Recipe: Starbucks Copycat Pink Drink Recipe

When our team was first introduced to the Starbucks “Pink Drink,” we became seriously hooked. But we knew deep in our hearts that the obsession couldn’t last: after all, at $4 each and more calories and sugar than we’d like, it wasn’t something we were going to do on a daily basis. So, we marched to the kitchen and decided to make our own Starbucks pink drink recipe!

And now we can enjoy this fruity summer beverage whenever we’d like since it’s super easy to make and has way fewer calories and sugar. Don’t worry, though, it’s just as delicious as the original.

How to Make A Starbucks Pink Drink

This recipe has gone through a couple of versions. The original recipe called for 32 ounces of water (brought to a boil) and one large Tazo-iced passion tea bag (hibiscus flowers, cinnamon, rose hips, and licorice root) to make a big batch of this pink drink recipe. Unlike a normal tea bag, these tea bags are strong enough for a whole pitcher of the drink. This is great for serving to a crowd or to make a big batch and refrigerate to sip on all week.

However, sometimes we just want to make one drink and do so in less than 5 minutes (no boiling required). AND we discovered the Tazo iced passion in concentrate form. That’s where the below version was born, which essentially takes all of the work out to make the tea.

For both versions, once you have your tea prepared (or purchased 🤪), you mix it with creamy coconut milk, a sweetener of your choice, sliced strawberries, and ice.

Here are the steps we like to use when making our pink drink recipe:

Fill the glass halfway full of ice and add several sliced strawberries to your glass
Pour in a big splash of coconut milk (or other milk of choice)
Add Tazo iced passion concentrate (or prepared tea, cooled)
Add homemade simple syrup or sweetener of choice
Add a straw, give a quick swirl and enjoy!

At under 70 calories per drink, it’s naturally caffeine-free (so you can drink it any time of day) and dairy-free.

Want to make it look even more official? Check out this darling reusable Starbucks cup.

Why Make The Starbucks Pink Drink Recipe At Home

It’s pretty simple: the Starbucks pink drink contains 140 calories and 24 grams of sugar, but this homemade version clocks in at under 70 calories and 9 grams of sugar. Plus, you’ll save lots of money!!

Pink Drink Recipe Sweeteners

For our pink drink recipe, you can do a couple of different sweetener options. Of course, you can make a traditional simple syrup by heating sugar and water together on the stove. Still, I like to make a very easy “simple syrup” by combining one packet of stevia with a few drops of hot water. The hot water helps it to dissolve before it goes into the drink; however, if you’d like to just add it directly into your pink drink, you can do so.

You could also mix sugar in the raw directly into your drink; however, we find that sugar tends to have difficulty dissolving into a cold drink. Other options are honey or agave.

Alternatively, you can skip any addition of sugar if you would like. The Tazo iced passion concentrate contains 8 grams of added sugar, and we’ve had this recipe skipping the stevia and thought it was delicious as well!