunks. This will give the beautiful magenta hue signature of the Starbucks Dragon fruit drinks.
How to make no-sugar mango dragon fruit lemonade
Brew the tea. Start by brewing the tea, add the sweetener, and stir to dissolve it completely. Let it cool.
Juice the lemon and add that to a tall glass. Add ice.
Combine the two. Add the tea to the glass of lemonade and stir to combine. Top with the dragonfruit chunks.
Faqs
A Starbucks refresher contains approximately 35 mg. According to the Ahmed Teas website, their mango tea contains around 60 mg, but the steeping time influences how much. Since we are only steeping the tea bag for 30 seconds and not the recommended 3-5 minutes, the caffeine content is going to be much lower.
If you use green tea, then the caffeine content will be lower as well.
The purple color comes from the frozen dragonfruit pieces.
Variations
If dragon fruit is hard to find where you live, you can use any other frozen berry, e.g., blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries. Since they can impart a similar color to the drink. The taste will change slightly, but not by much, as dragonfruit is pretty neutral tasting.
Storage
This drink is best enjoyed immediately, but you can make the lemonade tea mixture ahead of time and then garnish with the dragon fruit just before serving.
More refreshing drinks to try:
No Sugar Mango Dragon fruit Lemonade Refresher (Starbucks Inspired)
Ingredients
- 1 mango tea bag black or green
- 1 cup water
- 1 large lemon, juiced or 2 tablespoons juice
- 2 tablespoons monk fruit sweetener or to taste
- 1/2 cup frozen dragonfruit pieces See note 1
- ice
Instructions
- First, brew the tea, add the sweetener, stir to dissolve, and set it aside to cool.
- Juice the lemon and add it to a tall glass. Add ice about 1/2 way up the glass and then ass the cooled tea mixture. Stir to combine and then finally top with the frozen dragon fruit. Stir and taste and adjust as needed. Enjoy immedietely.
Notes
- If dragon fruit is hard to find where you live, you can use any other frozen berry, e.g., blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries. Since they can impart a similar color to the drink. The taste will change slightly, but not by much, as dragonfruit is pretty neutral tasting.
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