Best Starbucks Drink For a Sore Throat | The Medicine Ball

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Quick answer: The drink people mean is the Medicine Ball: a hot tea built from one bag of Jade Citrus Mint, one bag of Peach Tranquility, steamed lemonade and honey. It is not a menu item with its own button, so you order it by its build rather than by its nickname.

Jade Citrus Mint is a green tea, so the drink carries caffeine. Peach Tranquility is a herbal blend. Starbucks does not publish a caffeine figure for this build in a form that could be fetched and verified for this page, so no milligram number appears here.

Question: What is the best Starbucks drink for a sore throat?

How to order it, component by component

Read this at the register and the order lands even if the barista has never heard the nickname.

Checked against FDA, Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine is Too Much on 2026-08-17.

This table describes an ordering procedure, not nutrition. Component level caffeine and calorie figures for this build could not be verified against a fetchable primary source in this pass, so none are given.

Answer: The best drink to order at Starbucks when you have a sore throat is known as the, "Medicine Ball."  (aka the 'Cold Buster' 'Sick Tea' etc)

What is the Medicine Ball? The Medicine Ball is really just a fancy, internet-coined name for a hot tea with one bag of Jade Citrus Mint Tea, One Bag of Peach Tranquility Tea, Steamed Lemonade and 1-4 packets of honey.
How to Order the Medicine Ball: When you are ordering the Medicine Ball from your barista, you can try and just order it that way, most baristas know how to make this due to it's popularity.  If the barista does not know, then order it like this: "One venti hot tea, one bag jade citrus mint, one bag peach tranquility, about 2 inches of steamed lemonade and 2 packets of honey."  

Helpful Tips when Ordering the Medicine Ball: Grande and Venti hot teas come standard with 2 tea bags, so you will not be charged extra for the tea bag.  If you order a tall, you will be charged for that extra tea bag, as the tall only comes with one.  Depending on the barista, you may or may not be charged for the lemonade.  If you are, either do not complain, or do not order it with lemonade! Also, don't get irritated if the barista doesn't know what it is! Always be prepared with the recipe and prepare to wait longer, as the honey packets are a bitch to open and the drink, overall is pretty annoying to make! But we love helping people when they're sick, so don't worry.

Click Here for the Best Tea we Recommend you should buy for a Sore Throat or Cold  

Why the build matters more than the name

The Medicine Ball travelled as an internet order, which means it reached customers before it reached training material. A barista who started last month may know it as the Cold Buster, as Sick Tea, or not at all. The build is the stable part. Two tea bags, steamed lemonade in place of some of the hot water, honey stirred in. Say those four things and the drink is the same whoever makes it.

What actually changes the cup

Three variables move the result. The ratio of lemonade to hot water decides how tart it lands: more lemonade pulls it sharp, less leaves it closer to a plain tea. The steep time decides how much of the green tea comes through, and the bags keep steeping in the cup, so a drink you carry to the car tastes stronger than the one you sip at the counter. The honey decides everything else, and one packet against four is a different drink.

If you want it consistent, pick a lane and repeat it. Half lemonade, two honey, bags left in is a reasonable default. Write it in your notes app and read it out.

What this drink is not

It is hot tea with lemonade and honey. Warm liquid is pleasant when your throat hurts and that is the whole of the claim being made here. Barista Life does not give health advice, and nothing on this page is a treatment recommendation. If a sore throat is not improving, that is a conversation for a clinician, not a drive-through.

Ordering it without slowing the line

This drink takes longer to build than almost anything else on the hot bar. Two bags have to be opened, lemonade has to be steamed separately, and honey packets are genuinely awkward with wet hands. If you order it at peak, expect to wait. If you order it through the app, put the tea bags in as separate customizations rather than typing the nickname into the notes field, because the notes field is easy to miss on a busy bar.

Close variations people ask for

Swapping Peach Tranquility for a second Jade Citrus Mint gives a greener, more mint-forward cup and more caffeine. Dropping the lemonade gives a straightforward honey and mint tea. Adding a pump of peach syrup instead of extra honey shifts it sweet without the stickiness. All three are legitimate orders. None of them is the Medicine Ball, so name the change rather than expecting the barista to guess.

Sources

All figures checked against the linked sources on 2026-08-17.

• FDA, Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine is Too Much

FAQ

Is the Medicine Ball on the Starbucks menu?

Not as its own item. It is a hot tea ordered with two specific tea bags plus steamed lemonade and honey, so the register rings it up as a hot tea with modifications. Ordering by the build works everywhere; ordering by the nickname depends on the barista.

Does the Medicine Ball have caffeine?

Yes. Jade Citrus Mint is a green tea, and green tea contains caffeine. Peach Tranquility is a herbal blend. Starbucks does not publish a verified caffeine figure for this exact build in a form we could fetch for this page, so we do not quote one.

Will I be charged extra for the second tea bag?

It depends on the size you order and on store practice. Larger hot tea sizes come with more than one bag as standard, smaller ones do not, and the steamed lemonade may or may not ring up as an add. Ask at the register rather than assuming.