Starbucks Medicine Ball {Honey Citrus Mint Tea}

If you're feeling under the weather, this Starbucks Medicine Ball copycat recipe may be just what you need! The Honey Citrus Mint Tea is a combination of two varieties of tea, water, steamed lemonade, and honey and it will instantly bring some cheer to gloomy season!

Jump to:

• 🤧 What is a Medicine Ball?
• 💊 Does it really heal?
• ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
• 🗒 Ingredients
• 🍵 How to make a Medicine Ball
• 😇 How can I make the drink healthier?
• 🎉 Variations to recipe
• 👩‍🍳 How to make the drink easier to make
• 🐝 Is there caffeine in the Medicine Ball?
• ☕️ More Starbucks copycat recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• ❓ FAQ
• 💬 Comments

It's cold and gloomy outside, winter feels never-ending, and I'm pretty sure everyone has had some sort of seasonal illness 5 times by now. Can we get a little relief??

How about a hot drink that is absolutely delicious and seems to have healing properties? OK, maybe it can't cure all, but Starbucks' Medicine Ball drink sure can sooth a sore throat and add a little sweetness and comfort to an otherwise blah day. Some even call it the cold buster tea.

I'm super excited to have a copycat Medicine Ball recipe for you so you can make it at home whenever you need a little comfort in your day.

🤧 What is a Medicine Ball?

The Medicine Ball tea is a Starbucks secret menu recipe (meaning the drink was created by customers) that became so popular that Starbucks added it to their regular menu! This is similar to what happened with the Pink Drink.

Except if you order it at the coffee shop, you should call it a Honey Citrus Mint Tea since that's what they call it (though I bet many Starbucks baristas know it as the Medicine Ball at this point).

What's in this healing tea drink? Well, it's a combination of Jade Citrus Mint green tea, Peach Tranquility herbal tea, hot water, steamed lemonade, and honey.

The ingredients are simple, which means the tea is very easy to recreate at home!

💊 Does it really heal?

I'm part of many Starbucks fan groups and one constant debate is over whether the Medicine Ball can actually make you feel better when you're sick.

First of all, it should be made clear that there's no actual medicine in this drink (trust me, lots of people think there is!). It's tea, lemonade, and honey.

And it's certainly true that hot tea can make you feel a lot better when you're not feeling well. It's important to stay hydrated and green tea has lots of great benefits. So, in that way, this drink can certainly help.

But you should also note that there's quite a bit of sugar in this drink (30 grams according to Starbucks) and sugar isn't always the best thing when you're sick.

The Starbucks Medicine Ball can certainly bring some comfort and deliciousness into your life though... And that might be exactly what you need right now!

❤️ Why you'll love this recipe

I think it's so fun to learn to make Starbucks recipes at home and this drink is not only so easy to make, but it tastes just like what you get a the coffee shop!

Once you have the ingredients, you can whip up a Honey Citrus Mint Tea in no time at all. I love making a cup on a cold winter afternoon to add some extra warmth and sunshine to my day.

🗒 Ingredients

I used to be able to find the exact teas Starbucks uses in the Medicine Ball- Teavana brand Jade Citrus Mint and Teavana brand Peach Tranquility.

Unfortunately, it appears they have discontinued these products for general purchase, so if you don't already have the teas, you'll likely have to use substitutes. I've shared the teas I've found to be the closest to what Starbucks uses!

You really only need a few simple ingredients for the Medicine Ball (please see recipe card at the bottom of this post for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions):

• Water
• Lemonade (I like Simply Lemonade)
• Teavana Jade Citrus Mint tea bag: Sadly, it appears this tea has been discontinued for the general public to buy. I've found that the best substitute is Tazo Zen.
• Teavana Peach Tranquility tea bag: This is another discontinued tea. You can use almost any peach herbal tea as a substitute, but I especially like Bigelow Perfect Peach.
• Honey

🍵 How to make a Medicine Ball

There are lots of ways to make tea, but I find this particular one easiest to do in a saucepan. For this recipe, I'm showing you how to make one serving, but you can easily double or triple the recipe in the same saucepan.

