Foodie: Starbucks Hack - Berry Hibiscus Refresher

Guys summer is here and I'm taking full advantage of sipping on iced beverages of all sorts! 

I've been hooked on Starbucks Refreshers. I really love the berry hibiscus, but I don't love not knowing what all's in there. So here's my attempt at a homemade version.

I think it turned out pretty well. The flavor is very similar. The biggest difference is that I added tonic water, so it's lightly carbonated. It's such a pretty drink too. 

This recipe will make a large portion of the tea part. The nice thing is once you have the prep done, the single serving cups are really easy and quick to put together. Great for those mornings when you gotta get out the door!! 

You'll need:

- 4 hibiscus tea bags (found mine at Target)

- 1 Tazo Blushberry black tea bag

- 1/2 - 1 cup of simple syrup (boil 1 cup water and 1 cup of sugar together, til sugar dissolves)

- 1/2 cup tonic water

- handful of fresh blackberries

- few mint leaf sprigs

- 1 cup of ice (more or less to your liking)

You need 8 cups of water. You could do this several ways. The easiest is to boil all the water in pan or kettle, add Tazo tea bag and the 4 hibiscus bags and let steep for 5 min. Let this cool and add in the simple syrup to your desired sweetness. I actually let my hibiscus tea soak outside in a glass jar to make sun tea and then combined it with the Tazo tea. 

Muddle some of the berries and mint together. Put in a glass full of ice. Once your tea has cooled poor about 1/2 - 3/4 cup over ice. Top the rest of glass with tonic water. About a 1/4 - 1/2 cup. 

Garnish with more berries or mint! 

You can store the rest of the tea and tonic in the fridge. When you want a glass just pour and sip away!