Recreate this Starbucks Medicine Ball Tea Recipe at home with just a handful of real food ingredients and 10 minutes. This honey citrus mint tea copycat recipe is made with flavorful and aromatic teas, fresh lemon, and raw honey. It will become your favorite warm drink to sip on all season long. And there's no need to leave the house - learn how to make medicine ball tea at home.
After gaining popularity on social media for its health benefits, this warm drink is now part of the official drink lineup at Starbucks known as Honey Citrus Mint Tea.
As the name suggests, this hot item is made with steaming lemonade, a blend of teas, and sweetened with honey.
But what was once a Starbucks secret menu item can now be easily recreated at home with similar ingredient list as the base and a few minutes of active hands-on time. And like my Starbucks pink drink recipe, this one offers the same great taste without the big dent in your wallet. Because let's face it - Starbucks prices often make me squirm a little, giving you all the more reason to make this nourishing drink at home.
Looking for more nourishing drinks? Check out homemade cranberry juice, herbal coffee, and honey hot chocolate.
Jump to:
- Recipe Overview
- Why you'll love Honey Citrus Mint Tea
- What is in the Medicine Ball at Starbucks?
- Ingredients for Honey Citrus Mint Tea
- Substitutions and Variations
- Make it Ancestral
- How to Make Medicine Ball Tea
- Helpful Tips for Honey Citrus Mint Tea
- Recommended Tools & Links
- Serving Suggestions
- Storage and Reheating Instructions
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Printable Recipe
Recipe Overview
- Prep and Cook Time: ready in under 10 minutes
- Cooking Method: steeping tea
- Dietary Info: sugar-free, paleo, and GAPS
- Tools Needed: electric kettle or small saucepan
- Skill Level: easy
Why you'll love Honey Citrus Mint Tea
Cost efficient - Go right past your local Starbucks and make this medicine ball drink in the comfort of your own home for a fraction of the price.
Suitable for dietary needs - This medicine ball tea recipe has better-for-you ingredients and is sugar-free, paleo, and GAPS compliant.
Easy copycat recipe to make - Anybody can make this - all you have to do is steep the teas first, then add lemon juice and honey to taste.
Versatile serving options - Enjoy it as a hot drink to soothe a sore throat or iced as a refreshing summer drink.
Refreshing flavor profile - With a perfect blend of peach, mint, and green teas combined with honey and lemon - there's major flavor with every sip.
💭Fun Fact: Honey Citrus Mint Tea, as a title is fairly new, but the recipe has been around since 2016. Originally, this Starbucks secret menu item was called Medicine Ball Tea or Cold Buster tea for its aid in alleviating cold symptoms, especially sore throat. A grande of honey citrus mint tea Starbucks has a whopping of 30 grams of sugar.
What is in the Medicine Ball at Starbucks?
According to Starbucks, the main ingredients in Honey Citrus Mint Tea (Medicine Ball Tea) are steamed lemonade, an infusion of mint green tea and peach tea, and a honey blend.
Simple enough. Right?
When at the grocery store, I always strive to purchase foods with as short an ingredient list as possible and preferably ones that I can pronounce. Using that same logic, it would make sense that this drink is safe.
Except when we break it down, it's not so short.
Let's start with the most harmless ingredient and the star of this drink: the teas.
Green Mint Tea and Peach Tea
The basic ingredient list is lemonade, jade citrus mint tea, peach tea, honey blend, and optional peppermint pump.
Starbucks uses Teavana teas in their drinks. Specifically, in Honey Citrus Mint Tea, Teavana Jade Green Mint tea and Peach Tranquility is used.
But Teavana is known for adding natural and artificial flavors in their teas, which is really a nicer term for crude oil or coal tar. (source)
Have you noticed how strong the flavor of Teavana teas are? That's the "natural flavors" covering up the inferior taste and poor quality of their tea. Natural flavor can be anything found in nature, broken down, and added to a food. But just because it's found in nature, doesn't mean I want to drink it.
