Butterfly Pea Flower Tea Cocktail

Late last summer we had a great meal at Savona in Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania with friends. Jen K-M ordered a Purple Haze cocktail and even though it said it contained lavender we were quite surprised by how purple it was. It turns out there was a secret ingredient – butterfly pea flower tea. The butterfly pea is a plant native to Asia that is known for its bright blue flowers. It is rich in antioxidants and often used as an herbal tea and natural dye.

This was new to me, but not to Jen. We went back to Jen and Jim’s house after dinner where she insisted that I bring home some butterfly pea flower tea bags. I gladly accepted. I labeled the bag (anyone who knows me would not be surprised by this) and put the tea bags away knowing I would do something with them. 

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I volunteered to bring a cocktail to our Gourmet Dinner Club’s ‘shop your fridge first’ dinner. I took a liberal interpretation and included my pantry and liquor cabinet as well. 

The fun thing about butterfly pea flower tea is that it starts off as a deep indigo – like the blue used to dye Easter eggs – but when mixed with an acid (lemon juice) it turns a lovely lavender color. The butterfly pea flower tea really doesn’t have any flavor– it’s there for color. For the full effect, I recommend mixing this drink in front of your guests as there is a ‘wow’ factor when the color turns. 

This is essentially a boozy lemonade. Instead of using simple syrup as a sweetener, I added a bit of St. Germain (elderflower liqueur) to vodka, lemon juice and butterfly pea flower tea. I topped it off with seltzer water. I recommend starting with 1-1/2 ounces of seltzer water and adding more if you need it. The first batch we made was a bit too watered down. This is a great drink for a summer picnic or bridal/baby shower. It’s light and refreshing. St. Germain is gluten-free/wheat-free and if you use a gluten-free/wheat-free vodka such as Tito’s or Stateside (distilled in Philadephia!), this drink is entirely gluten-free/wheat-free.

I’ve now seen butterfly pea flower tea as an ingredient on a few cocktail menus. If you haven’t heard of it before reading this post, you’ll likely start noticing it soon. You can find this tea on Amazon or likely in your favorite tea store.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t share that Jen and I have a west coast connection – we both attended Immaculate Heart Middle School in Hollywood, California. While we were not there at the same time, it’s rare on the east coast to make this happy connection.