• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Fresh Flavorful

  • Recipes
  • Entertaining
  • Adventuring
  • About
  • Clients
  • Contact
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • Entertaining
  • Adventuring
  • About
  • Clients
  • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • Entertaining
    • Adventuring
    • About
    • Clients
    • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Beverages

    Color Changing Butterfly Pea Flower Cocktail

    This Butterfly Pea Flower Cocktail combines color changing magic blue tea with mojito inspired ingredients like fresh mint, lime and rum.

    Color changing butterfly pea cocktail in a tall ice filled glass with lime juice being poured in changing the color into swirls of blue, pink and purple.
    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe

    A Magic Mojito color changing cocktail recipe that is easy to make and is sure to WOW your friends and family!

    What are butterfly pea flowers

    Butterfly pea flower comes from a flowering vine native to tropical Asia. Butterfly pea flowers are commonly used to make butterfly pea flower tea and other foods that change color naturally. Like rice, pasta, desserts, syrups and more.

    Butterfly pea flower turned into pink, purple and blue tea

    The reason why foods with butterfly pea flower change color is due to pigments known as anthocyanins that change color based on how acidic or alkaline of an environment it is in.

    This Magic Color-Changing Mojito Mocktail will wow your friends and family with the power of food magic - and science! Butterfly pea | butterfly pea benefits | color changing vodka lemonade cocktail recipe | butterfly pea plant flower tea powder

    Lemon and lime juice will turn butterfly pea tea into a gorgeous violet purple color.

    Lower the ph even more, with something like tonic water, and the tea turns bright pink. You can even add hibiscus flowers or hibiscus tea to the butterfly pea tea to add delicious flavor and turn it a shade of jewel toned magenta.

    This Magic Color-Changing Mojito Mocktail will wow your friends and family with the power of food magic - and science! Butterfly pea | butterfly pea benefits | color changing vodka lemonade cocktail recipe | butterfly pea plant flower tea powder

    Aside from the color effects butterfly pea flower tea benefits are claimed to be wide. Ranging from powerful anti-oxidative properties, stress reduction, hair health and even as a well known way to reduce brain fog.

    But does butterfly pea flower taste good? eh. Not so much. Butterfly pea tastes mild, lightly floral and earthy, somewhat like a blue matcha.

    Because the flavor is so mild butterfly pea flower makes a great addition to all different types of color changing drinks and butterfly pea cocktails.

    Butterfly pea flower cocktail recipe

    There are many ways to make cocktails with butterfly pea flower.

    You can make a butterfly pea syrup. Or use the butterfly pea flowers to infuse liquor to make butterfly pea gin cocktails with butterfly pea flower infused gin like Empress 1908 Gin.

    Butterfly pea flower gin cocktail

    Or color changing vodka cocktails with butterfly pea flower vodka like Unicorn Vodka.

    Unicorn French 75 cocktails are  a variation of the classic French 75 cocktail made with naturally color changing Unicorn Vodka™. French 75 recipe variations | Champagne cocktail | French 76

    But my favorite way to use butterfly pea in drinks is to make and use butterfly pea tea as a base for differents drinks and butterfly pea flower cocktails.

    Like this butterfly pea cocktail recipe that combines butterfly pea flower with delicious mojito inspired flavors of mint, rum and lime.

    This Butterfly Pea Flower Cocktail combines color changing magic blue tea with mojito inspired ingredients like fresh mint, lime and rum. butterfly pea flower cocktail | butterfly pea cocktail | butterfly pea drink | color changing cocktails | butterfly pea tea cocktail

