Butterfly pea flower tea recipe is a refreshing and beautiful blue drink made from a tropical flower, the butterfly pea flower is a tropical flower found throughout Thailand and South East Asia. This blue tea recipe is very simple to make, you only need 3 ingredients, and can be made in less than 15 minutes.
For more refreshing and delicious Thai drinks, try my Hibiscus tea flower tea recipe and popular Thai iced tea recipe. Using the same Thai tea ingredient, make Thai tea limeade while at it. Both are delicious in their own rights!
What is Butterfly Pea Flowers?
Butterfly pea flowers are tropical blue flowers grown wild in Thailand and many Southeast Asian countries. The beautiful blue flowers are used in many things, including tea, smoothies, cocktails, baking, cooking, and as a natural coloring agent. When the blue tea is mixed with acidic drinks like lemon or lime juice, the blue magically turns into many bright hues of purple and pink. It's mesmerizing to watch!
Why Butterfly Pea Flower Tea?
- Butterfly pea tea is all-natural with no artificial colors added! Hard to believe but nature gifted us big with this magical ingredient!
- It’s a perfect summer drink, especially around the fourth of July.
- Butterfly pea tea is chockfull of health benefits that are so good for you. We’ll ignore the sugar for now, but you can use healthy substitutes too. Check the notes section for more helpful tips.
- It’s a very simple recipe using only 3 ingredients. The garnishing options are few though.
- It can be made ahead of time in a big batch too, perfect for serving a group of thirsty people during your gatherings.
- This recipe offers two tea options, hot and cold. Both are very simple.
What Goes Into This Recipe
Below are the ingredients for making hibiscus tea. Only 3 ingredients, VERY simple and easy!
- Water
- Butterfly pea flowers, dried.
- Ginger for added taste and health benefits. Optional
- Sugar, honey, or any sweetening agent of choice. Optional
- Limes, lemon, and ginger for garnishing. Optional
- Ice
How do you Make Butterfly Pea Tea at Home?
There are two ways to make butterfly pea flower tea. One is using a french press, mine is a 51 oz size and holds 6-7 cups. The recipe calls for 6 cups so it's a perfect size for it. I also use my french press to make Thai iced tea, coffee, and a few other loose leaf teas. Very easy and convenient! The second method is to use a medium-size pot. Add the dried butterfly pea flowers and water and let it come to a gentle boil then steep and strain. Also very easy and fast!
Butterly Pea Tea Using a French Press Method
- Combine dried butterfly pea flowers and ginger in a french press.
-
- Add hot water to the tea mixture and let it steep for 10 minutes. Use a spoon or fork to whisk so all the flowers to help submerge all the leaves.
-
- Plunge the french press then pour the hot tea into a teacup.
-
- Add sweetener and garnish of choice; sugar, honey, ginger, lemon/lime wedges, lemongrass, etc. Save the rest for iced tea and put it in the refrigerator.
-
- To drink as iced tea, let the blue tea cool completely before adding sweeter or garnish.
Butterly Pea Tea On the Stove Top
- Combine dried butterfly pea flowers and ginger in a medium pot.
- Bring the tea to a boil, remove from the stop and let simmer for 5 minutes.
- Strain the tea mixture and discard the flowers and ginger.
-
- Drink it hot with honey or any garnish of choice. For drinking as iced tea, let the tea cool completely. Drink the tea with ice and ad sweetener and top with your favorite garnish. Save the rest of the blue tea in the refrigerator.
Helpful Kitchen Notes
- Garnishing ideas: Mint, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, rosemary, Thai basil, cucumbers slices, lemon, lime, oranges, peaches, nectarine and so much more!
- Sugar. Use white, palm, coconut, or monk fruit sugar. Honey is a great option for this tea too.
- Use ice cubed trays to store leftover tea for future uses! Such a fun and beautiful little trick!
FAQs About Butterfly Pea Tea
How Do You use Butterfly Pea for Tea?
The flowers of the butterfly pea are used in food for making hot or iced tea. My recipe calls for dried butterfly pea flowers. To make the tea, you combined hot water with the dried flowers and let the process do its thing by naturally extracting the gorgeous blue color of the flowers, let the flowers steep for a few minutes, then its' ready for tea time! Hot or cold!
