Honey Citrus Mint Tea (Starbucks Medicine Ball Recipe)

A glass mug filled with orange hued tea and garnished with lemon slices.

Honey Citrus Mint Tea (Starbucks Medicine Ball Recipe)

This copycat recipe for Starbucks' Honey Citrus Mint Tea is made with simple ingredients. Perfect for the budget-conscious consumer!

Course Beverages, Drinks

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5

Total Time 5

Servings serving

Calories 132

Author Dorothy Bigelow

Ingredients

¾ cup lemonade store-bought or homemade
¾ cup water
2-3 teaspoons honey
1 Tazo “Zen” tea bag or Teavana Jade Citrus Mint
1 peach tea bag* we use Country Peach Passion by Celestial seasonings
1 chamomile tea bag

Instructions

Heat the lemonade and water. Bring the lemonade and water to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat, or microwave in 45-second intervals until steamy and hot.
Add the honey. Pour the honey into the bottom of a large heat-proof mug or cup.
Pour in the hot water and lemonade and stir to dissolve the honey into the hot liquid.
Steep. Add the listed tea bags (1 Tazo “Zen” or Teavana Jade Citrus Mint, 1 peach tea bag, and 1 chamomile tea bag – if the peach tea is not “Peach Tranquility by Teavana*) and steep for exactly 5 minutes.
Remove the tea bags. Once the 5 minutes are up, remove the tea bags and squeeze out any extra liquid. Taste and add more honey if you prefer a sweeter flavor.
Serve and enjoy!

Notes

This recipe makes about 12 ounces, equivalent to a Starbucks Grande. The recipe can be scaled to 1.5 times the recipe to prepare a “Venti” (use the same amount of tea bags, but steep for 8 minutes).

Without lemonade: If you don't have lemonade, you can make a quick homemade lemonade by using the following ingredients:

2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons sugar (or sweetener of choice)
¼ cup very hot (or boiling water)
½ cup cold water

Combine the hot water and sugar and stir until dissolved. Pour in the cold water, then the lemon juice, stir, and taste to adjust the sweetness or lemon flavor to your liking.

WITH Teavana teas: Use 1 bag of Jade Citrus Mint and 1 bag of Peach Tranquility tea instead of the 3 listed in the recipe card.

Without Teavana teas: Since Teavana teas are not widely available to purchase, I wanted to use easily accessible options that you can find in grocery stores or major online retailers. Tazo “Zen” is a blend of green tea, lemongrass, and spearmint, and is an exact dupe for Teavana Jade Citrus Mint. Combining Country Peach Passion (by Celestial Seasonings) and a basic chamomile tea bag is a great swap for Teavana’s “Peach Tranquility”. Because 3 tea bags are used instead of one, I recommend a limited steeping time of just 5 minutes.

*Peach tea: If you use Peach Tranquility by Teavana as your peach tea, you can omit the chamomile tea bag, as Teavana contains chamomile. Otherwise, include both a peach tea bag and a chamomile tea bag.

Sugar-free: I love making this recipe with sugar-free lemonade. We normally keep the honey, but if you need to avoid all sugar you can purchase a “sugar-free” honey, which is a honey-flavored syrup made with sweeteners.

Iced Medicine Ball: Pour the prepared tea over a tumbler filled halfway with ice.

Nutrition