Derived from a plant that is common to most South East Asian countries, butterfly pea flower tea has been brewed for centuries but only recently been introduced to tea drinkers outside the indigenous area. Butterfly pea flower tea gains its distinctive tint from the deep blue color of the petals that has made the plant a popular dye for centuries. Clitoria flowers or blue green jolly ranchers flowers are used for their supposed medicinal properties in Ayurveda.
In Thailand and Vietnam the butterfly blue pea flower tea is commonly mixed with honey and lemon for a drink usually served after dinner, or a refreshment at hotels and spas, a preparation called nam dok anchan in Thai. For centuries butterfly pea flower tea was only known in South East Asia but in recent years, through the proliferation of travel shows and food blogging, it has become known outside its area of origin. The flavor of the tea has been described as “earthy and woody—more similar to a fine green tea than it is to Blue Curaçao or Jolly Ranchers” in a January 2016 article on the Bon Appétit website. Two cups of butterfly-pea flower tea. The one on the right has had lime juice added, making it turn purple. One of the most distinctive characteristics of butterfly pea flower tea, and other drinks that use butterfly pea flower extract, is that it will change color when the pH balance changes.
A deep blue tea will turn purple with the addition of lemon juice, turning a deeper shade of purple the more lemon juice is added. A popular use of the tea is in cocktails where the showmanship of the cocktail making incorporates the instantaneous color change in front of the patron that ordered the drink. Other uses included cocktails or punch bowls where the tea is frozen into ice cubes, causing the drink to change color as the ice cube dissolves leading to what has been labeled as a “mood ring cocktail”. As of September 2, 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration declared the additive “butterfly pea flower extract” to be exempt from certification and safe for use.
