The Starbucks Medicine Ball is a warm blend of two teas, steamed lemonade, and honey that Starbucks now sells under the official name Honey Citrus Mint Tea. It started as a customer request in 2016, spread across social media as a cold and flu remedy, and became so popular that Starbucks added it to the permanent menu in 2017. Whether you want to skip the drive-thru, cut the sugar, or just understand what you are drinking, this guide covers where the drink came from, what is actually in it, how to order it correctly, and how it compares nutritionally to homemade versions.
The ingredients are simple pantry staples rather than a proprietary Starbucks formula, which is exactly why the drink caught on the way it did: baristas noticed customers requesting the same off-menu combination long before Starbucks made it official, and anyone could recreate the base flavor with tea bags, lemonade, and honey they likely already had at home. The sections below break down every part of the drink, from its real menu name to the health claims surrounding it, so you have a complete picture before your next cup.
Copycat Starbucks Medicine Ball Tea (Honey Citrus Mint Tea)
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Place the lemonade and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil over the stove.
- Meanwhile, place the mint tea bag and peach tea bag together in a 12 oz mug.
- Once the lemonade-water mixture is boiling, pour it over the tea bags.
- Let steep for 3 minutes, or per the steeping time recommended on your tea’s packaging.
- Stir in the honey until dissolved.
- Serve as is (Starbucks leaves the tea bags in), or remove the bags before drinking.
Notes
- No mint or peach tea on hand? Swap both bags for 2 Yogi Green Tea Kombucha tea bags instead. The flavor won’t be identical (it leans more plum and passion fruit), but it’s a close stand-in.
- Don’t want to buy lemonade? Skip it and use fresh lemon juice instead: 1 to 1½ tablespoons lemon juice, 1⅓ cups water (instead of ¾ cup), and 1 tablespoon honey (instead of 1 teaspoon).
- The Target peach tea contains caffeine, unlike Starbucks’ Teavana Peach Tranquility — worth noting if you’re making this before bed.
- Making it with name-brand ingredients costs about ⅓ of the Starbucks price; using organic ingredients is only slightly more since organic tea can actually be cheaper than Teavana’s.
What Is the Starbucks Medicine Ball?
The Starbucks Medicine Ball is a hot tea drink made with mint green tea, peach herbal tea, steamed lemonade, and honey. Starbucks lists it on the menu as Honey Citrus Mint Tea, and the company’s own product description calls it a green tea with herbal notes of chamomile, hints of spearmint, and fruit flavor, served with steamed lemonade and a touch of honey.
The Real Name: Honey Citrus Mint Tea
Baristas will recognize “Medicine Ball” at most locations, but the drink only appears on receipts and the mobile app as Honey Citrus Mint Tea. Knowing this name matters if you order through the Starbucks app, since searching “medicine ball” in the app will not pull up any results.
How the Drink Went Viral
A Starbucks customer first combined the ingredients in October 2016, and the order spread through word of mouth and social media over the following months. A Starbucks spokesperson confirmed the October 2016 origin date directly to Fox News Digital. According to reporting from Fortune, the drink caught internal attention after a single store manager noticed baristas making more than 20 of these custom orders in one day and posted about it on the company’s internal messaging system, where roughly 40 other managers responded that they had seen the same trend at their own stores. Starbucks made the combination an official menu item in 2017 under the Honey Citrus Mint Tea name, and the drink remains popular on social media years later.
What Is in a Starbucks Medicine Ball
A Starbucks Medicine Ball contains five core ingredients: Jade Citrus Mint green tea, Peach Tranquility herbal tea, steamed lemonade, hot water, and honey. Some customers also add a pump of peppermint syrup for extra flavor and sinus relief. Starbucks brews the drink with one bag of each tea, then tops the mug with a mix of hot water and warmed lemonade in roughly equal parts before stirring in honey.
Why Teavana Matters, and What Happened to It
Starbucks originally sourced its Jade Citrus Mint and Peach Tranquility teas from Teavana, a tea brand Starbucks owned. Starbucks closed all Teavana retail stores in 2017 and later pulled the branded tea bags from most grocery shelves, which is why so many people now search for a Starbucks Medicine Ball recipe without Teavana. The good news is that the flavor is easy to approximate with other brands. A green tea blended with mint and lemon, such as Tazo Zen, stands in well for the Jade Citrus Mint flavor. For the peach component, look for any peach tea that also contains chamomile, since chamomile is what gives Peach Tranquility its calming, floral note. Several store-brand peach and chamomile blends, including options sold at Target, work as reasonable substitutes, though shoppers should check the label since some peach blends contain caffeine while the original Teavana Peach Tranquility does not.
How to Order a Medicine Ball at Starbucks
To order a Medicine Ball at Starbucks, ask for a Honey Citrus Mint Tea and request it made with half hot water and half steamed lemonade. Baristas at most locations will still recognize the Medicine Ball nickname, but using the official name avoids confusion with newer or less experienced staff.
Sizes and Pricing
Starbucks sells the Honey Citrus Mint Tea in four sizes: Short at 8 ounces, Tall at 12 ounces, Grande at 16 ounces, and Venti at 20 ounces. Prices generally range from about $3.35 to $3.95 depending on size and location.
Customizing Your Order
Customers can ask for extra honey, a pump of peppermint syrup, or fresh lemon on the side. Starbucks leaves the tea bags in the cup by default, so ask at the register if you’d rather they be removed before it’s handed to you.
Does the Medicine Ball Actually Help With Colds?
