Hearing the words “medicine ball” when you walk up to a popular coffee chain like Starbucks can be confusing. After all, what is the Starbucks medicine ball?
The Starbucks Medicine Ball is a hot tea drink that involves Tazo’s Jade Citrus Mint tea as well as their Peach Tranquility tea mixed together with hot lemonade and honey. Some alterations have been made to the recipe and it is more commonly confused with Starbucks’ official menu-item, the Honey Citrus Mint Tea.
In this article, we’ll cover not only what the Starbucks Medicine Ball is, but how to order it and a few other frequently asked questions, like whether or not it is caffeinated!
What is the Starbucks Medicine Ball?
The Starbucks Medecine Ball name might bring to mind all sorts of imagery. You may be picturing a type of ingredient ball, like a bath bomb, or even a medicinal drink that Starbucks is somehow licensed to sell.
The truth is much simpler than that! The Medicine Ball was originally just a “secret menu” item, meaning it was a drink created and made popular by customers instead of appearing as an official Starbucks recipe.
It is a combination of the following ingredients:
- Jade Citrus Mint Tea – The Jade Citrus Mint tea bags contain lemongrass, lemon flavored verbena, and a few spearmint leaves. This type of herb combination is helpful in clearing out sinuses and lessening the symptoms of viruses, as well as relaxing sore muscles.
- Peach Tranquility Tea – Aiding the Jade Citrus Mint in the health benefits of tea is a second tea bag containing licorice root, chamomile, more verbena, peach, rose hips, pineapple, and even chamomile pollen. These components are full of antioxidants and Vitamin C.
- Hot Water – You can’t make tea without allowing the tea bags to steep in hot water! The Starbucks Medicine Ball steeps both tea bags for around three minutes, but they only fill the cup halfway with this ingredient.
- Honey – Originally, Starbucks’ recipe only included actual honey packages emptied into the bottom of the cup. Nowadays, however, unless you tell your barista to use real honey, they will likely default to giving you pumps of the honey-flavored Honey Blend Syrup. For the best health benefits, stick with natural honey!
- Lemonade – You may be surprised to find lemonade, a drink famous by association with cold, refreshing beverages, in a hot tea drink. But it’s true! Starbucks baristas steam lemonade the same way they would milk to fill up the Medicine Ball cup and add a little sweet, tangy flavor to the healthy tea.
The Medicine Ball is excellent for making you feel cozy and a little less sniffly when allergy season hits. Many customers enjoyed it so much when they were suffering from a sore throat that they began ordering it as their regular, daily drink just for enjoyments’ sake!
How Can You Order a Medicine Ball on the Starbucks Mobile App?
Because the Medicine Ball is not really an official Starbucks menu item, it can be tricky trying to navigate the app to make sure your cup is full of all the proper ingredients in the recipe. Luckily, we have a step-by-step guide for you below!
- Open your App.
- Click on the “Order” menu at the bottom, then pick a location near you.
- Navigate to the “Green Teas” drop-down menu.
- Click on the “Hot Tea” section.
- Click on “Honey Citrus Mint” tea and select your size.
- Click “Customize” if you’d like to make sure regular honey, and not the honey-blend syrup, is added to your drink.
- Pick up and enjoy!
The reason you have to click on “Honey Citrus Mint” is that Starbucks noticed the Medicine Ball’s popularity among customers over the years and decided to officially add it to the menu. However, they gave it their own name, and trained baristas to use Honey Blend syrup instead of honey packages for convenience and uniqueness.
You may find your Starbucks trip easier in person if you simply order the Medicine Ball by saying something like this: “May I have a Grande Honey Citrus Mint tea with two honey packets instead of the Honey Blend syrup?” This will give you a classic Medicine Ball tea. However, if you like the sweeter flavor of the syrup, just order a Honey Citrus Mint without modification!
How Much Does a Starbucks Medicine Ball Tea Cost?
