Cool Down: 10 Unique Shaken Summer Drinks! 

It’s August. It’s hot. I’ve got 10 cool, shaken summertime Starbucks drinks for you to beat the heat with! All 10 drinks are variations of either iced tea beverages or Refreshers. I hope to show you that you can really play around with customization and make some fun, refreshing beverages! Once in a while, I’ll meet customers who don’t realize you can customize a drink. I hope this article inspires you to experiment with your favorite hot-weather Starbucks beverage!

All of these beverages are shaken.

Thank you to the partners who helped me come up with these drink ideas, especially Milaine at the Starbucks at 130th and Aurora, who single-handedly came up with the majority of these ten beverages. Credit for two of the beverages (Strawberry Acai with Coconut Milk, and Strawberry Acai with Black Tea) goes to David, Dimari, and Billy at the Westlake Center Starbucks.

Iced Green Tea with Coconut Syrup:

This is a shaken iced green tea with no classic, and instead, substitute coconut syrup. Keep in mind that coconut syrup is seasonal, so you might not be able to order this drink as summer comes to an end.

My receipt shown here says it was the iced green tea lemonade with coconut syrup, but I’m sure it was just iced green tea. This drink was surprisingly good!

Black Tea Lemonade with Peach Syrup:

Here we have a grande shaken black tea lemonade with no classic syrup, and instead substitute peach syrup.

This one was a little too sweet for me, but I’ve heard some baristas say that peach syrup has its devoted following. Peach is also a seasonal syrup.

Shaken Refreshers and Lemonade with Floating Passion Tea:

I almost don’t know what to call this drink. This was definitely a barista creation. It certainly looks cool and it was delicious. The barista adds lemonade to the first line of the cup, very berry hibiscus refresher to the second line, and then cool lime refresher to the third line. Those three components are shaken together.

A splash of passion tea is poured atop the three shaken components. Somehow, the passion tea is a little bit lighter than the rest of the drink and so it will float on top for a while before mixing in with the rest of the drink. At least, I think that’s why it doesn’t immediately mix with the rest of the drink. Delicious and one of the best looking drinks I tried! Order this one without any inclusions.

Green Tea Lemonade with Mango:

For this drink, order a shaken green tea lemonade, and ask for no classic, substitute mango syrup. This is a sweet refreshing drink.

Mango is a seasonal syrup, and so it probably will be gone from stores by some point in the fall.

Black Tea with Vanilla and Breve:

This is a shaken iced black tea, with no classic, substitute vanilla syrup instead, and splash of breve.

I had assumed that the splash of breve topped off the drink at the end, the a barista who made me the drink says she shakes the breve in with the drink. The result is a unique flavor – it’s obviously not a Thai tea flavor but the vanilla and black tea are an unique combination.

Cool Lime Refresher with Strawberry and Lemonade:

This is simply a cool lime refresher with no water, shaken with strawberry and lemonade. It turns into a refreshing lime twist on the classic strawberry lemonade.

To be honest, I’m not sure how your baristas are going to charge you for this. This one absolutely was refreshing and wonderful.

Passion Tea Apple Juice:

I’ve heard many baristas say that this is a very popular drink customization. It’s a iced shaken passion tea, no water, substitute apple juice. I’m not sure how baristas will charge you for this one.

This was wonderful. It’s a little less sweet than a traditional passion tea lemonade, and very crisp, light and refreshing. Hope you get to try this one!

Cool Lime Refresher with Lemonade and Raspberry:

For this drink, order a cool lime Refresher, no water substitute lemonade, and add raspberry syrup.

As for any of the drinks listed here, if there’s no syrup in the original drink recipe, adding a syrup to a drink will be an upcharge.

This drink is delicious. Raspberry, lime and lemonade go nicely together. Very refreshing!

Strawberry Acai Refresher with Coconut Milk:

This beverage is a strawberry acai Refresher with no water, with coconut milk substituted instead of water. Please be aware that coconut milk is a 60 cent additional charge.

I was a little suspicious of this drink when the Westlake Center barista suggested it (I asked for drink suggestions and mentioned I was working to finish up this article), but I just said yes. I would have agreed to pretty much any drink.

This was, by far, one of my favorites. You get something that is a akin to a strawberries and cream type flavor. I had guessed that maybe the milk would curdle, but I was wrong. Coconut milk works just fine with this drink. I recommend this one too!

Strawberry Acai Refresher with Black Tea:

By the time I ordered this drink, I simply wasn’t thirsty anymore. It looks good though and the baristas assured me that people enjoy this combination!

Want 10 more cold and unique beverage suggestions? Take a look at 10 long lost iced drinks that are no longer on the menu but still can be ordered.

Use your treat receipt to try one of these drinks and save a little money on your drink!

Here’s a pro-tip or two:

Always order your drink by telling the barista exactly what’s in the drink recipe. A barista won’t recognize any of these beverages by a cutesy name. Once in a while, I’ve heard people give these type of drinks fun names like the “sunset” but please be reading to describe what’s in the drink that you’re ordering.

Use your MyStarbucksRewards card (or phone app) and earn stars for your purchases.

If you need to re-load at the register (using your Visa debit or credit card), try re-loading for $24.99. It will shave 30 seconds off the register transaction – that’s the largest amount that you can reload your Starbucks card and not have to sign for the reload.

I just realized I need to do an article that’s 10 ordering pro-tips!!