Lower Sugar Starbucks Spicy Refreshers Orders

Disclaimer: I am NOT sponsored by Starbucks. I am just a girl that loves silly beverages.

Starbucks just released their spicy lemonade lineup of drinks, so you know I had to taste test them and find a way to make them lower sugar!

Starbucks Spicy Powder Ingredients

According to Starbucks.com, the ingredients in the spicy chili powder blend are: sugar, maltodextrin, paprika, salt, ancho chili powder, citric acid, cayenne pepper, chili powder, ground rice hulls and natural flavor.

How Much Sugar Is In Starbucks Spicy Powder Mix?

There are 3.67g sugar in one scoop of Starbucks spicy powder mix.

In order to obtain this answer, I first tried calling different Starbucks locations. NONE of the employees were able to find out for me because the nutrition facts were not listed on the packaging. So, I had to figure out my answer by looking at the nutrition information of other beverages.

So if by chance a Starbucks higher up is reading this: PLEASE MAKE THE SUGAR CONTENT OF YOUR POWDERS AND SYRUPS MORE TRANSPARENT.

For those of you that want to see the math of how I got 3.67g of sugar per scoop:

A Spicy Strawberry Lemonade Refresher has 43g of sugar for a grande size. A regular Strawberry Acai Lemonade has 32g of sugar for a grande size.

43g-32g=11g of sugar coming from the spicy powder. If there are three scoops in a grande size, 11/3=3.67g of sugar per scoop.

What Are The Spicy Starbucks Drinks?

Starbucks spicy drink lineup includes Spicy Pineapple, Spicy Dragonfruit, and Spicy Strawberry refreshers.

They also have a new spicy cream cold foam that you can add to your beverage.

What Is In The Spicy Refreshers At Starbucks?

The spicy refreshers are going to have spicy powder, lemonade, refresher bases, and dried fruit.

The Spicy Dragonfruit Lemonade Refresher has ice, spicy chili powder blend, lemonade, Mango Dragonfruit Starbucks Refreshers base, and dragonfruit inclusions.

A Spicy Strawberry Lemonade Refresher has ice, spicy chili powder blend, lemonade, Strawberry Acai Starbucks Refreshers base, and dried strawberries.

The Spicy Pineapple Lemonade Refresher has ice, spicy chili powder blend, lemonade, Pineapple Passionfruit Starbucks Refreshers base, and freeze dried pineapple.

How Much Do The Starbucks Spicy Refreshers Cost?

Costs will vary by location but by me the prices are as follows:

• Grande Spicy Dragonfruit Lemonade Refresher: $6.01
• Grande Spicy Strawberry Lemonade Refresher: $6.01
• Grande Spicy Pineapple Lemonade Refresher: $6.01
• Spicy Cream Cold Foam: $1.45
• Spicy Chili Powder Blend: $0.30

What Do The Starbucks Spicy Refreshers Taste Like?

Being that I am not sponsored by Starbucks, I did not have the money to purchase all three varieties of spicy refreshers.

I chose the Spicy Strawberry Lemonade Refresher because the Strawberry refresher is my favorite refresher.

Personally, I did not like the spicy powder. It added spice to my drink, but didn’t add any additional flavor. If I were to improve the product, I would suggest adding lime to the powder blend. I think a sour flavor would compliment the sweet from the beverage and the heat from the chili.

Can I Get Starbucks Spicy Refresher Sugar Free?

No, you can not get a Starbucks Spicy Refresher sugar free. All spicy refresher varieties will have sugar coming from the Refresher bases, the lemonade, and the chili powder blend.

How Much Sugar Is In Starbucks Spicy Refreshers?

A grande Spicy Dragonfruit Lemonade Refresher has 42g of sugar.

The grande Spicy Strawberry Lemonade Refresher has 43g of sugar.

A grande Spicy Pineapple Lemonade Refresher has 41g of sugar.

How To Modify For Lower Sugar

For all of the refreshers (regardless of flavor), I would make the following modifications:

• light chili powder
• light lemonade

According to the Starbucks baristas I’ve spoken to in my area, when they prepare the beverage with “light chili powder” they will only put half of the normal amount of chili powder in your beverage. So for example, instead of 3 scoops in a grande, they will do 1 1/2.

If you choose “light lemonade” the barista will do half lemonade and half water.

I would suggest doing half of the Refresher base to reduce the sugar content even further, but at the moment I’m writing this article the only option the app allows you to do is add extra base.

Using the modifications mentioned, your Spicy Lemonade Refreshers will have the following amount of sugar (for a grande size):

• Spicy Pineapple Lemonade Refresher: 31.83g of sugar.
• Spicy Dragonfruit Lemonade Refresher: 32.83g of sugar.
• Spicy Strawberry Lemonade Refresher: 33.83g of sugar.

Other Spicy Drink Orders

Some drinks that I’ve thought of that could use some spice:

• Hot Mocha: adding a scoop of the chili powder blend to a hot mocha could make kind of like a Mexican hot chocolate!
• Iced Chai Tea Latte: the heat from the spicy cream cold foam might complement the subtle spice notes from the chai.
• Reddit user BellaMC87 says the pink drink with the chili powder blend is good. Evidently. the coconut milk balances out the spicy chili flavor.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this article and that it helps you as you order a lower sugar Starbucks Spicy Lemonade refresher.

Further Research

I have been BEEFING up my articles on sugar free and lower sugar drinks. If you want ideas for fun beverages to try at locations like Dutch Bros, Starbucks, Sonic and Dunkin, you’ll want to check out this section of my blog!