Stardrop Tea is among the dozens of new items introduced in the Stardew Valley 1.6 update, but what does it do and how can players actually get it?
While there are many new items that can be crafted, there are also some that can only be received through rewards or outright RNG. Stardrop Tea is in the latter category, and just getting hold of one can be a task and a half. However, the payoff is worth the effort as Stardrop Tea is key to quickly raising relationship levels with NPCs.
Here’s every way to get Stardrop Tea in Stardew Valley 1.6 and everything players can do with it.
How to get Stardrop Tea in Stardew Valley?
Players can get Stardrop Tea from Mayor Lewis’ Prize Machine, Mr. Raccoon’s requests, Golden Fishing Treasure Chests, and the Helper’s Bundle. These methods are not guaranteed to yield Stardrop Tea, as RNG plays into each one.
Helper’s Bundle
When starting a new game, on the character creation screen, select the wrench icon at the bottom to access advanced options. In this menu, look for the Community Center Bundles dropdown menu and set it to Remixed. This will provide potential access to the Helper’s Bundle which was introduced in the Stardew Valley 1.6 update and has Stardrop Tea as a guaranteed reward.
Unfortunately, what isn’t guaranteed is the Helper’s Bundle itself, which can be one of five randomly selected from a total pool of 11 bundles for completing the Bulletin Board. If it is available for redemption, it will require 5 Mystery Boxes and a single Prize Ticket to claim.
Mayor Lewis’ Prize Machine
A more predictable way of getting the first Stardrop Tea is via Mayor Lewis’ Prize Machine, where Stardrop Tea is the sole guaranteed prize for handing in the fifth Prize Ticket. After the last of the 22 pre-determined prizes have been claimed, Stardrop Tea becomes available in a prize pool of nine possible rewards for handing in subsequent Prize Tickets.
Mr. Raccoon’s Requests
The third method is slightly more involved but shrinks the potential reward pool, and requires the completion of Mr. Raccoon’s requests over at the Giant Stump. After completing five requests over a span of five weeks, the sixth request will offer up Stardrop Tea from a pool of five possible rewards. And naturally, the next request won’t become available until another seven days have passed.
Golden treasure chests
The final method is full-on RNG and involves fishing. While many Stardew Valley players utterly loathe fishing, the 1.6 update offers up both the new jelly items alongside Stardrop Tea.
Not only will players have to be lucky enough to successfully obtain a Treasure Chest, it will have to be a golden one at that, with Stardrop Tea being one out of 100 possible rewards, at a 7% drop rate. Stardrop Tea never drops from regular Treasure Chests.
What does Stardrop Tea do?
In Stardew Valley, Stardrop Tea provides an immediate and massive boost of friendship points with an NPC.
At its lowest, gifting a Stardrop Tea to an NPC will guarantee a gain of 250 friendship points, or one full heart. Gifting it on an NPC’s birthday or the Feast of the Winter Star will net 750 friendship points, or three full hearts.
While normal gifting is limited to once a day and twice a week per NPC, Stardrop Tea does not count against those restrictions. This quirk can effectively be used on an NPC’s birthday or on the Feast of the Winter Star to double-dip for the bonus friendship points granted on those days. Stardrop Tea does not count towards the Qi’s Kindness quest objective of gifting 50 loved gifts in the span of a week.
With the Prize Machine being the source of the first and likely only Stardrop Tea received in the early game, it is recommended that players hold on to it for as long as possible, perhaps to use towards a quest or task requiring a specific friendship level with a given NPC in Stardew Valley.
Stardrop Tea cannot be consumed by the player. It can be sold for 77g and used as purple dye, but given its rarity, obviously neither of these is recommended to do.
