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Home » Recipes » Cocktails

Color Changing Butterfly Pea Flower Cocktail

Published: Apr 3, 2019 · Modified: Dec 6, 2023 by Tristin Rieken · 17 Comments

This Butterfly Pea Flower Cocktail combines color changing magic blue tea with mojito inspired ingredients like fresh mint, lime and rum. A Magic Mojito color changing cocktail recipe that is easy to make and is sure to WOW your friends and family!

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.
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Jump to:
  • What are butterfly pea flowers?
  • Butterfly pea flower cocktail recipes
  • Ingredients
  • Step by step instructions
  • How to serve
  • Yield
  • Spiked tea latte
  • No alcohol version
  • 📖 Recipe

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

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 recipes

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 lime juice 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.

📖 Recipe

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 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes minutes
Total Time: 9 minutes minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Asian
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. 
    2 tablespoons dried butterfly pea flowers, 2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, ½ cup granulated sugar, 4 cups water
  • 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.
    4 cups ice
  • When ready to serve pour sweet blue butterfly pea tea over ice in tall glass, leaving about an inch of room on the top.
    4 ounces sweet butterfly pea tea
  • Top with rum and stir.
    1 ounces white rum
  • Then add a float of lime juice to the top of the glass without stirring the lime juice into the spiked tea.
    2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • Garnish with lime wheels and/or fresh mint as desired and serve with a long spoon or a straw.
    lime wheels, fresh mint
  • 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.
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    4.91 from 11 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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    Recipe Rating




  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

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Hi, I'm Tristin Rieken, Welcome to Fresh Flavorful where I hope to inspire you with simple seasonal recipes and ideas to eat deliciously, entertain easily and adventure often.

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