Copycat Starbucks Medicine Ball Drink Recipe

The Starbucks Medicine Ball is one of the most popular hot drinks on the Starbucks menu. Featuring a mixture of citrus-mint and peach teas combined with steamed lemonade and honey, it's a warm and comforting drink that's especially appreciated during the winter months. Many people find it to be relaxing and believe it to help with cold symptoms, as the ingredients are calming and have anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, and immune-boosting properties.

Recipe developer Michelle Bottalico has created a recipe for a copycat Starbucks Medicine Ball drink that provides the same flavor profile and comforting experience as the original. The Teavana teas Starbucks uses, Jade Citrus Mint and Peach Tranquility, are no longer sold on the retail market, so our version uses Tazo Zen and Celestial Seasonings Country Peach Passion to keep the same green tea, mint, lemon, and peach flavors. Adding simple steamed lemonade and honey sweetens the drink and provides more complementary and comforting flavors. This recipe makes 24 ounces of tea and serves two, so each serving is equivalent to a tall Starbucks order.

You don't have to leave the house to enjoy this relaxing drink, especially if you're feeling under the weather. The recipe comes together in just 15 minutes and can easily be batched up if you want to rest and save some effort later. But you don't need to be sick to reap the benefits of this satisfying drink. The warmth, sweetness, and harmonious flavors are a welcome treat any day of the year.

For this recipe, you will first need water and lemonade. Feel free to use any store-bought lemonade you prefer, or make your own lemonade at home with the sweetness level you prefer. We've created this recipe with a Tazo Zen and a Celestial Seasonings Country Peach Passion teabag, but check out the FAQ on alternative teas that would work if those aren't available. You'll also need a little honey. Optional ingredients are peppermint extract to mimic the peppermint syrup that can be pumped into drinks at Starbucks and fresh lemon slices for garnish.

Bring the water to a boil in a small pot, and then remove it from the heat.

Place the teabags in the pot, cover, and let steep for 3 minutes.

Remove the Tazo Zen teabag, recover the pot, and let the peach teabag steep for 3 more minutes before removing it.

Meanwhile, pour the lemonade into a second small pot and gently heat it until steaming. Do not boil. Alternatively, you can heat the lemonade in a mug in the microwave until steaming.

Pour the lemonade into the pot with the tea.

Add the honey and an optional 1-3 drops of peppermint extract, and stir until the honey is melted.

Pour the tea into 2 mugs and serve hot.

The original Starbucks medicine ball uses two Teavana teas that are no longer available for retail sale. The first, Jade Citrus Mint, contains green tea, lemon verbena, lemongrass, and spearmint. We've chosen to use Tazo Zen tea because it's a close match with green tea, spearmint, lemon verbena, and lemongrass. If that's not available, Stash Moroccan Mint Mindfulness includes green tea, spearmint, lemongrass, and peppermint, so it's a good alternative.

For a caffeine-free version, consider Yogi Mandarin Mint Mindfulness, a delicious herbal tea featuring peppermint, spearmint, orange peel, and orange oil along with other herbal flavors, or Wissotzky Tea Lemon with Nana Mint, which includes nana mint, orange peel, spearmint, and lemon peel. Feel free to create your own herbal blend with a mint tea plus a citrus tea like Traditional Medicinals Lemon Balm (lemon balm has hints of mint too), Twinings Lemon Delight herbal tea, or Bigelow I Love Lemon herbal tea (or Sprouts Lemon Honey green tea if you don't mind caffeine).

The second Teavana tea, Peach Tranquility, gets its flavor from peach, rose hips, chamomile, licorice, lemon verbena, and various fruits. Besides Celestial Seasonings Country Peach Passion, which we chose, you could opt for Bigelow Perfect Peach herbal tea or Good And Gather Organic Peach Honey tea. Remember to adjust the steeping times according to the package directions of the teas you choose.

A sweet and tasty homemade version of the Starbucks medicine ball doesn't require that many ingredients. Besides the tea, it only takes water, lemonade, and honey. There are several ways to customize this drink according to your preferences. If you're watching your sugar intake, taste the tea before you add the honey because it may be sweet enough for you already. Alternatively, you can use a mixture of lemon juice and water instead of commercial sugared lemonade. The proportions depend on how strong of a lemon flavor you like. We recommend 1 part lemon juice to about 6 parts water. You can also make a simple homemade lemonade with honey to avoid consuming white sugar.

Reap the benefits of peppermint by adding optional peppermint extract drops to the recipe, or garnish your cup with fresh mint leaves or a peppermint stick to increase the mint flavor. For a fun alternative, consider subbing orange as the primary citrus flavor instead of lemon. This could come from orange extract instead of peppermint extract or from orange tea. Some brands sell green tea flavored with orange, while orange-flavored herbal teas are abundant and include flavors such as orange hibiscus, orange spice, orange chamomile, orange ginger, and wild sweet orange. Twinings Peach and Orange tea is a great option if you can find it because it includes peach, one of the primary flavors of the tea.