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When I try a new tea one of the first things I do is try and figure out how I would describe the taste. As I was drinking blue tea, AKA Butterfly Pea Flower Tea, the other day I pondered this exact question.
What Does Blue Taste Like? Butterfly Pea Flower Tea, or blue tea as it is sometimes called, has a complex flavor profile that includes earthy notes with a slight vegetable taste and a mildly sweet finish.
For a great cup of butterfly pea flower tea try KWHAN’S TEA Butterfly Pea Flowers(*affiliate link), available on Amazon. Read on as we explore each flavor note so that you can have a complete understanding of this unique and vibrant herbal infusion.
The Flavor Of Blue Tea
The tough thing about describing a flavor or taste for a tea, or anything for that matter, is that you can only describe it with other flavors. There has to be a reference point for the reader in order to understand the relationship between the flavors. So let’s have a look at each of the flavor notes that I find in blue tea.
Some of you might taste them as well. Others, not so much. These flavors can be very subjective after all. For more on blue tea and other great flower herbal teas check out our guide.
An Earthy Flavor
When I describe the flavor as earthy I don’t mean it tastes like dirt. But it does have that air of freshly tilled soil. It is a pretty neutral flavor. Not sweet or spicy or floral to any real degree. Although we will get into the slight sweetness of blue tea a little bit later. It is just a hearty flavor that tends to act as a base for the rest of the flavor profile.
Slightly Vegetable
The earthiness of the blue tea gives way to a vegetable-like flavor. I would describe it as more of a grassy flavor than anything else. It is very nice and the aroma compliments this flavor very well. Still, the flavor is pretty subtle and it mixes well with the earthy tones of the blue tea.
Similar To Green Tea
Some might disagree with this assessment but I feel like blue tea has a very similar flavor profile to green tea. Particularly Sencha green tea, here are some of my favorites. The slight sweetness, the grassy vegetable notes all play into my belief that they both have similar flavor profiles. That being said they are not completely interchangeable. They are both distinct enough that you can tell them apart. But there do share a lot of common tastes.
A Bit Of Natural Sweetness
There is a noticeable but slight bit of sweetness to a cup of blue tea. Again it is very similar in strength to that of green tea. This adds another part to my belief that these two tea have a somewhat similar taste to them. The sweetness is not overwhelming and it is much different than adding honey or sugar to your blue tea. That adds a whole other level of sweetness and flavor you this excellent herbal tea.
A short recap of the flavor notes I tasted for quick reference.
- Blue Tea has an earthy undertone
- The flavor is slightly Vegetable in nature
- It has a similar taste to Green Tea, particularly Sencha Green tea
- There is a slight sweetness to Blue Tea
Now let’s dive a little deeper into why this delightful blue beverage gets its unique look and taste and a few common questions related to the taste of blue tea.
The Flower Behind The Flavor
The flower that provided us with this wonder azure drink and with its outstanding flavor is the Butterfly Pea Flower. The flower is common to southeast Asia(source). Butterfly Pea Flowers have long been used as a healthy remedy for a wide variety of ailments. Some articles on blue tea(source) help to show that this flower and the resulting tea is, in fact, full of antioxidants and other wonderful health benefits.
Overall, this remarkable flower adds yet another wonderful tea into the pantheon of healthy herbal infusions that you can drink. There are so many at this point that you might have a nice herbal tea for each day of the year. Perhaps this tea would be great under a blue moon.
How To Steep Blue Tea
Properly steeping any tea is going to drastically change the way that tea tastes. Many people routinely over steep or overheat their teas when brewing them and this turns their delicious tea into a bitter mess most of the time. Luckily most herbal teas are a bit more resilient than true teas like green tea, check out some of our favorites here, or white tea.
Ideal Steeping Instructions For Blue Tea
- As with most herbal infusions the water can be hot. In this case, a 212°F water temperature is fine to use. That’s boiling water depending on where you are.
- A 5 minute Steep Time is a good place to start.
- 1 teaspoon of flower petals is all you need for a standard 8-10oz cup
While these are the “Ideal” steeping instructions they are not written in stone. Think of this more as a starting point for yourself. Adjust each one of these numbers until you find the perfect combination that gives you the best cup of tea for your tastes.
Related Questions
#1 Does blue tea have caffeine? Blue tea is an herbal infusion and not an actual tea from the tea tree. As a result, blue tea does not have any caffeine in it. Very few herbal infusions are a natural source of caffeine, while tea from tea plants has differing amounts based on how it is processed.
#2 Is butterfly pea flower tea sweet? As mentioned in the flavor profile, blue tea has a slight natural sweetness to it, similar to green tea. However, it is not sweet in the mainstream sense. It does not taste like a bunch of sugar has been dumped into it.
#3 Where Does Butterfly pea tea come from? This tea is made by steeping the Flower petals of the Clitoria Ternatea plant in hot or cold water for a certain length of time. Once steeped the infusion takes on its trademark blue hue.
#4 Can butterfly pea flower be eaten? They certainly can be eaten. When they are fresh they have a very tender texture to them with a slightly sweet taste. I would say they are a bit sweeter when eaten than when the petals are steeped into blue tea. But the taste of both is fairly mild.
#5 Does Butterfly Pea Tea Change Colors? Blue tea does indeed change colors when other ingredients are added to it. The most common color change is achieved by adding lemon juice to the brewed tea. This turns blue tea into a robust purple tea. It’s a lot of fun at parties.
The Big Finish
I hope you enjoyed my look at the flavor of blue tea. I really enjoy these types of articles for a variety of reasons. One I get to have a nice cup of tea.
In some cases a tea that I have not had in a while or that I had not even tried previously. That was the case for blue tea. It simply slipped through the cracks and I had never gotten around to trying it. I am certainly glad I tried it and really enjoyed attempting to describe the taste to you.
I hope this inspires you to try and cup of this deep blue herbal infusion that looks even more beautiful than it tastes. I can’t honestly say it is my favorite tea or even my favorite herbal infusion, but it was a nice cup of tea and one that I certainly recommend trying at least once.
Looking for other great herbal infusion options, then check out Buddha Teas’ amazing selection of herbal teas.
Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful day.