Medicine Ball: Starbucks secret drink becomes so popular it has been added to official menu

It was fast-tracked due to increasing customer demand

Sarah Jones
Monday 03 April 2017 12:48 BST
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The Medicine Ball has been touted as a cure for the common cold
The Medicine Ball has been touted as a cure for the common cold

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Suffering from the dreaded trans-seasonal cold? Well, a trip to Starbucks might be just what the doctor ordered.

Called the Medicine Ball, the tea concoction touted as a 'cure' for the common cold has been one of Starbucks’ secret items for a while.

But, due to increasing customer demand the coffee chain has now fast-tracked it onto the official US menu.

A Starbucks spokesperson told Today that the company began seeing orders come in for the drink back in October 2016 after customers saw it posted time and again on Instagram.

Then, after nearly 40 managers confirmed that they were selling anywhere from one to four dozen Medicine Balls, the company decided to make it an official beverage.

Starbucks COO Kevin Johnson told Fortune this process usually takes months but because of its high-demand, they were able to make it happen in one day.

So what exactly is a Medicine Ball?

Otherwise known as the ‘coldbuster’, the beverage is a combination of hot water, citrus mint tea, peach tranquillity tea and half steamed lemonade.

It’s also finished with a little honey and an optional pump of peppermint.

“I thought the Starbucks ‘sick tea’ or ‘coldbuster’ was gonna taste weird but it's actually pretty good,” one customer wrote on Instagram.

“I've had a crazy fever for a couple of days with migraines, body aches, a runny nose...but this really cleared up my sinuses and made me feel a lot better.”

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