Blue food and drink is a minor obsession of mine. I guess because it's rare and special. But what's even more rare and special is when blue food and drinks come by their color naturally instead of with food coloring. I first learned about the butterfly pea flower from a pasta cookbook, of all places, and became incredibly curious about it.
Butterfly pea flowers come dried, ground into a powder, and you can even grow butterfly pea flowers under the right conditions.
Get the right swirl
To ensure you get a good swirl, use the listed ingredients. The heavy cream and sweetened condensed milk provides the swirly look as the dairy slowly mingles with the tea. Milk and half and half are too light and will blend together almost immediately.
If you don't care about the visual effect, use any dairy you prefer, including vegan milks.
What type of butterfly pea flowers make the best tea?
Dried or fresh butterfly pea flowers are best in this application. Powders can sometimes make for a grainy tea if they are not ground finely enough and are hard to keep strained out, even with a good mesh tea ball. Experiment with butterfly pea flower powder if you have it and see if it dissolves to your satisfaction.
Since butterfly pea flowers have a very faint taste — a boring green kind of taste, if any — lemongrass provides some taste direction here. Frozen, fresh, or dried lemongrass can be used here, or even a lemongrass tea bag. Lemongrass has a bright, sweet, citrusy taste.
Butterfly Pea Flower Latte
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups water
- 10-15 fresh or dried butterfly pea flowers
- 2 sticks lemongrass (or 1 bag lemongrass tea)
- 1 cup ice
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- ½ tablespoon sweetened condensed milk
- ½ teaspoon clear vanilla extract
Instructions
- Boil water.
- Steep butterfly pea flowers and lemongrass in the hot water. Let cool down completely. Remove the flowers and lemongrass. Refrigerate at this point if desired.
- Mix together the heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla extract. Set aside.
- Put the ice in the serving glass. Add the butterfly pea flower tea.
- For maximum swirls, pour the milk mixture into the tea glass from higher up.
- Garnish with a butterfly pea flower, a stalk of lemongrass, and a straw. Serve immediately.
What's is butterfly pea flower good for?
Aside from being a brilliant blue color, butterfly pea flowers, when ingested properly, is rich in anthocyanins, an antioxidant compound. As we know, antioxidants can relieve inflammation, and may beneficial for skin and hair health. More research is being done on the definitive health properties we can derive from butterfly pea flowers.
Looking for more ways to enjoy butterfly pea flowers?