    Ingredients

    • Butterfly pea – Buy dried butterfly pea flowers online to mix your own loose leaf tea blends. Or substitute butterfly pea flower tea bags or even crushed butterfly pea flower powder. All readily available online. You can even find butterfly pea flower seeds to grow your own butterfly pea flower plant.
    • Fresh mint leaves – butterfly pea flowers don’t have a lot of flavor on their own so the mint leaves add a necessary punch of flavor. Use fresh or dried spearmint. Or substitute spearmint tea bags or loose leaf mint tea. Just be mindful that different tea blends have different acidity levels. For example, green tea is slightly alkaline and will affect the overall color.
    • Granulated sugar – Add granulated sugar to the tea while still hot and steeping to easily sweeten the butterfly pea tea before it cools. Feel free to substitute your favorite sweetener instead like raw sugar, simple syrup, stevia, honey, etc. But different sweeteners may affect the overall color based on their acidity.
    • Lime juice- the most acidic of all citrus fruits, lime juice will result in the most dramatic color change when mixed with butterfly pea tea. You can also substitute different citrus juices like lemon juice, limeade, lemonade, orange juice, pineapple juice etc.
    • Rum – clear white rum is the standard liquor of choice for classic mojitos. It also happens to be slightly acidic. Feel free to leave out the rum to easily make a color changing magic mojito mocktail. Or substitute with butterfly pea vodka or even butterfly pea flower gin.

    Step by step instructions

    1. Make a Color Changing Blue Butterfly Pea Tea that actually tastes good by combining hot water with butterfly pea flowers, mint leaves and sugar. Steep for 5 minutes then strain through a fine mesh strainer into an ice filled pitcher to cool. Store refrigerated for 24-72 hours.
    butterfly pea tea steeping in hot water
    1. When ready to serve pour blue tea into a tall glass filled with ice, leaving about an inch of room at the top.
    This Magic Color-Changing Mojito Mocktail will wow your friends and family with the power of food magic - and science! Butterfly pea | butterfly pea benefits | color changing vodka lemonade cocktail recipe | butterfly pea plant flower tea powder
    1. Pour rum over ice, stir.
    2. Layer on lime juice without stirring. To make neat layers slowly pour the limeade over the back of a spoon onto the sweet tea.
    This Butterfly Pea Flower Cocktail combines color changing magic blue tea with mojito inspired ingredients like fresh mint, lime and rum. butterfly pea flower cocktail | butterfly pea cocktail | butterfly pea drink | color changing cocktails | butterfly pea tea cocktail
    1. Serve with a spoon or straw and stir before enjoying.
    2. Watch the magic color change happen in the glass right before your eyes and enjoy!
    This Butterfly Pea Flower Cocktail combines color changing magic blue tea with mojito inspired ingredients like fresh mint, lime and rum. butterfly pea flower cocktail | butterfly pea cocktail | butterfly pea drink | color changing cocktails | butterfly pea tea cocktail

    How to serve

    Serve color changing butterfly pea flower cocktails layered with a long spoon or a straw so that the drink can be combined at the table before being enjoyed.

    This mojito inspired cocktail is perfect served with a lime wheel and fresh mint to nod to the mojito inspired flavors. You can also include a few loose butterfly pea flower pieces to garnish.

    Top down view of butterfly pea flower cocktail with lime round and mint.

    Yield

    This recipe yields one butterfly pea flower cocktail. But it can easily be turned into a big batch pitcher recipe.

    A full batch of the blue tea makes 8 cups of sweet iced butterfly pea tea. Simply combine 4 cups of cold butterfly pea tea with 1 cup of rum, and 1 cup of fresh lime juice in a large pitcher. Stir, fill with ice and enjoy! Best enjoyed within 24 hours, add ice before serving.

    This Butterfly Pea Flower Cocktail combines color changing magic blue tea with mojito inspired ingredients like fresh mint, lime and rum. butterfly pea flower cocktail | butterfly pea cocktail | butterfly pea drink | color changing cocktails | butterfly pea tea cocktail

    Spiked tea latte

    Turn this butterfly pea flower cocktail into a spiked tea latte recipe! Simply add a drizzle of cream to make a deliciously creamy spiked tea latte like the Raspberry Black Tea and Blackberry Earl Grey Iced Tea Lattes. Only with rum 😉

    This Butterfly Pea Flower Cocktail combines color changing magic blue tea with mojito inspired ingredients like fresh mint, lime and rum. butterfly pea flower cocktail | butterfly pea cocktail | butterfly pea drink | color changing cocktails | butterfly pea tea cocktail

    No alcohol version

    You can easily make this a Magic Color Changing Mojito Mocktail instead! To make a no alcohol mocktail version make the recipe as directed and omit the rum. Simply combining the minty sweet iced tea with lime juice like a modern color changing Arnold Palmer.

    Color changing butterfly pea cocktail in a tall ice filled glass with lime juice being poured in changing the color into swirls of blue, pink and purple.

