Purple Limeade (Butterfly Pea Flower Tea Limeade) Purple Limeade (Butterfly Pea Flower Tea Limeade)

Purple Limeade (Butterfly Pea Flower Tea Limeade)

By Fallon Keplinger

Purple Limeade (Butterfly Pea Flower Tea Limeade) Purple Limeade (Butterfly Pea Flower Tea Limeade)

I love making this drink in the summer. It tastes really good and refreshing. 

The main ingredient is a lovely, quirky tisane by the name of butterfly-pea flower. The tea is a caffeine-free herbal tisane beverage made from an infusion of the leaves of the Clitoria Ternatea plant (the flowers of this vine have been compared to the shape of human female genitals, hence the name) and dried lemongrass. 

Ingredients for a 1 gallon pitcher of purple limeade

4 limes

1 cup of butterfly pea flower tea

1/3 cup elderflower cordial

1/3 cup sugar ( more or less to taste)

1 gallon of water

 

I start by getting hot water ready. While the water is getting hot, I juice my limes by hand and pour the juice in the pitcher. I add the 1/3 cup of the elderflower cordial and give a quick stir with a wooden spoon. I brew the tea until it reaches a dark blue  around 5-8 minutes. When the tea is warm to the touch, I pour it in the pitcher. The blue tea immediately turns purple once it mixes with any citrus. I stir the limeade until all of the sugar is dissolved. Then it's done! 

Like all tea, it pairs lovely with a cookie.