Besides, if a tea is of good quality, I want to taste the natural essence of that flavor without anything else added to it. The types of tea you use do matter. Thankfully, there are brands available on the market that produce cleaner teas (keep reading!).
Lemonade
According to Starbucks, the lemonade ingredients are water, lemon juice, sugar, and lemon oil. All easy to pronounce and pretty common on the market.
But if we're using this drink to curb a cold, why are we suppressing our immune systems further with sugar. Especially when we have a God-given natural sweetener that may actually help beat colds and flus - raw, unfiltered honey.
Sugar-sweetened lemonade isn't the worst thing one can consume, but there are better options. And if you must, go with this easy homemade lemonade sweetened with honey and nothing else!
Honey Blend
If the teas and lemonade don't persuade you to recreate this Honey Citrus Mint Tea at home, perhaps the honey blend that is used in Starbucks drink will.
The honey blend is used as a sweetener and it's exactly that. A blend of honey flavor.
According to Starbucks, this honey blend consists of honey, water, natural flavors, potassium sorbate, xantham gum, and citric acid.
Real honey should have one ingredient: honey.
Ingredients for Honey Citrus Mint Tea
Learn how to make medicine ball tea with 5 simple ingredients. This easy recipe takes only 10 minutes.
- Green Tea: To make Starbucks Medical Ball without Teavana, use Traditional Medicinals Peppermint Green Tea (they also have Lemongrass Green Tea which would be lovely too) and another kind of mint (spearmint is my choice!). Another great option is Numi Jasmine Green Tea.
- Mint Tea: Traditional Medicinals Spearmint or Pukka Three Mint tea. Consider doubling up on the mint to really give it that strong minty flavor.
- Peach Tea: To replace Teavana's peach tranquility, we'll use Yogi Peach Detox tea.
- Lemon: Fresh lemon juice or bottled pure lemon juice works great too! It's great for making lemonade easy! Use as much or as little per personal preference.
- Honey: Local honey is best, but your favorite brand of honey works. My favorite brands are Nate's Raw and Unfiltered Honey, Local Hive NorCal Honey, and Y.S. Organic Bee Farms.
See the recipe card for exact quantities.
Substitutions and Variations
- Extra minty - Some choose to add a pump or two of peppermint flavor to their Honey Citrus Mint Tea at Starbucks. If you wanted more of that minty flavor, you can do so in two ways: steep an extra peppermint tea bag along with the other teas or add a drop or two of peppermint extract.
- Give it a berry twist - Muddle some fresh berries (raspberries are amazing!) in the bottom of the mug before adding tea and water.
Make it Ancestral
Staying true to the heart of what Prepare and Nourish is all about, there are ways to ensure you get the maximum nutrition in this recipe by following ancestral and traditional dietary philosophy. Just looking at the Starbucks ingredient line up, there are so many opportunities to take this drink from drab to fab with little effort.
Use quality teas. Since this is an important ingredient in this drink, find the best quality teas on the market. Some of the better tea brands are Traditional Medicinals, Numi, and Yogi teas. We'll use Traditional Medicinals Green Tea Peppermint to replace Teavana's Jade Mint Tea and Yogi Peach Detox to replace Peach Tranquility. We'll add an extra bag of plain peppermint tea for good measure.
Real lemons. In the spirit of making things simpler, we'll opt out of lemonade entirely. Instead, we'll use pure lemon juice sweetened with honey. Less ingredients and less fillers. Of course, if you so choose, you may go with organic or homemade lemonade.
Raw honey. Instead of an obscure honey blend, we'll use regular raw and unfiltered honey. And add it when the teas have slightly cooled to retain the healthy benefits and beneficial enzymes of raw honey.
How to Make Medicine Ball Tea
The complete printable recipe is below in the recipe card for your convenience. Follow these simple step-by-step instructions for the best results.
Step 1. Steep teas
In a large jar or mug, pour boiling water over 3 bags of desired tea and allow to steep for 5-7 minutes.
Step 2. Add lemon juice
Remove tea bags and stir in lemon juice. Notice how the acidity of the lemon juice will make the tea cloudy - this is normal.