What are the Butterfly Blue Pea Flower Benefits?
There are tons of health benefits to this magical ingredient. The rich blue color of the butterfly pea tea is full of antioxidants that help our bodies fight off harmful free radicals. The high amount of flavonoids found in butterfly pea tea fights inflammation and slows down the aging process. Blue tea helps calms our nervous system which helps prevent stress, anxiety, and depression. It truly is nature's natural medicine to our bodies!
What do You Add to Butterfly Pea Tea?
You can add herbs and spices to enhance the flavors of your butterfly pea tea. Ginger, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, cinnamon, lemon, or lime juice are great options used to spice up the taste of butterfly pea tea.
How do you Sweeten Butterfly Pea Tea?
You can sweeten butterfly pea tea with sugar, honey, agave, or monk fruit sugar.
Is Butterfly Pea Flower Tea Sweet?
No. Butterfly pea flower tea by itself has little to no flavors. Sugar or any sweetening ingredient is often used to help sweeten the tea.
Try adding lemon or lime juice to the blue tea and watch how the color changes from blue to purple right before your eyes! It's mesmerizing!
More Thai Summer Recipes you’ll love!
- Thai iced tea recipe
- Thai tea limeade
- Thai coconut ice cream recipe
- Thai glass noodle salad with shrimp
- Thai beef salad
- Thai green mango salad with cashew
- Namtok beef waterfall salad
- The best Crying Tiger recipe
** Love a recipe you've tried? Please leave a 5-star ?rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. Or follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram! **
Print
Butterfly Pea Flower Tea
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 6 cups 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Butterfly pea flower tea is a refreshing and beautiful blue drink made from a tropical flower, the butterfly pea flower is a tropical flower found throughout Thailand and South East Asia. This blue tea recipe is very simple to make, you only need 3 ingredients, and can be made in less than 15 minutes.
Ingredients
- 6 cups of hot water
- ¼ cup dried butterfly pea flowers.
- 1 slice ginger, 2 inches long. Bruise lightly with the back of a knife for quick release of the oil.
- Garnish options: Mint, Thai basil, lemon, or lime slices for garnishing
- Ice, for the iced tea version
Instructions
Using a French Press Method
- Combine dried butterfly pea flowers and ginger in a french press.
- Add hot water to the tea mixture and let it steep for 10 minutes. Use a spoon to whisk so all the flowers are mostly submerged.
- Plunge the french press then pour the hot tea into a teacup.
- Add sweetener and garnish of choice; sugar, honey, ginger, lemon/lime wedges, lemongrass, etc. Save the rest for iced tea and put it in the refrigerator.
- To drink as iced tea, let the blue tea cool completely before adding sweeter or garnish.
On the Stove Top
- Combine dried butterfly pea flowers and ginger in a medium pot.
- Bring the tea to a boil, remove from the stop and let simmer for 5 minutes.
- Strain the tea mixture and discard the flowers and ginger.
- Drink it hot with honey or any garnish of choice. For drinking as iced tea, let the tea cool completely. Drink the tea with ice and ad sweetener and top with your favorite garnish. Save the rest of the blue tea in the refrigerator.
Notes
- You can use more for a deep blue color and less for a lighter shade of blue.
- Garnishing ideas: Mint, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, rosemary, Thai basil, cucumbers slices, lemon, lime, oranges, peaches, nectarine and so much more!
- Sugar. Use white, palm, coconut, or monk fruit sugar. Honey is a great option for this tea too.
- Use ice cubed trays to store leftover tea for future uses! Such a fun and beautiful little trick!
** Thank you so much for visiting my blog! This is truly a passion for me. If you have enjoyed these recipes and appreciate the hard work I put into them, I would love it if you would share them with your friends! Your recommendation is the highest review I could hope for, and I’d so appreciate it! **
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 10
- Category: Drinks
- Method: Stove top
- Cuisine: Thai
Keywords: butterfly pea tea. butterfly pea flower tea. blue tea. butterfly blue drinks.
Leave a Reply