Iced Butterfly Pea Flower Tea Latte
on Feb 04, 2024
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A pretty blue herbal tea latte made with butterfly pea flowers. Add a splash of milky goodness to get a gorgeous creamy swirl. See how easy it is to make this!
Iced Blue Tea Latte
Milk added to tea makes the drink a tea latte so butterfly pea flower tea in milk and ice makes it an iced butterfly pea flower latte. There’s no caffeine or coffee in this drink.
The blue color comes naturally from the purplish blue petals of the butterfly pea flower. It’s also known as blue tea.
Butterfly pea flower tea is sold as loose tea or in tea bags. Loose butterfly pea flowers are whole, dried flowers. Butterfly pea flowers tea bags are flowers that have been crushed into small bits.
Loose, whole butterfly pea flowers are better quality than tea bags but for recipes where you’re adding milk and sugar, you don’t need the highest quality so it’s best to use tea bags, which are easy to clean up.
Note from Jee
Let’s talk about the taste of butterfly pea flower tea.
I don’t love the taste of this drink but EVERYONE loves the way it looks, so here we are. Imagine going for a walk in the woods and you pick up some twigs and dry leaves. Then let’s pretend you boil that in hot water. That’s what butterfly pea flower tastes like.
Adding lemonade or lemons to butterfly pea flower tea make it taste way better (and changes the color from blue to purple). The brightness from the lemons work well to mask the muskiness from the tea but for a tea latte, you can’t add lemon juice.
Recipe Summary
- Butterfly pea flower tea is an herbal tea and this drink is caffeine-free.
- Homemade vanilla sweet cream sweetens and flavors the drink while making the deep blue drink a pretty Tiffany blue color.
- The perfect drink to serve at Persy Jackson-themed parties (the character loves blue) or baby showers.
- The recipe makes a 16 ounce drink.
RELATED: Butterfly Pea Flower Bubble Tea
Ingredient Notes
- Butterfly pea flower tea bags: I’ve made it using both the whole flowers and tea bags and it really tastes pretty much the same, so I’m picking the easier to use option, which are the tea bags.
- Sweetened condensed milk: Condensed milk with the half & half is the secret to making the pretty swirls in the blue drink. It also sweetens the drink.
- Half & half: This is what thins out the condensed milk to make it pourable.
- Vanilla extract: I consider vanilla extract a flavor enhancer and it adds a little more depth of flavor to the drink. It’s not an essential ingredient though, so you can leave it out if you don’t have it handy.
- Water: Use filtered water whenever possible to make tea.
- Ice: It’s a good idea to make ice with filtered water for a better tasting drink.
For full ingredients and detailed instructions, please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Steep butterfly pea flower tea bags in hot water. Take out tea bags and set aside to cool.
Step 2: Combine half & half, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla extract to make the vanilla sweet cream.
Step 3: Fill a cup with ice and pour in the cooled down blue tea.
Step 4: Slowly pour in the vanilla sweet cream and watch it create pretty swirls.
Expert Tips
- To get the pretty swirls, don’t replace the half & half with milk. Milk is too liquid-y so it’ll just go straight to the bottom without creating pretty swirls.
- If using loose butterfly pea flowers, use 1 ½ teaspoons of butterfly pea flower tea instead of 1 tea bag.
- The half & half with sweetened condensed milk and vanilla extract can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2 days.
- The butterfly pea flower tea can also be made ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator for about 4 days.
Related
- Butterfly Pea Flower Lemonade
- Strawberry Butterfly Pea Flower Latte Bubble Tea
- Butterfly Pea Flower Matcha Lemonade
- Butterfly Pea Flower Syrup
If you tried this Iced Butterfly Pea Flower Latte recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ star rating and let me know how you like it in the comments below.
Iced Butterfly Pea Flower Tea Latte
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tea bag butterfly pea flower
- ¾ cup water
- 1 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk
- ⅓ cup half & half
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup ice
Instructions
- Boil water.Use water that is at slow boil, not boiling hot water. If using an electric kettle with temperature setting, set it to 180°F. Use filtered water if possible.
