How to Make Butterfly Pea Flower Tea - 8 Easy Recipes
Butterfly pea flower tea is famous for its stunning blue colour, but not so much for its taste. Now don’t worry, there are many ways to improve the taste of this drink, and you don’t even need to add sugar or other sweeteners.
This is what this post is all about - how to make butterfly pea flower tea actually taste good. Here are 8 easy, step by step recipes that are healthy, tasty, and full of flavour.
Benefits of butterfly pea flower tea
The main reason why people like butterfly pea tea so much, are its many potential health benefits. Blue pea contains a special type of antioxidants, that is also present in other “super" foods, such as blueberries and blackberries.
What is special about butterfly pea tea, is that you can get these oxidants without having to consume all the extra calories that come with the berries. Here are some of the potential health benefits of blue pea tea:
Supports weight loss
Promotes hair growth
High in antioxidants
Supports the immune system
Anti-cancer effects
Increases skin hydration
Helps stabilise blood sugar
May help reduce inflammation
Supports visual health
Improves cognitive performance
Has potential antimicrobial activity
For more detail on the potential benefits of blue pea and the scientific evidence for them, there is a separate blog post that covers that in much more detail.
Well, plenty of reasons to drink blue pea tea! Now let’s go to the recipes.
Butterfly pea flower tea recipes
Butterfly pea tea can be prepared with both fresh and dried flowers.
Here are 8 blue pea tea recipes that are easy to make and actually taste good:
1. Blue pea flower green tea
From all the recipes in this list, this is probably the best one for waking up in the morning. It is important not to steep this tea too long, otherwise it will start turning bitter.
Ingredients:
4-8 butterfly pea flowers (or 1 tbsp)
1 tsp green tea (or 1 tea bag)
hot water
honey (optional)
Directions:
Measure the amount of tea leaves and flowers you need and add them to the infuser.
Put the infuser in a mug or teapot.
Pour the hot water over your tea leaves and flowers.
Cover and steep for approximately 3-4 minutes.
Remove the infuser with leaves from the teapot.
Serve the tea and sweeten with some honey if you want to.
Notes:
This recipe is even better if you use scented, instead of pure green tea. You could for example try peach, or cherry blossom scented green tea.
Instead of green tea, you can use white tea. The result is almost the same, but since white tea has a slightly milder flavour, I would add a bit more leaves than the recipe calls for.
2. Chamomile butterfly pea tea
This recipe is ideal if you happen to have a leftover used vanilla bean and are looking for something to do with it.
Ingredients:
4-8 butterfly pea flowers (or 1 tbsp)
1 tsp chamomile tea (or 1 tea bag)
hot water
1 vanilla bean (split and seeds scraped) (optional)
honey (optional)
Directions:
If you are using a vanilla bean, add it to the teapot first.
Now put the infuser in the teapot and add in the chamomile and blue pea flowers.
Pour the boiling water over the dried flowers.
Cover and steep for approximately 5 minutes.
Remove the infuser with flowers from the teapot.
Remove the vanilla bean from the teapot, if using.
Pour in a cup and serve.
Sweeten with some honey if you want to, and enjoy!
Notes:
The reason why you have to add the vanilla bean directly to the teapot, is that most infusers are not big enough to hold a whole vanilla bean.
If your infuser is big enough, you could also add the vanilla bean there.
Instead of chamomile, you could also use linden tea for this recipe.
3. Butterfly pea flower lavender tea
This calming tea blend is caffeine-free and ideal for drinking in the evening.
Ingredients:
4-8 butterfly pea flowers (or 1 tbsp)
1 tsp dried lavender
1 tsp chamomile tea (or 1 tea bag)
hot water (1-2 cups)
honey (optional)
Directions:
Measure the amount of tea flowers you need and add them to your teapot.
Pour the hot water over the flowers.
Cover and steep for approximately 4 minutes.
Strain the tea and pour in a cup or mug.
Sweeten with some honey, if you want to. Then serve and enjoy.
Notes:
The taste of lavender tea is quite astringent. For a milder-tasting tea, use less lavender.
You could also add a split vanilla bean to this one, if you like a more complex flavour.
