Fairy Tea - Magical Butterfly Pea Flower
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cooking Time
10 minutes
Yields
2 servings
Ingredients
1/4 cup dried Butterfly Pea Flower Tea (a/ka/ as Fairy Tea, Blue Tea)
2 cups of water (preferably filtered)
1 tsp of wildflower, blackberry, or clary sage honey (more honey if you like it extra sweet)
1 tsp of fresh squeezed lime or lemon juice
Garnish with lime or lemon wedges
Ice cubes (if you want a refreshing cold beverage)
Directions
1. Boil the water in a kettle.
2. Fill a tea fuser, strainer or tea basket with the flowers and place in a teapot that holds at least 16 ounces of water.
3. Once the water comes to a boil, take the kettle off of the stovetop and allow it to rest for about one minute.
4. Pour the water into the teapot.
5. Steep for 5-7 minutes.
6. For hot tea, serve immediately with the honey and the lemon or lime juice. If you do not like lemon or lime juice, skip this step, but it is the citrus juice that will magically change the blue tea to a more purple-pink tea.
7. For iced tea, while the tea is still warm, add the honey and then allow the tea to cool a bit.
8. Pour tea in a glass filled with ice, add the lime or lemon juice. Garnish with a slice of the lime, lemon or both.
Notes
For entertaining or special occasions, make three separate pots of tea as follows: Be sure to use clear glasses or tea cups in order to enjoy all of the beautiful colors of "fairy tea."
For a pure blue tea, make a pot of tea using all of the ingredients except the lemon or lime juice.
For a purple-pink tea, make a pot with all of the ingredients listed.
For a red tea, use all of the ingredients except the lemon or lime juice and add at least one teaspoon +/- of hibiscus petals to the pot during the steeping process.
Butterfly pea flower is more than a pretty tea. The various antioxidants found in the petals increase collagen production, reduce stress, inflammation, the process of glycation (that mean thing that causes skin to age) and more. The anthocyanins (the stuff that gives it the lovely pigment) is an important tool in the prevention and treatment of a number of chronic diseases. Like blueberries, this tea is definitely an anti-aging powerhouse that can and probably should be consumed daily. The compounds found in butterfly pea flower and blueberries have been the focus of a number of cancer research studies.