The Medicine Ball Tea costs varies depending on the size you get. Here’s a chart to demonstrate:
| Size | Ounces | Price |
| Short | 8 fluid ounces | $3.35 |
| Tall | 12 fluid ounces | $3.45 |
| Grande | 16 fluid ounces | $3.95 |
| Venti | 20 fluid ounces | $4.00 |
Remember, if you ask for additional pumps of the syrup, an extra tea bag, or any other kind of additive to the recipe, Starbucks can charge you as much as an additional 50 cents per item.
Is the Starbucks Medicine Ball Caffeinated?
When you’re feeling under the weather and hoping to buy a drink like the Medicine Ball to make you feel better, you’re probably not also looking for caffeine! After all, a Medicine Ball pairs really well with rest and sleep.
It may dishearten you at first to learn that the Medicine Ball does have some caffeine. However, it is significantly less than coffee might. Actually, all green tea, such as the Jade Citrus Mint, has a little bit of caffeine content. In the Medicine Ball, this usually adds up to either 16 or 25 milligrams of caffeine.
This is not nothing, but it is also not likely to keep you awake.
Why Does the Starbucks Medicine Ball Drink Make Me Feel Better?
There are actually some health benefits to drinking the Starbucks Medicine Ball! This is because not only is the honey and warm liquid gentle on a raw throat, but it is helpful in breaking up congestion so that you can cough up any of the nasty stuff making you feel sick more easily.
Not only that, but as we previously stated, the herbs in both the Peach Tranquility Tea and the Jade Citrus Mint tea combine to make a powerhouse of health boosters.
Your Medicine Ball is not only warming you up, but it’s contributing to anti-oxidizing you, lowering inflammation, and adding some anti-microbe compounds to your makeup. The vitamins contained in the honey only add to these great effects.
Finally, in addition to everything your Medicine Ball is doing for you physically, having a nice, warm drink can be a great comfort when you’re not feeling well. It can also replace fluids that you may be losing while sick, which is important to the body that is trying to fight off illness.
Can I Be Pregnant and Still Drink a Medicine Ball From Starbucks?
It’s important to be watchful of what you eat and drink when you’re doing it for two! However, there’s nothing to worry about when it comes to a Starbucks Medicine Ball Tea.
The caffeine levels, as previously stated, are very low, and so is the sugar content. The only reason you or a developing baby would be harmed by this product is if you’re specifically allergic to any of the ingredients, such as honey or lemongrass.
Does the Medicine Ball Cure a Cold?
The Medicine Ball may be great, but it isn’t actually made of medication and can’t cure the common cold. However, it’s health benefits, such as keeping a sick person hydrated and supplying them with Vitamin C, can remedy some of the symptoms of a cold.
Can You Reheat the Starbucks Medicine Ball Drink?
If you’re not feeling well, chances are you aren’t drinking all of your Medicine Ball right away. You may be taking small sips, or you may doze off inbetween drinks. This can lead the Medicine Ball to cool off, and you can start to wish that you still had the nice, hot temperature to break up any mucus and soothe your throat.
Even if you’re not sick, a cool Medicine Ball just isn’t the same as the fresh, hot ones, and can lead you to wonder if you can reheat it.
Actually, you can absolutely reheat a Medicine Ball. There are a few different ways to do this, but each of them involves you throwing away the tea bags inside, first. Reach in and take them out of the leftover liquid carefully; don’t forget to gently squeeze excess liquid back into the cup! Starbucks baristas tend to leave the tea bags in to give you the most flavor.
Afterward, you can either transfer the cool liquid into a mug and microwave it for around 30 seconds to make it nice and hot again, or put it in a small pan on the stovetop and bring it to a simmer before transferring it back into your cup.
Why Is It Named “Medicine Ball?”
The Medicine Ball is named after a literal exercise ball, which is also called a medicine ball, because it is useful in rehabilitating injured athletes and patients. The name works for this drink because it is so crammed with excellent health benefits!
In Conclusion
Although Starbucks hasn’t actually invented a cure for the common cold with this drink, it is popular for a reason! Not only does the tea combination with honey make for plenty of health benefits, but the lemonade makes this drink tasty and enjoyable, too.
Though it has been renamed to “Honey Citrus Mint,” the Medicine Ball deserves it’s place on Starbucks’ official menu!