The Medicine Ball can help you feel more comfortable during a cold, but it does not cure one. Registered dietitians who have reviewed the drink point to real, modest benefits rather than a medical fix. Los Angeles-based dietitian Jennifer Agha-Khan has noted that the drink’s biggest strength is simple hydration, since drinking warm fluids supports the body while it fights off an illness, and she has pointed out that the Honey Citrus Mint Tea is far gentler on the body than sugar-heavy specialty drinks such as a venti Peppermint White Hot Chocolate. Dietitian and nutritionist Sahar Berjis has explained that the green tea in the drink can help ease a sore throat, the peach herbal tea supports general immune function, and honey acts as a natural soothing agent for the throat, which is why she recommends it to clients over multi-symptom cold medicines that rely on synthetic ingredients.
What the Drink Will Not Do
No tea, including the Medicine Ball, shortens a cold or replaces medical treatment. The vitamin C in lemonade and the antioxidants in green tea support the immune system in small ways, but nothing in the drink acts as medicine in a clinical sense. Anyone with a persistent fever, worsening symptoms, or a chronic health condition should still speak with a doctor rather than relying on tea alone.
Starbucks Medicine Ball Nutrition: Calories and Sugar
A grande Starbucks Honey Citrus Mint Tea contains about 130 calories and 30 grams of sugar, according to nutrition information Starbucks publishes on its website and app. Homemade versions vary far more widely, since the sugar content depends heavily on the brand of lemonade and the amount of honey used.
| Version | Calories | Sugar |
|---|---|---|
| Starbucks Grande (official) | ~130 | ~30g |
| Light homemade version (diluted lemonade, 1 tsp honey) | ~95kcal | Varies, generally lower |
| Standard homemade version | ~180-230kcal | 44-54g |
| Full-lemonade homemade version | ~469kcal | 87g |
How to Lower the Sugar
Use a light or diluted lemonade, cut the honey down to one teaspoon, or replace half the lemonade with fresh lemon juice and extra water. Steeping the tea bags longer also boosts flavor, so you can use less honey without losing the drink’s signature taste.
More Ways to Make a Medicine Ball at Home
Beyond the classic method, a few variations make the drink easier to prepare or better suited to different seasons and preferences.
Lemon Juice Version
Replace the lemonade entirely with 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, increase the water to 1⅓ cups, and increase the honey to 1 tablespoon. This method uses ingredients most kitchens already have and avoids buying a separate bottle of lemonade.
Iced Medicine Ball
Brew the tea and lemonade mixture as usual, then let it cool for about 10 minutes before pouring it over a full glass of ice. Stir the honey in while the tea is still warm so it dissolves fully before chilling, since honey mixes poorly into cold liquid.
Extra-Lemon Version
Add a few fresh lemon slices directly to the mug along with the tea bags, or squeeze an additional half tablespoon of lemon juice into the finished drink for a sharper citrus flavor.
Kombucha Tea Substitute Method
Swap both tea bags for two bags of Yogi Green Tea Kombucha. This substitute brings fruity plum and passion fruit notes that differ from the original Starbucks flavor but still produce a warm, soothing drink using ingredients that are easy to find at most grocery stores.
Big-Batch Method
To make several servings at once, combine equal parts water and lemonade in a large pot on the stove, using ¾ cup of each per serving. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then ladle it over tea bags placed in individual mugs, using one mint tea bag and one peach tea bag per serving. Stir honey into each mug individually so you can adjust sweetness per person.
Has Starbucks Changed the Medicine Ball Recipe?
The core recipe for the Honey Citrus Mint Tea has stayed consistent since Starbucks added it to the official menu in 2017: mint green tea, peach herbal tea, steamed lemonade, and honey. Some customers online report minor differences between locations, which usually comes down to how a specific barista steeps the tea or balances the water-to-lemonade ratio rather than an official recipe change from Starbucks corporate.
Cost Comparison: Homemade vs. Starbucks
Making a Medicine Ball at home costs roughly $1.29 using name-brand ingredients similar to what Starbucks uses, or about $1.36 if you upgrade to fully organic tea and lemonade Starbucks Medicine Ball Recipe: How to Make It at Homeorganic ingredients typically carry a small premium even in a recipe this simple. A tall Honey Citrus Mint Tea at Starbucks costs around $3.50, which means the homemade version saves more than half the price per cup.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is in the Starbucks Medicine Ball?
The Starbucks Medicine Ball contains Jade Citrus Mint green tea, Peach Tranquility herbal tea, steamed lemonade, hot water, and honey.
What are the ingredients for a medicine ball?
The five main ingredients are mint green tea, peach herbal tea, lemonade, water, and honey, with peppermint syrup as an optional add-in.
What is equivalent to a Medicine Ball at Starbucks?
The official menu equivalent is the Honey Citrus Mint Tea, which uses the exact same ingredients as the drink known informally as the Medicine Ball.
Is the Medicine Ball good for a sore throat?
Yes, in a supportive way. The warm liquid, honey, and green tea can soothe throat irritation and keep you hydrated, though the drink does not treat the underlying cause of a sore throat.
Final Thoughts
The Starbucks Medicine Ball, officially called Honey Citrus Mint Tea, combines mint green tea, peach herbal tea, steamed lemonade, and honey into a comforting drink that costs a fraction of the price when made at home. Whether you stick close to the original Teavana-based version or swap in substitutes like Tazo Zen and a peach chamomile blend, the core method stays simple and quick. Try the iced version in warmer months, the lemon juice method when you’re out of lemonade, or the big-batch method next time your whole household has a cold. None of these versions cure an illness, but they offer a soothing, budget-friendly way to feel a little better while your body does the real work of recovering.