    Color Changing Butterfly Pea Flower Cocktail

    This Butterfly Pea Flower Cocktail combines color changing magic blue tea with mojito inspired ingredients like fresh mint, lime and rum.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate Recipe
    Prep Time: 4 minutes
    Cook Time: 5 minutes
    Total Time: 9 minutes
    Course: Drinks
    Cuisine: Asian
    butterfly pea cocktail, butterfly pea drink, butterfly pea flower, butterfly pea flower cocktail, butterfly pea tea cocktail
    Servings: 1 servings
    Calories: 117kcal
    Author: Tristin Rieken

    Ingredients

    Sweet Butterfly Pea Tea

    • 2 tablespoons dried butterfly pea flowers or 4 butterfly pea tea bags
    • 2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves or 2 spearmint tea bags
    • ½ cup granulated sugar
    • 4 cups water
    • 4 cups ice

    Butterfly Pea Flower Tea Cocktail

    • 4 ounces sweet butterfly pea tea chilled
    • 1 ounces white rum
    • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 1 ounce, from a small lime
    • lime wheels optional, to garnish
    • fresh mint optional, to garnish
    US Customary – Metric

    Instructions

    • Bring water to boil. Meanwhile, place mint leaves and butterfly pea flowers in large bowl with sugar. When boiling remove water from heat and pour over the tea mixture in the bowl. Steep butterfly pea tea for 5 minutes. 
    • Meanwhile place ice in a large pitcher and after the tea is done steeping, strain the sweet blue tea concentrate over the ice to cool quickly. Store refrigerated until ready to use.
    • When ready to serve pour sweet blue butterfly pea tea over ice in tall glass, leaving about an inch of room on the top.
    • Top with rum and stir.
    • Then add a float of lime juice to the top of the glass without stirring the lime juice into the spiked tea.
    • Garnish with lime wheels and/or fresh mint as desired and serve with a long spoon or a straw.
    • Stir to combine before enjoying to watch the colors change.

    Video

    Nutrition

    Calories: 117kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 0.1g | Fat: 0.02g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 5mg | Potassium: 47mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 15IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 8mg | Iron: 0.04mg
    Made this recipe? Please share!Mention @freshflavorful or tag #FreshFlavorfulLife
    Nutrition Facts
    Color Changing Butterfly Pea Flower Cocktail
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 117
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 0.02g0%
    Polyunsaturated Fat 0.01g
    Sodium 5mg0%
    Potassium 47mg1%
    Carbohydrates 14g5%
    Fiber 0.1g0%
    Sugar 11g12%
    Protein 0.1g0%
    Vitamin A 15IU0%
    Vitamin C 9mg11%
    Calcium 8mg1%
    Iron 0.04mg0%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
    love, Tristin signature

    Shop this post

    Fresh Flavorful is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, and these customized links, provided by Amazon, track the referrals to their website for the purposes of assigning commission on these sales.

    Pin for later!

    More Beverages

    • Color Changing Blue Butterfly Pea Tea with Mint
    • How to Make Grape Juice
    • Blueberry Pie Martini
    • Iced Lavender London Fog Tea Latte
    11980 shares
    • Share6
    • Tweet

    If you make this or any of Fresh Flavorful recipes be sure to share! Tag @freshflavorful on instagram or post a photo to the Fresh Flavorful Life Facebook page. Can't wait to see what you're making!

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Alexandra @ It's Not Complicated Recipes

      April 03, 2019 at 4:48 pm

      5 stars
      This is so beautiful!! 🙂
      I love it – what a clever idea.
      The colours are so stunning – this is just fun and delicious!

      Reply
    2. Chantal

      April 03, 2019 at 5:00 pm

      5 stars
      This is really cool! Love it when science and food intersect to make such a fun result

      Reply
    3. Sara

      April 03, 2019 at 6:33 pm

      What a beautiful cocktail! This is perfect for spring entertaining!

      Reply
    4. Beth Pierce

      April 03, 2019 at 8:20 pm

      5 stars
      These would be a great drink to serve at my sister’s 80’s themed birthday party this year! They look delicious and like a lot fun too!

