On Wednesday, P4a Learners in STEAM harvested butterfly pea flowers with brilliant dark blue petals and mint in our garden. When we returned to the class, I put the flowers into the hot water, which turned blue, gradually light blue to dark, in the glass jar. Then I put sugar, stirred it, and added ice to the tea. It remained blue. When I put lemon juice, the color changed from blue to purple.
Why did the water change from transparent to blue and then purple? Do you have any thoughts? How can we know what happened to the tea?
The learners also tasted the purple Butterfly Tea with/without mint and then gave feedback, rating from a scale of 1 to 5 and describing the color, smell, and taste. Overall, some liked it, and some didn't. More learners thought the tea with mint was better. I guess the steeping time was too long, and the pea flavor got overwhelmed.
The tea has a unique plant flavor like peas or beans; some learners wrote it smelled like cabbage or okra, and another wrote, "Smells like wild berries." In my opinion, it was an interesting flavor, like Azuki beans, and refreshing. Butterfly Pea is from Thailand and makes a natural food dye and a soothing tea to calm the nerves.
I already came up with a new butterfly peas recipe, so stay tuned!
