The first time most people see butterfly pea flower tea, they think something has gone wrong.
The color is wrong. Not in a subtle way — in a vivid, jewel-bright, that's-not-what-tea-is-supposed-to-look-like way. The liquid in the cup is blue. Deep, almost electric blue. Like something out of a botanical illustration or a summer sky over the mountains.
Then you add lemon juice.
And the tea changes color.
Blue shifts to purple. Purple can deepen to rose. In the right conditions, with the right amount of acid, it turns a kind of pink that looks like it came out of a food stylist's kit. All in real time, in your cup, with no artificial anything.
Butterfly pea flower tea is one of the most remarkable things happening in the world of specialty tea right now — and it has a history that goes back centuries. Here's what it is, why it does what it does, and how to brew it yourself.
What Is Butterfly Pea Flower?
Butterfly pea flower comes from Clitoria ternatea — a climbing vine native to tropical Asia, particularly Southeast Asia and parts of India. The plant produces vivid blue or deep violet flowers with a distinctive shape (which gives the species its somewhat clinical Latin name). It grows prolifically in warm, humid climates and has been cultivated throughout Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Burma, and the Indian subcontinent for generations.
In traditional Southeast Asian cuisine, butterfly pea flower has been used as a natural food colorant for centuries. Thai sticky rice colored vivid blue with butterfly pea flower is a classic dish. Malay kuih (rice cakes) are tinted with it. Vietnamese chè (sweet dessert soups) use it for color. The flowers are edible, mild in flavor, and extraordinarily pigmented.
As a tea — or more precisely, a tisane — butterfly pea flower is brewed by steeping the dried petals in hot water. No special equipment needed. No technical skills required. Just petals and water, and the result is one of the most visually appealing cups you will ever hold.
Why Does It Change Color?
This is the part that makes people pull out their phones.
The color change is caused by anthocyanins — a family of natural pigments found throughout the plant kingdom. Anthocyanins are responsible for the blue of blueberries, the red of red cabbage, the purple of concord grapes, and the deep color of butterfly pea flowers. They are among the most studied natural pigments in food science.
What makes anthocyanins unusual is that they are pH-sensitive. The color they express depends on the acidity or alkalinity of the liquid they're dissolved in:
- In neutral water (pH ~7), butterfly pea anthocyanins appear blue
- In mildly acidic conditions (pH 5–6, like most teas), they shift toward purple
- In more acidic conditions (pH 3–4, like lemon juice or hibiscus), they shift toward pink or magenta
- In alkaline conditions (rare in tea, but possible), they can appear green or yellow
When you squeeze lemon juice into a cup of butterfly pea flower tea, you're lowering the pH. The anthocyanin molecules change their structure in response to the new chemical environment — and that structural change alters which wavelengths of light they absorb and reflect. The result is a visible color change, in real time, in your cup.
It is, in the most literal sense, chemistry that you can drink.
What Does Butterfly Pea Flower Tea Taste Like?
Here's the answer that surprises most people: mild.
The flavor of butterfly pea flower on its own is earthy, gently floral, and slightly woody — not unlike a very light green tea, but without any bitterness or astringency. It is not a bold or assertive flavor. The flower is doing its most dramatic work visually; the flavor is quiet and pleasant in the background.
This is why butterfly pea flower works so beautifully as an ingredient in blended teas. It contributes its extraordinary color without overwhelming whatever else is in the cup. When we blend it with lemon, it becomes tart and bright. Blended with berries, it deepens into something fruity and complex. Blended with warming spices, it becomes rich and layered.
The short version: butterfly pea flower tea tastes better than it looks like it should, considering how dramatic it looks.
Four Ways We Use Butterfly Pea Flower at Flavorful Tea
We have four teas in our current collection that feature butterfly pea flower as a key ingredient, and they couldn't be more different from each other:
Cerulean Cloud is a white tea base with bilberry, butterfly pea flowers, and lemon peel. It is delicate, refined, and elegant — the white tea base is silky and subtle, the bilberry adds depth, and the butterfly pea flowers turn the cup a striking cobalt blue. Add a squeeze of fresh lemon and watch it shift toward violet. It is one of the most beautiful cups we pour at markets, and it consistently stops people mid-stride when they see it.
The Amethyst Mule is something completely different: a caffeine-free blend built around the flavor profile of a Moscow Mule — ginger, lime, and a hint of spice — with butterfly pea flowers providing the extraordinary blue color. It is bold, bright, and distinctly cocktail-adjacent. It tastes like a celebration. We've poured it at the Appleton Farmers Market and watched people's faces change when they first look at the cup, then change again when they taste it. Both reactions, every time.
Blue Mango is our most popular tea (last year blending just over 50 pounds) and showcases butterfly pea flower alongside the tropical flavors of mango and lychee. There is a reason why this tea is still number 1.
Blue Berry Blast is our version of a fruity butterfly pea flower tisane. Those who love the deep flavors of dark berries will marvel at the striking magenta color of this blend.
How to Brew Butterfly Pea Flower Tea
Butterfly pea flower is one of the most forgiving teas to brew:
Hot Brewing:
- Amount: 1–2 teaspoons of dried petals per 8 oz of water (or follow your blend's instructions)
- Water temperature: 190–205°F — just below boiling, or boiling water rested 1–2 minutes
- Steep time: 3–5 minutes — the longer you steep, the deeper and richer the blue
- The petals can typically be re-steeped once for a lighter second cup
Cold Brewing:
- Add 2 tablespoons of petals to 32 oz of cold, filtered water
- Refrigerate 4–6 hours or overnight
- The result is a clear, jewel-blue cold tea that is one of the most stunning summer drinks imaginable
- Add lemon slices or a splash of citrus to trigger the color shift — the cold-brew version produces a more dramatic purple than the hot brew
The Color-Change Experiment:
- Brew a full cup of butterfly pea flower tea (hot or cold)
- Have lemon juice or fresh lemon wedges ready
- Pour a small amount of lemon juice in — watch closely
- Add more slowly and watch the color deepen toward pink as the pH drops
- This is also a genuinely fun thing to do with children, who find the chemistry irresistible
Is Butterfly Pea Flower Tea Caffeine-Free?
Yes. Butterfly pea flower is a tisane — an herbal infusion, not made from the Camellia sinensis plant. It contains no caffeine.
When blended with a base that does contain caffeine (like our Cerulean Cloud, which uses white tea), the caffeine level depends on the proportion of the base in the blend. When used alone or in a fully herbal blend like The Amethyst Mule, the result is caffeine-free.
Where to Find It
We carry Cerulean Cloud, Blue Mango, Blue Berry Blast, and The Amethyst Mule at Flavorful Tea and Fruit Company — available online (Blue Mango and Blue Berry Blast) and at our farmers market booths throughout the summer season.
Shop Cerulean Cloud → available on request
Shop The Amethyst Mule → available on request
You can also find us in person at the Kaukauna Farmers Market (Wednesdays, 4:30–8 PM) and the Appleton Farmers Market (Saturdays, 8 AM–12:30 PM). When you see a table with a vivid blue cup in the middle of it — that's us. Come over and we'll show you what happens when you add the lemon.
Traveling the World One Cup at a Time.
— Heather, Flavorful Tea and Fruit Company, Menasha, Wisconsin