Buckle up, folks: Cold and flu season is upon us. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that we may have another “tripledemic” on our hands (literally), with hospitalizations for COVID-19, respiratory syntial virus (RSV), and flu to be at numbers similar to those of last year. With many illness-causing bugs floating around, you might be wondering how you can find fast relief for your ailments when they crop up.
While you can take over-the-counter cold medications and fever reducers to ride out the symptoms of a sore throat, congestion, cough, and fever, you can also make a pit stop at the Starbucks drive-through to indulge yourself in a comforting and soothing beverage — and no, it’s not the pumpkin spice latte.
Enter: Starbucks’ “medicine ball drink” — also referred to as the “cold buster” and even by some fans as “sick tea,” and on the menu as Honey Citrus Mint Tea. As its unofficial names suggest, this flu fighter has ingredients that are known to help relieve some classic cold symptoms. The medicine ball drink was once a secret-menu beverage, but because of its popularity, it’s now an official — and popular — menu item.
Here is what’s in the Starbucks medicine ball tea drink and how it may help you feel better, stat.
What’s in the Starbucks Medicine Ball Tea Drink?
According to Starbucks’ website, the medicine ball tea drink is made of steamed lemonade, which includes lemon juice, sugar, and lemon oil, as well as a combo of the jade citrus mint and peach tranquility teas. To further sweeten it up, there’s a special honey blend, and if you want, you can add a pump of peppermint syrup, too.
Sounds like the ultimate cold-fighting drink, right? Dietitians say it can be helpful … with some caveats.
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Does the Medicine Ball Drink From Starbucks Actually Help You Heal?
“Mint tea is supposed to relieve pain and clear congestion,” Vanessa Rissetto, RDN, cofounder and CEO of Culina Health, tells DailyOM.
And because the peach tranquility tea contains lemon verbena, rose hips, chamomile, and candied pineapple, it can also provide some positive effects.
“Lemon verbena is anti-inflammatory,” Rissetto explains. “Chamomile can assist with lubricating the throat. The pineapple has bromelain, which helps suppress cough and mucus. Rose hips are also known to help with inflammation and irritation. All of these elements can assist with different typical cold/flu symptoms.”
There are also anti-inflammatory benefits from the green tea in the jade citrus mint tea, notes Bonnie Taub-Dix, RDN, creator of BetterThanDieting.com, author of Read It Before You Eat It: Taking You from Label to Table, and past spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Research shows that tea can help promote health. A July 2018 review in the journal Molecules found there’s some evidence that suggests the catechins in tea, particularly green tea, can have preventive effects on the flu and common cold, though the studies were done on a small scale, so it’s hard to make a clear conclusion on tea’s efficacy. Tea also contains polyphenols, which may offer antioxidant benefits.
You can try re-creating the drink at home by steeping tea bags in hot water and adding your own fruit; this will give it some natural sweetness without the added sugar.
On top of the teas’ nutritional boosts, the lemonade portion of the medicine ball drink provides vitamins A, B, C, and K, and has small amounts of potassium, phosphorous, and magnesium — all of which support a healthy immune system, Taub-Dix tells DailyOM.
If you opt to add the honey blend, know that honey’s anti-microbial properties can help soothe a sore throat and a cough, and the menthol in the peppermint syrup can help with clearing up congestion, Rissetto says. Some research also shows that peppermint can help ease an upset stomach.
Not to mention, Taub-Dix adds, “the steam from the tea can help break up congestion. If you’re feeling cold from the weather outside or are under the weather, the tea can be really comforting. But will it cure everything that ails you? I’m not so sure.” It can certainly help you find relief for some of your symptoms, but Taub-Dix says it doesn’t replace the nutrients and vitamins, as well as the rest, your body needs to recover and heal that you can get from food and supplements.
Is the Medicine Ball at Starbucks Healthy?
Ordering a grande size of the medicine ball drink with a pump of honey blend means you’re getting about 30 grams of sugar in one serving. That’s a lot for one drink.
“One packet of sugar has 4 grams, so this drink has almost eight packets. If you’re trying to limit sugar, you may want to order a smaller size, which helps cut it down, or omit the syrup altogether,” Taub-Dix says.
You can also try re-creating the drink at home by steeping tea bags in hot water and adding your own fruit, like fresh lemon, lime, and orange slices; peaches; or berries. This will give it some natural sweetness without the added sugar. You can also drop in a few fresh mint leaves, Taub-Dix suggests. “It will not only cost you less to make it, but it will cost you less in sugar.”
You also want to keep in mind that the jade citrus mint tea has some caffeine from the green tea extract, so if you’re sensitive to caffeine, you can opt for a decaffeinated green tea instead.
Overall, there’s generally no harm in enjoying a medicine ball to help you feel better this cold and flu season. Just make sure you’re also nourishing your body with nutrient-dense foods and getting enough rest to help your immune system continue to fight off illnesses.
