I got my dog fixed on my birthday.
It’s a glamorous life. Try not to be too jealous.
Because Frijole is a rescue dog (although some folks would argue that his inclusion in the dog category is in doubt considering he’s half daschund half chihuahua), we were invited to bring him to a free spay and neuter clinic about two hours from home. “Free” is one of my favourite words, so I grabbed the leash, the understandably unexcited dog, a cup of tea and set out at six in the morning on a Sunday to drop my pup off for ye olde snip-snip.
After depositing the dog (and a surprise attack of tears when leaving my sweet wittle puppykins in the arms of those strangers) I drove into town a little further and found the Holy Grail, Nirvana, Kismet, Shangrila…
I found Barnes and Noble in Elmira, New York.
Since it was my birthday, I gave myself permission to go a little wacky in the bookstore. Aside from living in a library, this is my idea of the ultimate in fun. I felt like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music. I walked in, twirled around with my arms in the air, and sang (in my head.)
I walked up aisles. I walked down them. I tucked into ill-lit corners with piles of books by authors of whom I’d never heard. I sniffed new books.* I scoured the clearance and mark-down books. When I tell you I spent hours, I mean it.
When all was said and done, I carried my teetering stack of books to the register. While the clerk was scanning, scanning, scanning, I glanced at the time and realized I still had a couple of hours to go before I could pick up my now frijole-less Frijole. A glance to my right showed the semi-ubiquitous Barnes and Noble Starbucks, so I paid and scooted over there to spend a little air-conditioned time admiring my new acquisitions.
*Please tell me someone else loves the smell of books…
There are a couple of impulse buy food words that get me every time; citrus, lemon, lime, orange, berry and hibiscus. Lo and behold, Starbucks had a little something called a Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher. I was all over that like my kids on chips. I ordered one at the counter and they asked, “Can we make that a venti?” I am not a Starbucks veteran, so I had NO IDEA what that meant, but I wanted to be agreeable, so I said yes. Heck. It was my birthday.
I watched while she mixed up my refresher, took it back to the table, took a sip and did what any self-respecting blogger does when she likes something. I posted a picture on instagram. Then? Then I did what any self-respecting member of my family would do. I vowed to learn to make it myself because at that point, I had learned what venti meant. It meant EXPENSIVE.
With the justification, “It’s for research!” singing in my head, I ordered a second venti Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher while tucking an information card in my pocket and asking the poor gal what went into the drink. She said “Green Coffee Extract, this hibiscus mix stuff, dried berries, water and ice”. All that was left was for me to slurp my drink, call my sister to tell her how she needed to try one, pick up my drugged and tender puppy and drive home for my annual birthday fried chicken extravaganza.
Being cheap (and living a couple hours from the nearest Starbucks) is a marvelous recipe development motivator. I ordered green coffee beans from Amazon.com, busted out my stash of dried hibiscus flowers and freeze dried berries and set myself to experimentation.
I opted to make my green coffee extract using cold extraction. This sounds far more difficult than it actually is. In short, grind unroasted coffee beans, cover with water, let it set in the refrigerator overnight then strain it. Ta da! Yes. It truly is that simple. I make a quart at a time, so I can have this whenever cravings strike.
While researching green coffee beans, I found out that green coffee is currently the golden child of the diet scene. Evidently, taking green coffee extract (in any form) jacks up your metabolism so that -all other things remaining the same- you metabolize your food more completely and therefore lose weight. Who knew?
Because cold brewing/extraction is a gentler process, I used my beloved new Krups coffee grinder/spice mill from BigKitchen to break the beans up just a bit. I didn’t need to obliterate them like you would for a regular cuppa joe, just break them open a little. Can we talk about why I love this grinder for just a moment? My husband is the coffee drinker in the house. I’m a tea drinker. For years, our coffee grinder has been ‘his’. I borrowed it once -just once!- to grind some spices and we both ended up unhappy with the results. My cumin tasted like coffee and his coffee tasted like cumin. The rest of my spice and herb grinding took place in the pestle and mortar. Sigh. This new grinder is mine, MINE I TELL YA, and it will never have a roasted coffee bean in it as long as it lives. The green coffee beans don’t count because they don’t have that strong flavour, aroma, etc… that you find in roasted beans. Additionally, green coffee contains about one-fifth of the caffeine of its roasted counterpart. This probably accounts for why I can drink it without having to be scraped from the ceiling.
So why do all this? Hibiscus and berries are bright and fresh and naturally vibrant pink and full of vitamins and minerals. Green coffee is a metabolism booster and makes you feel energetic without feeling strung out. Put them together with ice and water and you have a truly refreshing drink.
