A Starbucks Medicine Ball (Honey Citrus Mint Tea) is about 90–150 calories by size, mostly from honey and lemonade.
The “Medicine Ball” is a customer nickname for Starbucks Honey Citrus Mint Tea. It’s a hot drink made with two tea bags, steamed lemonade, and a honey blend. The tea part is close to zero calories. The sweet parts do the heavy lifting.
If you’ve been wondering why different people quote different numbers, it’s usually one of three things: they picked a different size, their store built it a little differently, or they tweaked the sweetener. This page lays out the numbers, what drives them, and how to order the cup you actually want.
Calories In A Starbucks Medicine Ball By Size And Add-Ins
| Order Choice | Typical Calories | What Drives The Calories |
|---|---|---|
| Short (8 oz) | About 60 calories | Less lemonade and honey in a smaller cup |
| Tall (12 oz) | About 90 calories | Lemonade + honey blend set the baseline |
| Grande (16 oz) | About 130 calories | More lemonade and honey blend than a Tall |
| Venti (20 oz) | About 150 calories | Largest standard hot size, so more sweet volume |
| No honey blend | Drop often ranges 15–40 calories | Tea stays, lemonade stays, sweetener removed |
| Half lemonade, half hot water | Drop often ranges 20–60 calories | Less lemonade means less sugar |
| Extra honey (one add-on packet) | Add about 15–25 calories | Honey is a straight calorie add |
| Extra lemonade splash | Add about 10–30 calories | More sweet liquid, same tea base |
Those ranges are “typical” because the Medicine Ball nickname covers a few real-world builds. Starbucks has a standard recipe for Honey Citrus Mint Tea, then stores and customers can tweak it in small ways. The safest way to lock it in is to order by the menu name and state your tweaks clearly.
How Many Calories Is In A Medicine Ball From Starbucks?
Most people asking “how many calories is in a medicine ball from starbucks?” want a single number they can log. You can get close fast by picking your size first. A Tall lands around 90 calories, a Grande lands around 130 calories, and a Venti lands around 150 calories for the standard build. A Short is often around 60 calories.
If you want the official menu item, order Honey Citrus Mint Tea. You can see the item details on the Starbucks Honey Citrus Mint Tea menu page. Store menus and nutrition screens can vary by country, so treat the number you see in your app as the final word for your location.
What You Get In The Standard Order
The standard cup is a blend of two teas plus sweet citrus.
- One green tea bag (Jade Citrus Mint)
- One herbal tea bag (Peach Tranquility)
- Steamed lemonade
- Honey blend syrup (or honey, based on store setup)
That mix explains the calorie pattern: the teas bring flavor with almost no calories, then the lemonade and honey bring most of the sugar and nearly all the calories.
Where The Calories Come From
Think of the drink as “tea plus sweet citrus.” The tea side stays lean. The lemonade side carries sugar. The honey side adds another sweet layer. When the cup size goes up, the amount of sweet liquid usually goes up too.
If you order it with no honey blend, you still get a sweet cup from the lemonade alone. If you also cut the lemonade, the drink can drop into low-calorie territory fast, since you’re left with tea and hot water.
Why The Number Can Shift Between Stores
Two things move the needle: how much lemonade goes in, and how much sweetener goes in. Some baristas pour a little more lemonade for a stronger citrus hit. Some customers ask for extra honey. Some stores use honey blend pumps, while others may add honey packets when a syrup pump is not in play.
None of that is a big deal for taste, but it can change a calorie log. If precision matters, use a repeatable order: pick the size, ask for the standard build, then add or remove one item at a time.
Caffeine Notes People Miss
A Medicine Ball is not a coffee drink, yet it can still have caffeine because one tea bag is a green tea. The exact caffeine amount depends on steep time, water temperature, and how the bags are handled. If you’re limiting caffeine, ask the barista what tea bags they’re using and swap to a caffeine-free tea option when it’s available in your store.
Ways To Lower Calories Without Making It Taste Flat
You don’t need to turn this into plain hot tea to cut calories. Small tweaks can keep the bright citrus taste while trimming sugar.
Ask For Half Lemonade
This is the biggest lever that still keeps the “Honey Citrus Mint Tea” vibe. Try: “Half lemonade, half hot water.” You keep the lemon aroma and tang, but you cut a chunk of sugar from the drink’s main source.
