Butterfly Pea Flower Evening Mocktail Recipe 🦋

Originally published on Plant Wonder Collective’s Study Circle Patreon in March 2024

Butterfly Pea Flower Evening Mocktail

When it comes to plants and produce, the shades of colors can tell you a lot. Purples and blues mean that the plant is full of polyphenols and anthocyanins - and butterfly pea flower (BPF) is no different. This plant has a calming energy that can be played up to come off as playful or tuned down to be more soothing and sedating. Butterfly pea flower (Clitoria ternatea) can support skin health, general wellness, and encourage better sleep. It’s best consumed internally as a tea or tincture, and best applied externally as a skin wash.

Its grassy green tea-like flavor goes well with lemon, which activates BPF’s color changing properties. In this recipe, I paired the calming, polyphenol-rich BPF tea with flowery complimentary flavors like rosewater and chamomile (Matricaria chamomile) tea, blueberries, and hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa) bitters to complement lemon’s acidity and cut through the recipe’s sweetness with some tartness.

Enjoy this cocktail on a warm spring or summer evening to help support rest and restorative sleep. 

Ingredients:

4 tbsp dried butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea) flower

2 tbsp dried chamomile (Matricaria chamomile) flower

Water

Sugar, to rim the glass

½ cup of blueberries (or 2 tbsp blueberry juice)

2-4 tsp fine sugar, maple syrup, or sweetener of choice, to taste

1 tbsp rose water (optional)

1/4 cup lemon juice

10 drops hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa) vinegar or bitters (optional)

Sparkling water, kombucha, or probiotic soda to taste

Fresh herbs and/or berries, to garnish

Instructions:

Butterfly pea flower and chamomile tea

1. Combine the pea flower and chamomile in a pot, bowl, or teapot. Bring water to a boil and pour it over the herbs. Cover for at least 5 minutes, and then uncover to let it cool.

2. In the meantime, blend blueberries and reserve 1 tbsp per drink. You can substitute it with blueberry juice.

3. Rim the glass with plain sugar or botanical sugar. Fill the cup with ice. Tuck fresh berries, and/or herbs, such as mint leaves, between the ice and the glass, and set it aside. 

4. Pour 4 tbsp of cooled butterfly pea flower chamomile tea over the ice.

5. In a shaker or mason jar, combine 1 tbsp blueberry purée, your sweetener of choice, and rose water. I don’t recommend honey here since it won’t dissolve well in a cold drink.

6. Fill a shaker or mason jar with ice (about 2/3 cup full), cap and shake hard for 20 seconds. Strain the liquid off the ice and pour it into the glass with the chamomile blueberry pea flower tea.

7. Add the lemon juice.

8. Slowly top with plain sparkling water. If you want to use kombucha, flavored sparkling water, or a probiotic soda, I recommend using ones with citrus-based or berry-based flavors.

9. Add your bitters, choice of herbs, and any remaining berries. Stir.

10. Top with a dehydrated lemon slice and enjoy!

Topping the drink with sparkling water

To make this your own, experiment with different herbal syrups and fresh juices! Consider replacing the bitters with shrubs or infused vinegars. Other herbs like basil (Ocimum basilicum) instead of mint (Mentha x piperita) and probiotic sodas instead of sparkling water would make great additions.

Voíla!