Skip the line at your local Starbucks and get your fix of tropical flavor right at home with this copycat Starbucks dragon drink recipe! Only three easy ingredients are needed for this refreshing combination of mango flavor and creamy coconut.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Easy copycat recipe: This is legitimately the easiest recipe you'll find to make a dragon drink at home.
- No hunting down ingredients! Only three easy to find ingredients... plus some ice.
- Fun for kids! So easy to make, even a 9-year-old can make it!
- No caffeine!
If you love this Starbucks copycat recipe, don't miss out on this similar copycat pink drink recipe!
What is a Dragon Drink?
The Dragon Drink is a popular iced drink found on the Starbucks menu. According to Starbucks website, it's a tropical-inspired drink crafted with refreshing combination of sweet mango and dragonfruit flavors that's hand-shaken with creamy coconut milk, ice, and a scoop of real diced dragonfruit.
We've taken this inspiration and made our own homemade version. It's one of the easiest Starbucks drinks to make at home and tastes great too!
The Most Simple Ingredients
- Cran-Mango Juice: We find using Ocean Spray Cranberry Mango juice, the store brand is also fine, is the easiest and most cost effective way to make this drink at home. While it's not the same white grape juice base that Starbucks uses, it tastes very similar to the original dragon drink and eliminates the need to buy a bunch of different ingredients.
The main ingredient in the Starbucks mango dragonfruit refreshers base is white grape juice, which is what gives it that tangy flavor. Cran-Mango juice is a combination of cranberry juice, mango juice, and apple juice; which still has plenty of sweetness and tang. - Coconut Milk: You can use sweetened or unsweetened coconut milk. Starbucks uses sweetened, but we find this drink is plenty sweet even when using unsweetened coconut milk. We used the coconut milk beverage from the dairy-free milks section, not canned coconut milk.
- Frozen Dragon Fruit: I have not tried this recipe with fresh dragon fruit, but fresh pink dragon fruit would also work.
- Ice cubes
*Refer to the recipe card for full ingredient information.
Ingredient Substitutions and Notes:
- If you can't find cran-mango juice, you can substitute with a combination of white grape juice and mango juice or mango nectar.
- Freeze-dried dragon fruit pieces: The Starbucks "inclusions" are freeze dried dragon fruit pieces. I could not find these at any local grocery store, so that's why we used frozen dragon fruit pieces. If you happen to find freeze dried dragon fruit, you can feel free to use them.
- Freeze-dried dragon fruit powder: Similarly, some recipes call for dragonfruit powder. This ingredient is pretty hard to find locally and not really necessary to make the drink purple.
- You can add a pump of simple syrup if you'd like to make this drink a bit sweeter.
- Green coffee powder: If you really want that kick of caffeine, feel free to add a small amount of green coffee powder to your drink.
- Other milks: you can use any milk of your choice. Keep in mind you will not have the coconut flavor if you do not use coconut milk.
Equipment
To make this drink you'll need a cocktail shaker or a mason jar with a tight fitting lid.
Does the Dragon Drink Have Caffeine?
The original dragon drink from Starbucks contains caffeine. The caffeine comes from green coffee bean extract or natural green coffee flavor and amounts to about 45mg of caffeine in the Grande (16 ounce) size.
This copycat recipe contains no green coffee extract, green coffee bean powder, and no caffeine at all. It is the perfect option for those limiting caffeine or for kids to enjoy!
How to Make the Dragon Drink
- Add cran-mango juice to a jar.
- Followed by coconut milk.
- Add ice.
- Top off with a few dragon fruit pieces.
- Secure the shaker lid and shake the drink. The more you shake, the more bright pink color you will get.
- That's it! Pop in a straw and enjoy your tropical drink!
Storage
Store leftover coconut milk and cran-mango juice in the refrigerator; dragon fruit pieces in the freezer. I do not recommend making this drink in advance and keeping it in the refrigerator. It's best freshly made.
Expert Tips
- For the best results, make this drink and enjoy it immediately!
- The coconut milk may appear to curdle when you pour it into the juice. This is normal and will go away when shaken.
- The more you shake, the more color you'll get out of the frozen dragon fruit. Shake a little and you'll have a light pink drink, shake it some more and you'll end up with a deep violet drink, just like the real deal!
Recipe FAQs
The ingredients in the Starbucks dragon drink are as follows: ice, mango dragonfruit refreshers base [water, sugars (sugar, white grape juice concentrate), natural flavors, citric acid, natural green coffee flavor, rebaudiside-a], coconutmilk [water, coconut cream, cane sugar, contains 2% or less of tricalcium phosphate, coconut water concentrate, sea salt, natural flavors, xanthan gum, gellan gum, corn dextrin, guar gum, vitamin a palmitate, and vitamin d2], freeze dried dragonfruit pieces.
The Starbucks Dragon Drink has a tropical taste, featuring a strong mango flavor with hints of coconut. The dragon fruit adds to the vibrant color but does not bring out distinct dragon fruit flavors.
Technically speaking, the Starbucks dragon drink does not contain any gluten-ingredients. Although, if you are highly sensitive to gluten, cross-contact could be an issue because these drinks are prepared in a shaker that may not be washed before each use. To avoid this issue, you can ask for the drink to be prepared directly in the cup or for the shaker to be washed before use. Read more about gluten-free menu items at Starbucks in this informative article.
More Starbucks Copycat Recipes
I have a growing collection of copycat Starbucks recipes, with a little bit of everything from syrups to bakery treats. Here are a few of my favorites!
Recipe
Starbucks Dragon Drink Copycat Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup Cran-Mango juice
- ½ cup Coconut milk
- ½ cup ice cubes
- ¼ cup frozen dragon fruit pieces
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker or a jar with a tight fitting lid.
- Shake well; until desired color is reached.
- Serve and enjoy immediately.
Nutrition
* Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and should be used as an estimate only. See the nutrition policy for more information.
Kathy says
Looks so tasty!! Thanks.