What Exactly Are 'Inclusions' At Starbucks?

Starbucks is the most well-known coffee company in the world, and its menu extends far beyond your average cup of joe. From Frappuccinos to Nitro Cold Brews, Starbucks is clearly an innovator when it comes to caffeinated beverages. However, since 2012, the company has also been leading the scene of non-coffee drinks with its fan-favorite line of Refreshers. Starbucks Refreshers are the chain's lightly-caffeinated and fruity drinks best known for being super vibrant and colorful. 

From the Pink Drink to the Strawberry Açai Refresher, each Refresher has its own cult following of fans who prefer a less intense — but equally delicious — beverage. Refreshers are made up of a fruity base and green coffee extract, and either lemonade, water, or coconut milk. They're topped off with ice and inclusions, otherwise known as freeze-dried fruit, to give them an ultra-satisfying flavor and texture. Many Starbucks fans consider inclusions to be the ingredient that makes Starbucks Refreshers so good. 

Shaken with the liquid ingredients and ice, the freeze-dried fruit gets rehydrated, giving it a unique, plump texture. Each Refresher on the Starbucks menu comes with a different inclusion. Currently, the three most utilized are strawberry, dragonfruit, and pineapple, but the chain will add new ones to its menu once in a while, like the seasonal cranberry inclusion that's featured in its new Cran-Merry Orange Refresher on Starbucks' 2024 holiday menu. 

You might be tempted to try mixing fruit inclusions with coffee, but these additions are really meant to work with Refreshers, not lattes. They also work well in the chain's Iced Teas and Iced Tea Lemonades. However, beyond the typical serving of freeze-dried fruit inclusions that come with each drink, you can ask for extra to seriously elevate your Starbucks Refresher with add-ins. You can even mix-and-match different flavors for a more personalized and exciting beverage. If you play around with combinations enough, you might accidentally come up with your next Starbucks obsession. 

But you will have to pay an additional fee if you add extra inclusions that don't automatically come with your Refresher, so be aware of this next time you decide to get creative. If you use the Starbucks App to order your drink for pick up, you might think that ordering the inclusions on the side is a good idea. In theory, it is, especially if you don't love the texture of super mushy freeze-dried fruit. Ordering them on the side will allow you to enjoy them fresh and when they still have a more solid texture, right? Well, we think inclusions are the one Starbucks item you should avoid ordering on the side, because it's quite wasteful, since it requires the use of additional plastic. It also creates unnecessary work for baristas.

Plus, part of the beauty of the Starbucks Refresher is the masterful blending of ingredients and textures. Inclusions are mixed into the Refresher by being vigorously shaken with ice, thoroughly infusing the flavors and breaking the fruit into tiny pieces. If you wait to pop those inclusions in there until the last minute, your drink might not taste as good. You want all the inclusions to soak up all those delicious flavors for as long as possible, so it's best to order it the traditional way.