      Reply
    5. Natalie

      April 03, 2019 at 10:25 pm

      5 stars
      This is so beautiful! Perfect for a friends brunch gathering – so unique and surprising than regular cocktails ♥

      Reply
    6. Stacy

      March 01, 2020 at 7:20 pm

      Can both the tea and limeade be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge? Will it still change colors? How long can it be stored? Looks like a lot of fun!

      Reply
      • ONE armed MAMA

        March 02, 2020 at 3:02 am

        Yes, absolutely! You can make both either the tea or the limeade, or both, ahead of time. Store refrigerated separately up to a week.

        Reply
    7. Kim

      March 29, 2020 at 1:06 pm

      Hi thanks I love it, do you think this well this work with the other colors butterfly Pea colors, other then the blue ones? My mother has the mix colors (pink and white) that grow. And we wanted to know well it work with the pink as well. Thank you

      Reply
      • ONE armed MAMA

        March 31, 2020 at 1:03 pm

        Hi Kim, I’m not sure because I have no personal experience with growing them, yet. But is it possible that they are all actually the same ‘butterfly pea’ plant but the flowers are displaying differently due to the acidity of the soil? Just as acid affects the color of the drink the acidity or alkalinity of the soil most likely affects the color of the flower.

        Reply
    8. Amanda

      May 09, 2020 at 8:39 am

      Won’t the milk or cream curdle due to the lime juice?

      Reply
      • ONE armed MAMA

        May 09, 2020 at 8:50 am

        It’s possible that a lot of cream will curdle if it’s left to sit for awhile before being stirred in. It’s an extra touch that’s completely optional. But I find that a splash of cream poured on top and stirred in adds the perfect creaminess to balance the tart mojito flavors.

        Reply
    9. Natalie

      August 03, 2021 at 9:26 am

      5 stars
      Wow this is soooo cool! How fun! I just have to give this a try at my next garden party.

      Reply
    10. Irina

      August 03, 2021 at 9:33 am

      5 stars
      What a fun cocktail it is! I just imagine serving it for or family gathering! Bookmarking for later. Thanks a lot!!!

      Reply
    11. Chenée

      August 03, 2021 at 10:24 am

      5 stars
      What a cool idea! The colors are gorgeous!

      Reply
    12. Tara

      August 03, 2021 at 10:40 am

      5 stars
      Such an absolutely gorgeous drink!! I love that vibrant color. It all comes together so easily too.

      Reply
    13. Kristen Wood

      August 03, 2021 at 10:40 am

      5 stars
      Oh my goodness..this is so creative! I can’t wait to try it! 🙂

      Reply
    14. Shadi Hasanzadenemati

      August 03, 2021 at 10:45 am

      My family is going to love this, thank you for the recipe!

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    hey there!

    Hello! I'm Tris. Welcome to Fresh Flavorful where I hope to inspire you with simple recipes and ideas to eat deliciously, entertain easily and adventure often. More →

    reader favorites

    Fresh bright purple cookies with white chocolate stacked on a tray with frozen blueberries scattered around in addition to the blueberry cookie tray.

    Vibrant Purple Chewy Blueberry Cookies

    Vibrant naturally purple blackberry tea and blackberry iced tea with fresh berries and cream being poured over the blackberries in the blackberry latte

    Blackberry Tea Iced Tea Latte

    Banana Chiffon Cake a light, fluffy cake with tender bite and rich banana flavor. chiffon cake | chiffon cake recipe | chiffon cake with lemon glaze | ripe banana recipes

    Banana Chiffon Cake

    Overhead view of vintage cut glass punch bowl with citrus slices and citrus and cranberry ice cubes in the beautiful bright pink cranberry paloma punch.

    Cranberry Citrus Paloma Punch

    Footer

    Inspired by the beauty of gathering round a table Tristin Rieken shares ideas for living a Fresh, Flavorful Life!

    Inspired by the beauty of the Pacific Northwest recipe developer and food photographer, Tristin Rieken, shares easy recipes and simple ideas for eating, entertaining and adventuring your way to a Fresh Flavorful Life.

    • About
    • Contact
    • Subscribe
    • Let’s work together!
    • Disclosure and Privacy Policy
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Copyright © 2023 Fresh Flavorful on the Foodie Pro Theme

    11980 shares