Butterfly Pea Flower – Blue Tea Clitoria Ternatea 50g

Mood: Calm, Light, Clear
Best For: Calming evening tea, color-changing drinks, memory and focus

Latin name: Clitoria ternatea
Also known as: Butterfly seed, Asian pigeonwings, bluebellvine, blue pea, blue tea
Origin: Thailand

A luminous indigo tea that turns purple with a few drops of lemon.

Butterfly Pea Flower, Blue Tea

In India, Clitoria ternatea is revered as a holy flower and offered in daily puja rituals. Its shape gave the plant its Latin name: the flowers were imagined to resemble the female body, and Chinese tradition connected it with female libido for the same reason. In Southeast Asia it has long been cooked as a vegetable and used to color desserts, rice and a strikingly blue tea.

Ayurveda ascribes many qualities to it: memory-enhancing, calming, anti-stress and mildly sedative. The flowers are rich in antioxidants, flavonoids and peptides.

Traditional Uses of Butterfly Pea

• Nervous system – traditionally used for its calming effect on the mind, and for memory and focus.
• Digestion – traditionally used against nausea, as a mild laxative and to support the flow of bile.
• Breath – used in traditional medicine as an expectorant, for colds and coughs.
• Skin – its flavonoids are studied for supporting collagen and skin elasticity.

How to Prepare Butterfly Pea Tea

Steep 5 to 7 dried flowers in hot water for 5 minutes. The water turns deep blue. Add lemon or lime and watch it change to violet. Caffeine-free, it is a good tea for the evening. If you prefer a powder for lattes and baking, try Blue Matcha.