The Anti-Inflammatory Blue Tea

The Clitoria ternatea plant is native to Asia. It’s commonly known as Blue Pea, Butterfly Pea, and Bluebellvine, among other names. While it originated in Asia, it can now be found in the Americas, Africa, and Australia too.

The flowers make a great anti-inflammatory tea thanks to the plant’s anthocyanins which are antioxidant compounds that give the flowers their vibrant blue color. It’s this bright color that makes the flowers popular additions to food dishes and drinks as it acts as a dyeing agent. This versatile plant has also been used in cosmetics, traditional medicine, and even as a natural insecticide.

Butterfly Pea Flower Tea is commonly enjoyed in Thailand and Vietnam after dinner or as a refreshing drink with lemon and honey. You can choose to leave the honey out or swap it for a sweetener of your choice. Before I share the recipe with you, here are some of the health benefits this tea can provide.

Medicinal Benefits of Butterfly Pea Flowers

Butterfly Pea flowers are known for being anti-inflammatory and also have a number of antioxidants stored in them. The ternatin anthocyanins found in the flowers help to fight chronic inflammation, which is a precursor to many diseases. This also helps reduce pain and swelling for conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Other medicinal benefits of this tea include:

Brain – it contains Acetylcholine which is good for the brain and can help fight or slow down memory loss

Diabetes – it helps control sugar absorption into the bloodstream

Cancer – it contains cyclotides that can protect against cancers by inhibiting the growth of cancer cells

Skin – it improves skin health because it has ​​anti-Glycation properties that slow down damage to skin proteins

Weight – it may help maintain a healthy weight and even aid with weight loss, although studies have only been done in animals at this stage (the addition of lemon means that this recipe is likely to help)

Medicinal Benefits of Lemons

Lemons contain antioxidants that are powerful anti-inflammatory agents. They also come with many other health benefits including:

Weight – they can help with weight loss because they boost the digestive system and eliminate bad toxins and excess fat

Heart – reduce the chance of developing heart disease by lowering cholesterol levels

Kidney stones – help prevent kidney stones from forming thanks to the citric acid in them

Cancer – the limonene can help fight certain cancers

Anemia – the vitamin C and citric acid in lemons help the body absorb as much iron as possible from plant foods, helping to prevent anemia

How to Make this Anti-Inflammatory Blue Tea

This tea takes around 15 minutes to make. The portion sizes below are for two servings and each mug or cup will contain around 10.5 calories. I didn’t use honey or sweetener so you’ll need to adjust the calories if you include this. I made this tea hot but it’s also refreshing to drink it once it has cooled down.

This recipe doesn’t contain any caffeine so you can drink this anytime during the day or night if you like. You can have up to three servings a day.

Ingredients:

• 2 heaped teaspoons of Dried Butterfly Pea flowers or fresh flowers (approximately 14 flowers)
• 1 lemon
• 25 fl oz of water / 700 ml
• Honey or sweetener to taste (optional)

Utensils:

• Teapot
• Kettle or small pot
• Small strainer
• Chopping board
• Sharp knife
• Mug

Method

1. Pour 25 fl oz of water (700 ml) into a pot and bring it to a boil.
2. Now add 2 heaped teaspoons of Butterfly Pea flowers to your teapot. If you’re using fresh flowers, remove any green stalks and leaves from the bottom first or these may make your tea bitter (you don’t need to do this with dried flowers).
3. Once the water has boiled, pour it into the teapot and put the lid on, and let it steep for 10-15 minutes. If you don’t have a teapot, use a pot to boil the water and when the water has boiled you can remove the pot from the stovetop and simply add the flowers, placing a lid on the pot after.
4. While your tea is steeping, cut your lemon in half.
5. When your flowers have been in the water for 10-15 minutes pour the water into a mug through a strainer.
6. Squeeze half a lemon into each mug and watch the color change from bright blue to a purple hue.

Video Recipe

You can now drink your tea once it’s cooled down enough for you. Since the tea has lemon juice in it, remember to rinse your mouth out with water after each mug you drink to remove the acid and protect your tooth enamel.

You can also play around by adding extra ingredients and flavor combinations (e.g. mint, lemongrass, or ginger). As this tea has such a subtle flavor it lends itself to many additions so choose ones that you like and are beneficial to your health. Enjoy!

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The Anti-Inflammatory Blue Tea

Butterfly Pea Flower Tea is commonly enjoyed in Thailand and Vietnam after dinner or as a refreshing drink with lemon and honey. You can choose to leave the honey out or swap it for a sweetener of your choice. 

5 from 2 votes

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Total Time 15 minutes mins

Servings 2

Calories 10.5 kcal

Equipment

• 1 Teapot
• 1 Kettle or small pot
• 1 Small strainer
• 1 Chopping board
• 1 Sharp knife
• 1 Mug

Ingredients

  

• 2 tsp Dried Butterfly Pea flowers or fresh flowers (approximately 14 flowers)
• 1 lemon
• 25 fl oz water (700 ml)
• Honey or sweetener to taste (optional)

Instructions

 

• Pour 25 fl oz of water (700 ml) into a pot and bring it to a boil.
• Now add 2 heaped teaspoons of Butterfly Pea flowers to your teapot. If you’re using fresh flowers, remove any green stalks and leaves from the bottom first or these may make your tea bitter (you don’t need to do this with dried flowers).
• Once the water has boiled, pour it into the teapot and put the lid on, and let it steep for 10-15 minutes. If you don’t have a teapot, use a pot to boil the water and when the water has boiled you can remove the pot from the stovetop and simply add the flowers, placing a lid on the pot after.
• While your tea is steeping, cut your lemon in half.
• When your flowers have been in the water for 10-15 minutes pour the water into a mug through a strainer.
• Squeeze half a lemon into each mug and watch the color change from bright blue to a purple hue.
• You can now drink your tea once it’s cooled down enough for you. Since the tea has lemon juice in it, remember to rinse your mouth out with water after each mug you drink to remove the acid and protect your tooth enamel.

  You can also play around with adding extra ingredients and flavor combinations (e.g. mint, lemongrass, or ginger). As the blue tea has such a subtle flavor it lends itself to many additions so choose ones that you like and are beneficial to your health and enjoy.