4. Butterfly pea and fresh mint tea
Refreshing summer drink, with a beautiful blue colour. If you happen to have some fresh mint leaves, and are looking for a way to use them, this recipe is ideal.
Ingredients:
4-8 butterfly pea flowers (or 1 tbsp)
fresh mint leaves (around 10-15)
boiling water
honey (optional)
lime wedges (optional)
Directions:
If using fresh mint leaves, wash them first, and then crush them slightly to help release their oils and flavour. If using dried mint, skip this step.
Add the butterfly pea flowers and mint leaves to a large mug or teapot.
Steep for at least 4 minutes.
Strain or scoop out the leaves.
For serving, add some lime wedges or honey.
Enjoy!
Notes:
Peppermint or spearmint - all work for this recipe. You can also experiment with some other less common variety of mint.
If using dried mint, substitute the fresh leaves with approximately 1 tsp of dried mint tea.
5. Blue tea with lemongrass
Butterfly tea flowers and lemongrass is a classic way to make blue tea.
Ingredients:
4-8 butterfly pea flowers (or 1 tbsp)
1 stalk fresh lemongrass
water (just under 2 cups)
lemon wedges (optional)
honey (optional)
few slices of ginger (optional)
Directions:
Roughly chop the lemongrass stalk into a few pieces.
In a small saucepan combine the lemongrass and optional ginger slices.
Cover with water and brig to a boil.
Simmer for approximately 5 minutes, then take off the heat.
Add the butterfly pea flowers and steep for 5 more minutes.
You can stir the tea a bit to help the flowers release their colour.
Strain the tea into a cup and add the other optional ingredients, if you want to.
Notes:
If the flavour of ginger and lemongrass is too strong for your taste, you can just steep the tea for 5-10 minutes, instead of boiling.
If you want to make iced tea, just let the hot tea cool down and then add a few ice cubes.
If you are serving the tea iced, for presentation you can add a fresh stalk of lemongrass to help stir the ice cubes.
6. Butterfly pea and ginger tea recipe
This recipe is not just easy and delicious. Fresh ginger has so many potential health benefits, and combined with fresh pea flowers - this tea could be your new favourite for when you need a boost.
Ingredients:
4-8 fresh butterfly pea flowers (or dried)
1 inch of fresh ginger (around 3 cm)
hot water
lemon (optional)
honey (optional)
Directions:
In a small pot, bring around 2 cups of water to a boil.
Cut the ginger in thin slices.
Add the sliced ginger to the pan and let it simmer on low heat for approximately 10 minutes.
For the last 4 minutes of boiling, add the butterfly pea flowers to the pot.
Remove from heat and strain into a cup.
Now is the time to add the optional lemon wedges and honey.
Enjoy!
7. Butterfly flower and ginger iced tea recipe
When making blue pea tea and ginger, you do not necessarily need to boil it. Instead, you can just pour hot water over the ingredients and just wait a bit longer.
Ingredients:
4-8 fresh butterfly pea flowers (or 1 tbsp dried)
1 inch fresh ginger (around 3 cm)
hot water
lemon (optional)
honey (optional)
mint (optional)
ice cubes
Directions:
Add the ginger and butterfly pea flowers to a pot.
Pour around 1-2 cups of boiling water over them.
Let steep for at least 10 minutes.
Let cool to room temperature, or colder.
Strain the tea and pour in a glass.
Now, add some ice cubes, lemon wedges or some lemon juice.
Sweeten with honey and decorate with mint if you want to.
Enjoy!
8. Butterfly pea flower tea base recipe
This recipe is useful if you are making fancy blue ice cubes or some DIY hair or skincare. As mentioned above, butterfly pea flowers can possibly fight hair loss and increase skin hydration.
Ingredients:
1-2 tbsp dried butterfly pea flowers (or 4-8 fresh ones or more)
1 large cup of boiling water
Directions:
Add the flowers to a teapot or cup.
Pour boiling water over them.
Cover and steep for 5-10 minutes.
Scoop out the flowers and ready!
Notes:
* If you are not making this for a DIY haircare or skincare recipe but actually intend to drink this, I strongly recommend you to sweeten it with honey or some other sweetener. Otherwise the taste will most likely disappoint you.