If you want it even less sweet, go with “light lemonade.” Baristas can still steam it, so you keep the warm mouthfeel.
Skip The Honey Blend Or Ask For Less
The honey blend is tasty, but lemonade already brings sweetness. Try “no honey blend” first. If you miss the honey note, add it back in a smaller amount by asking for one less pump (where pumps apply) or a single honey packet instead of the standard sweetener.
If you track tightly, note what you chose in your log: “no honey blend” and “half lemonade” are easy to repeat.
Keep The Tea Bags, Change The Sweet Side
The tea bags do most of the flavor work once the drink cools a bit. If you cut honey and reduce lemonade, you still get mint, citrus peel notes, and a peachy aroma from the herbal bag. That’s why the drink can still taste “like itself” even after you trim sugar.
| Customization | Calorie Direction | When It Fits Best |
|---|---|---|
| Half lemonade | Usually lower by 20–60 | You want citrus taste with less sugar |
| Light lemonade | Lower by a smaller amount | You still want it clearly sweet |
| No honey blend | Usually lower by 15–40 | You like the tea + lemon combo |
| One honey packet only | Lower than standard honey blend | You want a honey note, not a honey punch |
| Extra honey | Higher by 15–25 per packet | You want it sweeter and richer |
| Extra lemonade splash | Higher by 10–30 | You want stronger lemon taste |
| Venti instead of Grande | Higher by about 20 | You want more volume, same profile |
| Tall instead of Grande | Lower by about 40 | You want the flavor with fewer calories |
Ways People Accidentally Raise The Calories
Some add-ons feel small in the moment, then your log looks weird later. These are the usual culprits.
Extra Honey Or Extra Pumps
Honey is pure sweetener. One packet can add a noticeable bump. Two packets can push the drink into “dessert tea” territory. If you ask for extra honey, plan to log it as an add-on.
More Lemonade Than The Standard Build
Lemonade tastes light, so it’s easy to forget it carries sugar. A “heavy lemonade” pour can change the drink more than you’d expect. If your cup tastes sharply sweet and lemon-forward, it’s a hint the lemonade portion ran high.
Sugar And Label Terms That Help You Log Better
Most of the calories in this drink come from sugar. If you’re watching sugar intake, it helps to know what “added sugars” means on labels and menus. The FDA lays this out clearly on its Added Sugars on the Nutrition Facts Label page.
For a café drink like this, you won’t see a package label, yet the same idea applies: lemonade and honey are added sweeteners in a drink. Cutting either one drops both sugar and calories in a direct way.
How To Order It So You Get The Same Cup Next Time
Starbucks baristas hear “Medicine Ball” all the time, but the menu name is what keeps the recipe consistent. Use this order pattern:
- Start with the menu name: “Honey Citrus Mint Tea.”
- State your size: Tall, Grande, or Venti.
- Add one tweak at a time: “half lemonade” or “no honey blend.”
- If you want honey, say how: “one honey packet” is clearer than “a little honey.”
If you’re logging calories, keep your wording the same each visit. That way, your cup and your log match up with less guesswork.
Make It At Home And Estimate Calories Without Guessing
You can make a close copy at home with two tea bags, lemonade, hot water, and honey. The home version is handy when you want to control sweetness. It also makes calorie math simple because you can measure what you pour.
Simple Home Build
- Steep one minty green tea bag and one peach herbal tea bag in hot water for 4–5 minutes.
- Warm lemonade on the stove or in the microwave until steaming, not boiling.
- Combine tea and lemonade in your mug, then stir in honey to taste.
To estimate calories, count the sweet parts only. Tea is close to zero. Lemonade and honey carry the count. Measure your honey by teaspoon or tablespoon, then log the lemonade amount by ounces or milliliters.
A Fast Checklist Before You Hit “Log”
- Pick the size first. That sets the rough calorie zone.
- Ask yourself: did I change honey, lemonade, or both?
- If you said “extra honey,” log the packets.
- If you said “half lemonade,” log it as a lower-calorie custom drink.
- If you’re still asking how many calories is in a medicine ball from starbucks?, your best next step is to open your Starbucks app nutrition view for your exact store and build.
Most cups land in the same range once your order is consistent. Keep the tea bags, tune the sweet parts, and you can steer the calories without losing the drink’s signature citrus-and-mint taste.