If you have a Starbucks lover in your life, a jar each of the hibiscus syrup and green coffee extract in a basket with a couple bags of the freeze-dried berries would make a wonderful gift!
Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher Clone (Starbucks Knockoff) | Make Ahead Monday
Rate RecipeIngredients
For the Green Coffee Extract:
- 1 quart cold water
- 1/4 pound green coffee beans unroasted
For the Hibiscus Simple Syrup:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 cup dried hibiscus flowers
To Make a Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher Clone:
- 2 cups of ice cubes
- 1 tablespoon green coffee extract
- 1-4 tablespoons hibiscus simple syrup to taste
- 2 tablespoons freeze-dried berries
- 2 cups water
Instructions
To Make the Green Tea Extract:
- Add the beans to a scrupulously clean spice or coffee grinder, pulse the grinder about 10 times just to break up the beans a little. Empty the beans into a half-gallon glass canning jar or another similarly sized container with a tight fitting lid. Pour the cold water over the beans, fix the lid in place and shake a couple of times to make sure it is all good and distributed. Stash in the refrigerator overnight to extract.
- After it has soaked for at least 8 hours, line a fine-mesh sieve with a coffee filter or a piece of cheesecloth positioned over a pitcher. Shake the green coffee and water mixture one more time and pour it through the lined sieve. Transfer the strained liquid to a jar (it should fit into a quart jar) and store in the refrigerator for up to a month, using as desired.
To Make the Hibiscus Simple Syrup:
- Add hibiscus flowers, sugar, and water to a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium high heat. Stir frequently to dissolve the sugar and bring to a boil. As soon as the mixture boils, turn off the heat and add a lid to the pan. Let it steep for at least 20 minutes, but not more than 40 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth or a coffee filter into a canning jar or pitcher. Store in the refrigerator in a tightly lidded jar or other stain-proof container. Hibiscus syrup WILL stain!
To Make a Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher Clone:
- Add 2 cups of ice to a quart canning jar. Pour the green coffee extract and hibiscus syrup over the ice, add the freeze-dried berries and pour the water over everything else. Fix the lid tightly in place and shake vigorously for about 25 seconds. Pour into a pretty glass and sip. Heck, gulp if you want to gulp! This is good stuff and it's good for you!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Reader's Thoughts...
Sharon says
In the recipe it’s called green tea extract- then it’s calling for green coffee beans? I’m confused? Help!
For the Green Coffee Extract:
1 quart cold water
1/4 pound green coffee beans unroasted
Make the Green Tea Extract:
Add the beans to a scrupulously clean spice or coffee grinder, pulse the grinder about 10 times just to break up the beans a little. Empty the beans into a half-gallon glass canning jar or another similarly sized container with a tight fitting lid. Pour the cold water over the beans,
Rebecca says
Hi Sharon- You make the green coffee extract from the green beans and water. I’m sorry for any confusion! Once you’ve infused the green coffee beans into the water, that’s your extract. 🙂
BBByrd says
How much caffeine is in this drink?
Rebecca says
Hi BBByrd. Unfortunately, I have no idea how much caffeine is in this drink. I’m sorry I can’t help you more!
Kathleen Mangan says
I used Ethiopian coffee beans. Are there better varieties. Doesn’t taste in these amounts exactly like Starbucks
Rebecca says
Hi Kathleen- Let me ask my local coffee bean expert and get back to you. 🙂 He can give me the word on what type of green coffee beans you might like best. 🙂
Ariel Mathews says
I wish I’d known that green coffee tastes super gross and has this almost cumin-like aftertaste that’s really tough to deal with. I wanted to save some money and cut down on my plastic use from starbucks by making it at home, but it tastes gross. Nothing like the Starbucks version 🙁
Rebecca says
It may be that you got a bum bag of beans, Ariel. I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you!
Jackie says
Was the billion page long story of your life really necessary ?
Rebecca says
It was absolutely, incontrovertibly, 100%, indispensably necessary.
(P.S. You’re publicly complaining about a recipe that I paid/spent my time to develop and give you for free on a website I pay to maintain on the internet. Even if you’re not thankful, you can at least exhibit good enough sense to use the “Jump to Recipe” button [also provided!] and just not say anything.)
Gabrielle says
Identical to the one at Starbucks. A+!
Rebecca says
Thanks so much, Gabrielle!!
Sam says
Funny read and informative! I am excited to try this at home since this is my favorite drink!
Rebecca says
Thanks, Sam! I hope you like the homemade version, too! Tinker around a bit in order to make it like your favourite. 🙂
Gennai Henning says
Do you think it would taste the same with fresh berries?
