Get Starbucks' New Refreshers Drink Free on Friday

It's not Red Bull. Not Amp. Not Monster.

But there's a new summer drink from Starbucks that apparently packs a punch.

Refreshers are being heralded as a "thirst-quenching pick-me-up that packs a boost of natural energy from green coffee extract but looks and tastes nothing like coffee," according to Starbucks.

On Friday, July 13, from 12 to 3 p.m., you can get a free 12-ounce, hand-crafted shaken Refresher, one per customer. It comes in two flavors: Cool Lime, with real lime, and Very Berry Hibiscus, with whole raspberries.

The Refreshers are available at all five Edina Starbucks locations, including including the  on Vernon Avenue, the  at 50th & France, the in the , the one at and the location at in .

The new drink is combined with real fruit juice, B and C vitamins and ginseng. It's a low-calorie drink, in addition to the hand-crafted version, comes canned in three flavors and in the VIA five-pack.

Freshly harvested green coffee beans are typically heated and roasted to bring out the signature dark colors and bold flavors coffee is famous for, according to a Starbucks press release.

But now, it is using an process to pull the naturally occurring caffeine and other good stuff from 100 percent green Arabica coffee beans before they are roasted.

The result is green coffee extract, which Starbucks says has all of the natural energy from coffee, but with none of the coffee flavor.

Like Edina Patch on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Sign up for our daily newsletter