Blue, blue, blue.....
These dark blue flowers are the color for this summer!
This vine from Yunnan, China, also goes by the names: Blue Kittel flower, Butterfly pea flower, Shanka Pushi, Bleuchai or Asian pigeon wings. Used there as a natural dye in rice, tea, fruit juice or cocktails. We can do that too! Color your light tea with it, use it in a mocktail or make a blue sugar syrup to sweeten iced tea! Or rice, noodles... the possibilities are endless
When this blue color comes in contact with acid, it turns purple/pink! This flower is naturally rich in the antioxidant proanthocyanidin
Sugar syrup: heat 100 ml of water, 100 grams of sugar and bring to a boil. Add a few flowers for the blue color
A flower is finished blooming after two days, after which it starts to form a pod. The flowers contain a dye called anthocyanin pigment. A water-soluble pigment which goes from basic blue (e.g. water) to acidic (e.g. lemon) pink at a Ph change!
At the family nursery, the ripe flowers are picked (by hand) every day in the early morning and then they are dried on wire mesh racks in a tunnel greenhouse in 3 - 4 days. (The tunnel cabinets are closed so that no pests can disturb the drying process).
- Origin: China, Yunnan
- Cultivar: Clitoria ternatea
- Infusion: Blue in alkaline liquid and pink in acidic liquid
- Aroma: Mild
- Flavor: Earthy, forest, black tea
- Caffeinated: No
- Organic: No
Recipe: 3-4 flowers | 200ml soft water | 100℃ | 10-15 minutes
