Why Is Everyone Talking About Refreshers? Here’s What a Refresher Actually Is

Sure, lemonade is a summer classic but capitalism shows no mercy towards your neighbor’s elementary school daughter and her budding lemonade stand. Little Sarah’s naive, budding entrepreneurial spirit doesn’t stand a chance against the crushing reality of marketing dollars and the trending fruity beverage of the year: the refresher. The what? Glad you asked. 

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What are refreshers?

Refreshers are a category of drinks featuring refreshing (duh) fruit flavor, vibrant colors, and the occasional gentle dose of caffeine. It’s a light beverage perfect for warm-weather months, managing to be a fancy-feeling drink without the sugar crash of soda or caffeine crash of coffee. They are also (and we cannot stress this enough) seriously very pretty.  

You know how a cartoon character gets really hungry and hallucinates a succulent ham? Refreshers are the kind of drink that you’d hallucinate if you were dehydrated on a desert island. 

Makers and baristas have creative license, but refreshers generally include a fruity flavor, a base like lemonade, water, or iced tea, light to mid sweetness, striking colors, and low or no caffeine. 

Where can I find refreshers?

Since its big corporate introduction to Starbucks in 2012, the field of refreshers has exploded. They’re available at big name coffee shops like Dunkin’, as well as fast-food and fast casual chains like Panera, Sonic, and now even McDonald’s just introduced refreshers to the menu. Check your local cafes, too! Everybody’s trying to get in on this tasty trend. No complaints here. 

What refresher flavors are there?

Dear friend, we love you. We want you to read our stuff. But we don’t have time for this. The exponential growth of the drink’s popularity has meant that a million places have them and each has their own line of options. Though there are a ton of delicious flavors, they have a few things in common: a fruity flavor base and a hydrating base. 

Within those, the possibilities are numerous. Popular Starbucks choices include strawberry acai, mango strawberry, and the infamous pink drink. You can choose a lemonade base or coconut milk base for even more customization. Dunkin’s popular choices include mango pineapple and strawberry dragonfruit, and Sonic’s offerings include berry citrus and mango peach. 

How much caffeine is in a refresher?

Refreshers don’t necessarily need to be caffeinated, but many of them are lightly buzzed up with green coffee extract or green tea. The amount of caffeine will vary wildly depending on where you get your refresher, the flavor, and size but, we shouldn’t expect another Panera lemonade mishap. For context, a 30oz standard refresher from Starbucks can have between 90 and 110 mg of caffeine, vs a 30oz cold brew coffee with 360mg of caffeine. If you’re drinking a 30oz drink, you’ll need all that caffeine just for all those trips to the bathroom.