Just add water and lemonade to a saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.

Then, remove the saucepan from heat and add both tea bags.

Let the tea bags steep for 5 minutes before removing them and discarding.

The tea will be a vibrant yellow-y orange color.

Stir the honey into the tea.

And then pour it into a mug. I like to garnish it with a little lemon slice (give me all the Vitamin C, please!). You can add fresh mint, too, if you want.

And then breathe in the delicious healing fragrance of the tea and take a big warm sip that will immediately soothe your throat. And your soul. You know, if you believe in that kind of thing.

Honestly, whether you're feeling under the weather or not, this Honey Citrus Mint Tea is absolutely delicious and has become a special treat for me when I want something a bit more exciting than regular old tea.

And in case you're worried, don't be.... Just because it's called a Medicine Ball doesn't mean it tastes medicinal at all. It has the delicious flavor of peach, mint, and lemon. And lots of yummy sweetness to boot.

😇 How can I make the drink healthier?

If you really want to try this tea, but don't love that it has a lot of sugar in it, I have a couple recommendations on what you can do to make it a bit healthier. Here are some ideas:

• Use fresh lemon juice instead of store-bought lemonade: I'd recommend making the tea mostly with water and then adding a couple tablespoons of fresh lemon juice. Sweeten with honey as desired. This will ensure your tea has less sugar in it.

• Use high-quality honey: There's a big difference between grocery store honey and high-quality (often called medical grade) honey. I recommend investing in a Manuka honey with a high MGO. It will still have sugar, but will also bring along healthy benefits with it.

🎉 Variations to recipe

The way I have the recipe written will ensure your drink comes out as close to the Starbucks version as possible, but there are certainly ways you can jazz it up and substitutes you can make to it, including:

• If you can't find the Teavana teas, you can use substitutes. Bigelow Perfect Peach isn't an exact dupe for Peach Tranquility, but it's the closest I've tried. And Tazo Zen can sub for Jade Citrus Mint.

• Add other syrups and/or extracts. Some people like to add peppermint extract or peppermint syrup to the Medicine Ball for an extra boost of cooling comfort. I've also heard of people enjoying a little vanilla syrup added in.

• For extra sweetness (if that's what you crave!) you can make the drink entirely with lemonade instead of water.

👩‍🍳 How to make the drink easier to make

You probably aren't used to making tea in a saucepan and that may sound like a lot of effort to you. Starbucks does use steamed lemonade in the Medicine Ball, but a nice workaround is to just brew hot water like you normally would (in a tea kettle, in the. microwave, or in a Keurig).

Pour your lemonade into a glass and then pour the boiling water over it. Add tea bags and let steep, remove bags, and stir in honey.

🐝 Is there caffeine in the Medicine Ball?

Because the Medicine Ball is made with green tea, there is a little bit of caffeine in the drink. According to Starbucks, there's just 16 mg in a grande drink (for reference there's about 260-360 mg of caffeine in a grande black coffee at Starbucks (depending on the roast).

If you're looking for a Starbucks copycat drink that doesn't have caffeine and is also hot and comforting, try the Caramel Apple Spice.

☕️ More Starbucks copycat recipes

If you love making your own Starbucks recipe at home, be sure to check out all of my copycat recipes. I pride myself on making versions that are as close to the originals as possible that you can easily make in your own home.

Some of my favorite hot drinks include:

• White Hot Chocolate
• Caramel Nonfat Latte
• Pistachio Latte
• Apple Crisp Macchiato

But I also love making their iced drinks, including:

• Strawberry Acai Refresher
• Pistachio Cream Cold Brew
• Iced Green Tea Lemonade
• Iced White Hot Chocolate Mocha

And so many more!

So, the Medicine Ball may not be a cure for the common cold, but the combination of green tea, herbal tea, lemonade, and honey sure can make a cold day day brighter!

And it may even soothe your throat a bit in the process.

What's your favorite drink when you're not feeling well?

📖 Recipe

❓ FAQ

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