This butterfly pea flower drink (blue pea tea) makes an absolutely unique, naturally colored blue tea. With only 2 ingredients, this herbal drink is super quick and easy to make. Plus, it can be served as a hot tea drink or enjoyed as an iced flower tea too!
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❤️Why you will love this recipe
- The butterfly pea flower tea recipe on this page is a simple herbal tea recipe made with a simple natural ingredient - the butterfly pea flower.
- It is very easy to make and quick too.
- You only need 2 ingredients to make it - the butterfly pea flowers and water.
- This is a healthy drink and is often associated with a long list of health benefits.
- It is a pretty drink with vibrant blue color, all of which is natural color from the flowers.
- This blue tea is a perfect drink for a tea lover looking for something different from regular tea.
Like this butterfly pea flower drink recipe? Here are my other posts you might want to check out:
- Butterfly Pea Latte
- Butterfly Pea Syrup
- Butterfly Pea Lemonade
- Butterfly Pea Milk Tea
- Pandan Milk Tea - Easy Homemade Bubble Tea Recipe
- Grass Jelly Milk Tea - Easy Bubble Tea Recipe
❓What is Butterfly Pea
- Butterfly pea plant (also known as Asian Pigeonwings or Clitoria Ternatea) is a plant native to the Southeast Asia region. It grows in a vine and produces delicate, bright blue flowers.
- These flowers have long been used as a natural color (deep blue color) in food and drinks and also for their health benefits. Butterfly pea is widely used in making drinks, as well as in rice dishes and in certain sweet treats. The flowers do not have any distinct taste or smell. At most, they have a very mild green tea like taste. Hence, its usage in most recipes can be attributed to its natural blue coloring.
- The flowers are also widely used in traditional medicine like Ayurvedic medicine. They are said to be rich in antioxidants and are well known for their positive health benefits on blood sugar levels, immune system and hair health.
- A distinct feature of the dark blue color extracted from these blue pea flowers is it color-changing effect when introduced to acidic ingredients or PH level. Adding a few spoons or drops of lemon juice or lime juice into a glass of blue pea tea will result in a color change from a deep dark blue color to a pretty purple color. Hence, lemonade made with these butterfly pea blossoms is often called magic lemonade.
📋Ingredients
- Water - use filtered water.
- Butterfly pea flowers - This blue butterfly pea flower tea can be made using both fresh flowers or the dried ones. Both will yield the same results. When steeped in water, the blue extract from the flowers is released into the water to make the tea. Dried flowers can be purchased from any Asian stores or supermarkets.
- Ice cubes (optional)
*Refer to the recipe card below for exact quantities of the ingredients above. For best results, use a digital kitchen scale where applicable*
🧾Substitution and variations
- The butterfly pea tea is often served unsweetened. Sweeteners (like simple syrup, butterfly pea syrup, sugar or honey) can be added if you like your drink sweet. Do note that the color of your tea might change to a purple hue depending on the PH level of the sweetener you use.
- And if you like your butterfly pea flower tea iced, simply add ice cubes to make chilled blue pea tea.
This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations. If you do try, please let me know in the comments section below!
👩🏻🍳How to make
- Pour water into a small pot.
- Bring it to a boil.
- Add the butterfly pea flowers.
- Cover the pot with a lid and let the flowers steep in the hot water for 5 minutes.
- Strain the tea to remove the flower pulp. Press the flowers with the back of a spoon to release all the extract.
- Let the tea cool to a warm temperature before serving. Add some sugar, simple syrup or honey if you like your tea sweet. To make iced butterfly pea flower tea, add ice cubes into a glass. Pour the warm tea over and serve. For a sweeter version of the iced butterfly pea tea, add some sugar to the tea before pouring over the ice cubes. You can also use butterfly pea syrup or honey.
🍽️Serving & storage
- This flower tea is best consumed on the same day it is made. If kept refrigerated, it can last for a few days, but best consumed within 3 to 4 days.
💭FAQs
In any case, if you are not able to find the fresh or dried version of the flowers, you can also opt to use the blue butterfly pea flower extract in powder form.
To use the powder, simply add it to the boiling water and mix well. There is no need to strain the tea afterwards, and similar to the tea made with fresh or dried flowers, it can be served both warm and iced.
These butterfly pea flowers can be purchased in any Asian stores. While it may be a little difficult to find the fresh flowers, you should be able to get the dried version or even the powder version in online stores like Amazon.
The thicker the butterfly pea flower concentration in the tea, the darker the color of the tea will be. Given that this is a herbal tea, it is best to not overconcentrate the flower content.
If you prefer a lighter version of the the butterfly pea tea, you can reduce the amount of flowers you use in make it. The lesser you use, the lighter will be the color of your tea.
This butterfly pea drink is a simple 2 ingredient recipe. In its original form, there is no need to add any sweeteners. But if you prefer to enjoy your tea sweet, you can always add some sugar or honey to it. Brown sugar will also work fine.
Yes, you can. You can also make this drink by adding milk to it. In that case, it will become the butterfly pea latte. Or you can even make boba milk tea.
The butterfly pea flower tea does not have any distinct taste or smell. To a certain extent, it is similar to drinking unsweetened green tea. There is only a very distinct earthy taste to it.
Similar to the taste, there is also no distinct smell of the tea.
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📖Recipe
Butterfly Pea Flower Drink (Blue Pea Tea)
For best results, use the metrics measurements. US customary measurements have not been tested and are only meant for guide.
Ingredients
- 500 ml water
- ⅛ cup dried butterfly pea flowers (approximately 25 flowers)
- 1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Pour water into a small pot.
- Bring it to a boil.
- Add the butterfly pea flowers.
- Cover the pot with a lid and let the flowers steep in the hot water for 5 minutes.
- Strain the tea to remove the flower pulp. Press the flowers with the back of a spoon to release all the extract.
- Let the tea cool to a warm temperature before serving. Add some sugar or honey if you like your tea sweet.
Notes
- To make iced butterfly pea tea, let the drink cool to room temperature. Keep it chilled in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
- To serve, add ice cubes into a glass. Pour the flower tea over and serve. For a sweeter version of the iced butterfly pea flower drink, add some sugar to the tea and stir until it is dissolved before pouring over the ice cubes. Alternatively, you can use simple syrup or butterfly pea syrup or even honey.
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