Step 3. Sweeten
Drizzle in honey and stir until honey is completely dissolved.
Step 4. Serve
Pour into your favorite mug and garnish with lemon slice and fresh sprig of mint.
Helpful Tips for Honey Citrus Mint Tea
Time saving tip - Instead of adding honey and lemon juice separately, have lemonade ready to use that instead.
Money saving tip - Consider purchasing bulk teas instead of individual tea bags. It's a cost-efficient way to enjoy this without breaking the bank.
💭Large Batch Suggestion: Steep a big batch of the teas and store in a quart-size mason jar as a tea concentrate. When ready to enjoy, dilute the concentrate with homemade lemonade using a 1:1 ratio and reheat gently on the stovetop.
Recommended Tools & Links
Below are some affiliate links that may be helpful to you as you make this copycat Medicine Ball recipe. You can find some of these items cheaper at your local store, but having a link helps you know what you're looking for. Tools: all stainless steel tea kettle, clear glass mugs Ingredients: peppermint green tea, spearmint tea, peach detox, pure lemon juice, raw honey
Serving Suggestions
Cozy up to this comforting drink on a cold day. Enjoy it as is or pair it with a tasty treat like healthy chocolate muffins or gluten-free crepes.
Honey Citrus Tea pairing suggestions
- Crepe Rolls with Cottage Cheese and Fruit30 Minutes
- Easy Coconut Flour Banana Muffins Recipe28 Minutes
- Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bars Recipe30 Minutes
- Healthy Double Chocolate Chip Muffins30 Minutes
Storage and Reheating Instructions
How long does medicine ball tea last in the refrigerator?
Leftover honey citrus tea will last up to 5 days in the fridge.
To store: Transfer tea to a mason jar and store it in the refrigerator.
Storage containers: These wide-mouth mason jars for leftovers or Weck juice jars with lids.
To freeze: You can freeze honey citrus mint tea in souper cubes or ice cube trays and pull them out when ready to reheat.
To reheat: Gently reheat in a small saucepan on the stove top over medium-high heat until warmed through. Do your best to avoid overheating as that may kill any beneficial enzymes in the raw honey.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. You can skip the lemonade and instead use pure lemon juice and honey for sweetness.
When ordering at Starbucks, yes, it will have caffeine because Teavana's Jade Mint tea contains green tea. However, when making Honey Citrus Mint Tea at home, you can selectively choose teas without caffeine.
Of course when drinking warm, Honey Citrus Mint tea may provide soothing comfort from sore throat and cough. But feel free to enjoy this as a cold beverage. In fact, it would make a very refreshing and healthy iced tea.
Looking for more related recipes? Here are some ideas:
Did you make this Medicine Ball Tea? Please leave a ⭐ recipe rating in the recipe card below and leave a review in the comments. Thank you!💚
Printable Recipe
Honey Citrus Mint Tea Recipe (Starbucks Copycat Medicine Ball Tea)
Ingredients
- 1 tea bag green tea
- 1 tea bag peppermint tea
- 1 tea bag peach detox (or other fruity or citrus flavor)
- 2 cups boiling water
- 3 tablespoons pure lemon juice (approx. 1 small lemon)
- 4 tablespoons raw honey
Instructions
- In a large jar or mug, pour boiling water over tea bags. Allow to steep for 5-7 minutes.
- Remove tea bags, add lemon juice and honey and stir until honey is dissolved. (Note: the tea will change color with the added acidity from lemon - that is normal)
- Pour into 2 mugs. Add slice of lemon, mint leaves as garnish, or additional peppermint extract for extra flavor. Enjoy warm.
Notes
- Traditional Medicinals Green Tea with Peppermint, Yogi Peach Detox, Traditional Medicinals Spearmint OR Peppermint, and/or Pukka Three Mint tea
- You want to have a blend of good green tea, some variation of mint, and a fruity flavor like peach.
- To make this decaf, use decaf green tea or use an extra tea bag of mint.
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