How To Make Color-Changing Butterfly Pea Flower Tea
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Have you ditched the artificial food coloring but still want your food and drinks to be fun and colorful? Want to see a natural chemical reaction magic trick that you can drink?
You need to try butterfly pea lemonade!
People most commonly use butterfly pea flower in beverages for its color-changing magic. The bright blue petals not only create vibrant drinks but also offer health and wellness benefits and serve as a natural food dye.
What is Butterfly Pea Flower?
Butterfly pea flower, also known as Clitoria ternatea, is a vining plant that blooms bright blue flowers. Anthocyanin compounds called ternatins give butterfly pea flowers their vibrant hue. When pollinators visit the fresh flowers, the plant produces edible beans. Butterfly pea is native to tropical regions of southeast Asia, India, Thailand, Africa, and Pacific islands. The flowers produce a deep blue drink that has a mild subtle, earthy taste that is seemingly tasteless. The beans have a grassy and herbal taste.
Most parts of the butterfly pea flower can be used.
fresh flowers are the most commonly use part, as they can be used for tea, and natural food colorant.
Leaves can be eaten raw and used in salads, or even used as a green colorant
tender bean pods are edible and can be used in various dishes
roots are considered toxic and should not be used
Benefits of Butterfly Pea Plant
People drink butterfly pea tea not just for its pretty color but also for its health benefits. Practitioners of Ayurvedic medicine have traditionally used butterfly pea for its therapeutic properties. The same compounds that give the flowers their bright color—anthocyanins called ternatins—also provide antioxidant benefits.
Most notable health benefits:
- Reduce inflammation: high antioxidants may reduce free radicals even prevent cancer cell growth
- Brain health: Ayurvedic medicine believes butterfly pea flowers enhance memory and improve overall brain function.
- Hair and skin health: high antioxidants can slow down aging
- Weight loss: may aid in weight loss by boosting metabolism
- Blood sugar control: may help regulate blood sugar levels
How To Make Blue Butterfly Pea Flower Tea
You can buy dried flower petals or powder at a local bulk herb shop or online, or you can grow the plant in your garden from seed.
To steep loose flower petals, you will need a fine mesh strainer or an herbal infuser.
- Bring 2 cups of water to a boil
- Add 2 tsp of dried butterfly pea flowers into the tea infuser and pour the hot water
- Let steep for 10 to 15 mins and strain
- Then, let the blue butterfly pea tea come to room temperature and enjoy.
You can drink the herbal tea as is or use it to get creative in the kitchen
How to Make the Magical Color Changing Purple Tea
One way to get creative with butterfly pea flowers is to change its color!
Butterfly pea flowers change from deep blue to a bright purple when the pH of the liquid decreases. By adding an acidic substance, like lemon juice, causes the blue pea tea to instantly turn purple. The more acidic the liquid, the brighter the shade of purple.
Acidic ingredient– lemon juice, lime juice and vinegar
Alkaline ingredients– baking soda
Magical Color Changing Lemonade
Equipment
- 1 tea kettle
- 1 loose leaf tea strainer
- 1 glass cup or mug
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp dried butterfly pea flower
- ½ lemon
- 1 tbsp sugar or sweetener of choice
Instructions
- Bring 1 cup of water to a boil using the tea kettle
- Place the dried butterfly pea flowers in the loose-leaf tea infuser, place in mug
- Pour warm water over dried flowers into the cup
- Pour in sweetener and stir until dissolve
- Let steep for at least 10 minutes
- Strain excess flower petals out
- Squeeze the juice of half a lemon into the cup
How to Use as a Natural Food Dye
The color-changing properties of butterfly pea flower tea don’t just stop at fun beverages. The stunning blue color can be used as a colorant in the kitchen for cooking and baking.
You can replace the water or liquid in any recipe with the blue tea or use a powder form and mix into recipes. Butterfly pea flower powder will provide a more concentrated, deep blue color compared to the flowers. As with most natural food dye, they are sensitive to heat, and the color will fade if heated at high temperatures.
To preserve the beautiful blue color use in low heat recipes and add the color at the end of your recipe.
Baking Ideas:
- Icing or glaze
- Custards
- Cake and cupcakes
- Macarons
- Bread
Cooking Ideas:
- Blue Rice
- Noodles
- Yogurt
- Soup
- Jelly
Beverage Ideas:
- Kombucha
- Mocktails
- Popsicles
- Smoothies
- Blue Lattes or Matchas
- Ice cubes
The possibilities of using butterfly pea flowers are endless. If you want to learn more about brewing kombucha and using butterfly pea flowers- check out this step-by-step guide to brewing kombucha
How To Make Homemade Kombucha- Simple Recipe
Facebook Pinterest This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policyKombucha is a fermented sweet tea drink. It tastes like tart soda but with added health benefits of postbiotics that help your gut microbiome. Kombucha has gained popularity as a health drink because the fermentation process can infuse antioxidants and vitamins into the drink.The…