- Put tea bags into teapot and add hot water and steep for 5 minutes.Set aside and let cool.
- Make sweet vanilla cream by combining half & half, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla extract. Stir to mix.
- Pour cooled butterfly pea flower tea into a cup with ice. Slowly pour in the vanilla sweet cream.The sweet cream will swirl around then settle to the bottom, leaving a pretty gradient.
Video
Notes
- If using loose butterfly pea flowers, use 1 ½ teaspoons of butterfly pea flower tea instead of 1 tea bag.
- I consider vanilla extract a flavor enhancer and it adds a little more depth of flavor to the drink. It’s not an essential ingredient though, so you can leave it out if you don’t have it handy.
- To get the pretty swirls, don’t replace the half & half with milk. Milk is too liquid-y so it’ll just go straight to the bottom without creating pretty swirls.
- The half & half with sweetened condensed milk and vanilla extract can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2 days.
- The butterfly pea flower tea can also be made ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator for about 4 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’ve had this at a coffee shop but they combined it with chai and called it Smurf Chai from the color!! Maybe something to consider mixing it since I also know the twigs and sticks flavor you’re talking about
Smurf drink is very fitting!
OMG!
“Imagine going for a walk in the woods and you pick up some twigs and dry leaves. Then let’s pretend you boil that in hot water. That’s what butterfly pea flower tastes like. ”
I can’t stop laughing. Thank you so much.
Cheers,
Laura
You are amazing! I have never heard of a tea sommelier but my goodness you are good at it! Can’t wait to read up on all things tea and try some of your recipes. Thank you! <3
“Imagine going for a walk in the woods and you pick up some twigs and dry leaves. Then let’s pretend you boil that in hot water. That’s what butterfly pea flower tastes like.” That’s exactly what it tastes like! LOL! An acquired taste for sure but I do like the mental imagery of brewing a fantastical frothy woodsy drink 🙂
Looks beautiful and thank you for being honest about the flavour 😀 I have looked everywhere and no one mentions the taste!
I LOVE THIS SITE IT HEPS A LOT
Hi Jee,
I was wondering where you get this glass cup and pitcher? they are so nice!
Thank you!
angela
Hi Angela, I got the cup from CB2 (Marta Old Fashioned cups) and the pitcher from Amazon (https://amzn.to/32Ky4bx).
Hi Jee !
I saw this post on Pinterest, after a research on the butterfly pea flower !
So I bought this dried flower and I just made the infusion!
O
M
G
it’s so concentrated in color it’s beautiful!
I’ll make your drink but vegan version.
THANK you for the great idea.
Its just wow !
Hi Laura, happy to hear it!!
Why didnt you mention that when you add lemon or any other acid to the tea it MAGICALLY changes from deep blue to a gorgeous magenta color ? That’s the best part of the whole blue tea making process ! For parties I make the tea ahead of time and separately make a lemon syrup (just boil lemon juice with sugar to taste, I use 1 c. lemon juice w 1 c. sugar. Boil until its thickened a bit). Then once guests arrive, I serve them tea in a pretty glass cup and add a few teaspoons of the lemon syrup. Instead of the blue to milky blue swirls you get deep blue to bright purple/pink swirls ! Talk about Instagram ready ! Another option is to use a nice sweet fruity vinegar, like a 25 Star balsamic (a strawberry white balsamic unlike any vinegar you have had before, so tangy and fruity I add it to drinks and even to ice cream ! I buy mine at BARRONS , but you can also order online from other sellers). I just wanted to share this with your readers, as it’s a fun drink to experiment with, especially loved by my kids !
Hi Annet, I have a separate post just on the how it turns color! https://www.ohhowcivilized.com/butterfly-pea-flower-tea/
Thank you all of your ideas too! Along with this site I have already learned so much!
I haven’t tried this version butt I love to steep the loose flowers, I use a tsp of honey, add a twist of lime
( also turns tea from blue to purple) pour over ice and add a splash of orange