Remember the infamous Pink Drink from Starbucks that flooded our Instagram feeds a year ago? Well, it’s making a comeback, but in a slightly different way. Thanks to Starbucks-loving keto dieters, they discovered a way to tweak the OG recipe to make a Starbucks keto-friendly Pink Drink.
What Is Keto?
If you don’t already know, the ketogenic (keto) diet is a low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) diet that eliminates all sugars. The theory behind it is that by reducing your carb intake you force your body to convert stored fat into energy, essentially turning your body into a fat-burning machine. It sounds like a pretty sweet deal, but you’ll have to eliminate certain foods from your diet. This includes all grains, starchy vegetables, beans, legumes, most milk, and unfortunately, most fruit.
I know what you’re thinking, why fruit? Well, fruit is high in sugar and carbs, which is a no-go on a keto diet. You can still enjoy the low-carb fruits like blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries, but less frequent and in small amounts.
What’s The Difference?
The original Pink Drink (pictured to the left) is a remixed version of Starbucks’ Strawberry Acai Refresher, made with coconut milk instead of water, and topped off with freeze-dried strawberries. Fans say the Pink Drink tastes just like a pink Starburst. Pictured to the right is the keto-version of this drink, before being mixed.
Reasons why the OG Pink Drink is not keto-friendly: the acai base contains sugar; Starbucks’ coconut milk contains cane sugar; the freeze-dried (similar to dehydrated) strawberries were created by removing 99% of their water content, concentrating all the sugar.
How To Make It Keto-Friendly
The keto-friendly Pink Drink looks similar to the original Pink Drink once it’s fully mixed, but the ingredients are completely different. If you want the keto-version, you’ll need to ask your barista for passion tango tea with sugar-free vanilla syrup, heavy or light creamer, and Splenda (optional). In regards to taste, an Instagrammer (@andlookhowfarivecome) has said, “it almost tastes like the [Starbucks] strawberries and cream frappuccino.”
Reasons why it’s keto-friendly: the tea has zero carbs and zero sugar; heavy cream is high in fat, low in carbs; the liquid sugar cane was substituted with sugar-free syrup.
Worth A Shot
The keto-friendly Pink Drink isn’t an official Starbucks item, but it’s still as Instagram-worthy as the original. And even though the ingredients may sound a little bizarre, I wouldn’t mind trying it. I’d like to see what all the hype is about, and who knows maybe you or I will end up loving it.
#SpoonTip: Check out #ketopinkdrink on Instagram to see all the pictures and comments about the new Starbucks keto-friendly Pink Drink.