Butterfly Pea Flower Lemonade

Name: Butterfly Pea Flower Lemonade
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: ½ tsp butterfly pea flower powder (also called blue matcha); ½ cup hot water; ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice; 5 cups water; 2-4 tbsp floral flavored simple syrup (rose syrup, lavender syrup, or plain simple syrup); Ice; Lemon slices for garnish (optional)

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Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe· 5 from 4 reviews

This Butterfly Pea Flower Lemonade has a beautiful purple color and it's low in sugar! It's fun, really easy to make, and the natural color change when you add lemon juice is sure to impress! It's the perfect drink to cool down with on a hot summer day or to serve at a BBQ party.

Bright purple lemonade in a tall glass with ice garnished with lemon slices and a glass straw.

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Why This Recipe Works
Ingredients
Variations and Substitutions
Step-by-Step Instructions
Serving Suggestions
Storing
FAQs
More Fun Lemonade Recipes
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Why This Recipe Works

Magic lemonade - This purple lemonade is a fun twist on the classic lemonade we all know! The magical drink is made with butterfly pea flowers also known as blue matcha. It has a deep blue color and can be used as a natural food coloring in practically anything. The drink will have a beautiful sapphire blue color that will change to bright purple when you add lemon juice. Depending on how much powder you add, the color can range from dark and light purple to pink. It turns this Lavender Gin Cocktail pink!

Easy but fancy - This lemonade is a definite show-stopper at any summer BBQ party or get-together. It's super easy to make but sure to impress your guests! There's no cooking involved, you can make the whole recipe in a large jug and serve it in about 10 minutes.

Less sugar - Most store-bought lemonades have a high sugar content. I find that unnecessary so the lemonade is sweeted with just a little bit of floral syrup. Lavender or rose is highly recommended! You can make your own or use store-bought like Monin.

Blue matcha being slowly drizzled into a tall glass with purple lemonade garnished with lemon slices.

Ingredients

Butterfly pea flower powder - This is also often called blue matcha but it doesn't have any caffeine. It has a slight earthy taste, similar to matcha, but it's mostly flavorless unless you use a large amount. It gives the drink a beautiful blue color that turns purple by adding anything acidic; in this case lemon juice.
Lemon juice - Freshly squeezed lemon juice will yield the best flavor.
Floral syrup - I recommend using either Rose Simple Syrup or Lavender Simple Syrup. You can either make your own or I often use Monin syrups, especially the lavender because it has a stronger flavor than homemade. Orange blossom syrup would also be delicious here.
Water - Use filtered water whenever possible. The more water you add the more diluted the flavor and color will be. If you think it's too strong, just add more water! Keep in mind that ice will also water the drink down.

Lemons, blue powder, water, and pink syrup measured in bowls all laid out on a grey background with text overlay.

Variations and Substitutions

Steeped tea - You can either buy butterfly pea flower powder or butterfly pea flower tea. If you don't have the powder, the tea comes either in teabags or as whole dried flowers. You'll have to use more of the tea to achieve the same color as it's less concentrated but they can be used here interchangeably.
Meyer lemons - Mayer lemons are in season for a short amount of time but they're great in anything sweet and delicious in this lemonade. They're sweeter and much less tart than regular lemons. They're said to be a cross between a lemon and a mandarin.
Limes - If you don't have lemons, you can make it with lime juice. Anything acidic will turn the blue tea purple.
Simple syrup - If you don't want the lemonade to taste floral, you can use plain simple syrup or a little bit of maple syrup to sweeten it.
Fresh mint - You can add a couple of strings of fresh mint to the lemonade for extra flavor.
Sparkling water - You can top up the lemonade with some sparkling water, club soda, or soda water for serving.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Whisk sifted butterfly pea flower powder with hot water and set aside.
Add 5 cups of water to a large pitcher.
Pour the whisked butterfly pea flower tea into the pitcher.

Blue matcha and lemon juice being poured into a tall pitcher with water.

Add lemon juice and syrup.
Stir everything together and add ice.

Pink syrup being poured into a tall pitcher with dark purple lemonade and the mixture being stirred with a spoon.

Serving Suggestions

Serve the lemonade over ice garnished with lemon slices. If you want it to be extra fancy, you can garnish the drinks with some edible flowers! They're often available at farmer's markets in the spring or summer or you can order them online.

Purple lemonade being poured over ice into a tall glass garnished with lemon slices.

Storing

You can store the finished lemonade in an airtight jar in the fridge for 1-2 days.

Alternatively, you can also freeze the lemonade in an ice cube tray and use the ice cubes to flavor your water instead of using plain ice!

FAQs

Where can I buy butterfly pea flowers?

You can buy the powder or the tea on Amazon. The tea may be available at your local Asian grocery store.

Can I use anything else to achieve a similar effect?

You could try using red cabbage powder. I've never tried it but it's often used as a natural purple food coloring.

I don't have syrup, what else can I sweeten the lemonade with?

You can just add a bit of sugar and allow it to dissolve. Cane sugar works great!

What's a butterfly pea flower?

The tiny, bright blue flowers are native to Southeast Asia. They're commonly used to make butterfly pea flower tea commonly known as blue tea. They're often used in cooking to give dishes their beautiful blue color that turns purple when you add something acidic. The flowers are also rich in antioxidants

More Fun Lemonade Recipes

Flavored lemonades are hands down my favorite non-alcoholic summer drinks! Whether it's iced tea mixed with lemonade or a lemonade with fun fruit flavors. All of these are really refreshing and so easy to make. I highly recommend you give them a try! See Non-Alcoholic Drinks for all the latest ones.

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