Shanna says
The Starbucks Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher was awful. I love most of your stuff but this one was a major fail. It tasted nothing like Starbucks-all I could taste was the green coffee which in itself is disgusting. I’m sorry, will not be making again.
Lorraine Roberts says
I tried the Starbucks version and OH MY WORD!! GOOD BUT EXPENSIVE!!!! so I tried this and SLAM BAM THANK YOU, MA’AM, perfect!!! Thanks so much!!!
Rebecca says
HA! I’m so glad you liked it, Lorraine!
stephanie says
HELP! I followed this recipe to the letter, and it tastes nothing like Starbucks VBHR. I ordered high quality green coffee beans, and hibiscus flowers. Has anyone had better or same results? Thanks.
Rebecca says
Tinker with your proportions a bit, Stephanie! You may want more coffee syrup or more hibiscus syrup for your own tastes!
Rose Mettler says
How much hibiscus flowers
Rebecca says
Hi Rose- I’ve updated the recipe to read 1/2 cup Hibiscus flowers!
Melissa says
You may have just saved me (carry the 7, multiply by 12) a gazillion dollars! Im obsessed with how – you know – REFRESHING – these drinks are and since the safeway starbucks is literally 5 blocks from me this Hibiscus Habit is getting a little out of control. Thank you thank you thank you!
Also, you’re writing is just fantastic. Getting a kick out of every paragraph!
Gayle Bauer says
Could I substitute Torani Hibiscus Syrup instead of making my own? And because I cannot have caffeine, what can I use to substitute for the green coffee extract?
Rebecca says
Hi Gayle- I’m not sure how to make this completely decaffeinated. There may be decaf green beans on the market! And I haven’t tested it with Torani Hibiscus Syrup, so again, I’m afraid I’m not much help. I’d love to hear your results if you give it a go, though!
Jennifer says
I’m spreading your recipe around to a couple of friends looking to quit Diet Coke. Have the ingredients in my amazon cart and am READY TO GO. I was very pleased to see how much “stuff” I could get to make these for a small amount of money. Had forgotten all about this until I walked past a sale tag on the Refreshers Via tubes the other day. What kind of berries did you end up using? I’m going to look for blueberries, most likely. We can use those in our camping oatmeal packs too.
CB says
I totally agree with Lyndsay above. I spent $50 ($30 on the beans and $20 on the hibiscus) and it turned out horrible. I added tons of sugar because I like things sweet, but it in no way resembled the refresher. The green coffee bean extract has a disgusting flavor and the hibiscus syrup did not remind me of the refresher at all. Sorry to be a debbie downer, but I thought I’d share my experience as a cautionary tale for others.
Rebecca says
I didn’t spend anywhere near that kind of money on the beans (what variety did you buy? That may have had something to do with the dislike of the green coffee extract), and the hibiscus is good for other things… Don’t give up hope. The green bean coffee extract by itself is not palatable. That’s for sure… You’re not supposed to use much of it in the refresher and I found that 1 tablespoon diluted by the hibiscus syrup and water disguised the flavour of the extract. If you still found it present, you can reduce that even further. And I did mention in the post that it was slightly different. It’s bound to be since it doesn’t have beet sugar which is what Starbucks uses to sweeten and colour theirs. If you’d like it to be even closer, try adding beet sugar.
I’m sorry you didn’t like it, but I still enjoy it. I guess this is not my ‘please them all’ moment.
CB says
Very true! I’m sitting at Starbucks right now drinking a refresher and it’s sooooo good! I wonder if the real flavor is just the white grape juice, though. When they first served it to me this morning, it tasted watery, so I asked for more of “whatever gives it flavor.” She pulled out a white carton of magical mystery juice, and when she poured it into my refresher, it was the exact color of white grape juice. Is there only a token amount of hibiscus syrup in the real thing? Or is the hibiscus syrup somehow yellowish?
I got my coffee beans from Amazon, but it was a really big bag (I was planning on loving the recipe and making it often). It was actually the specialty drink at a party I threw on Saturday and it went over really well. It was great because my pregnant friend and her toddler could both enjoy it, and some of the guys put Malibu in it and loved it. I will keep trying! And you’re right that it needs only a very tiny bit of the coffee bean extract.
Rebecca says
So I guess maybe it wasn’t so horrible and disgusting? 🙂 Tinker with your proportions and I’m confident you’ll like it. Replace the water with white grape juice. Maybe that’ll be closer to what you like.
CB says
I will. Thank you!
Apryl says
Liked both Foodie with Family & BigKitchen on Facebook. Unfortunately I do not maintain anything Twitter. I found an article on BigKitchen that was helpful in my current canning endeavors. Always learning…