Have you ever had blue milk tea before? It’s a popular menu item on boba stores, and it’s as blue as the sky. Made from butterfly pea flowers, this butterfly pea tea boba is naturally blue, caffeine-free, and full of antioxidants! It’s a healthier version of boba you can drink anytime without worrying about not sleeping. You’ll also save so much money making it at home versus buying it out from boba shops.

Here’s how to make this gorgeous butterfly pea tea boba at home!

Why You Should Make This Recipe

• It’s so colorful! Butterfly pea tea might taste like nothing, but it sure is beautiful.
• Customize the sweetness. You control exactly how sweet your boba milk tea is, whether that is a little or lotta sweet.
• Learn how to make chewy boba at home and never buy it out again.
• It’s caffeine-free! You can drink this literally any time of day without worry.
• It’s so Instagrammable. Sometimes you just want something pretty…

What is Butterfly Pea Tea?

Butterfly pea tea is a blue herbal tea made from dried butterfly pea flowers, which is different from most teas made from dried leaves. It’s caffeine-free, and people in Southeast Asia (specifically Thailand) have been consuming it for ages thanks to its medicinal properties.

One of the coolest things about butterfly pea tea is that it changes color! It brews blue, but if you add a little acid, like lemon or lime juice, the blue changes into a bright magenta color. It’s that classic acid and base indicator for all my science friends!

In recent years, it’s gained global popularity thanks to social media and trendy cafes; people can’t resist a beautiful beverage!

What Does Butterfly Pea Tea Taste Like?

Butterfly pea tea tastes like a mild, herbal drink. It also kind of tastes like dirt or grass, which a lot of people do not like. I wouldn’t recommend drinking it straight up. But usually, you drink this tea with sugar, milk, and other flavors, so you don’t really taste the medicine flavor too much!

It pairs especially well with bright, citrusy flavors like lemon, lime, or orange, as well as creamy additions like milk or coconut milk. Floral and sweet flavors, like vanilla or honey, also complement it nicely.

While its taste leaves something to be desired, butterfly pea tea is the perfect natural base for fun, colorful drinks! You get all the natural blue color without the taste overpowering your beverage.

What is Butterfly Pea Tea Boba?

If you’re looking for a fun drink to make at home, this is it! Butterfly pea tea boba is a classic boba tea with tapioca pearls, milk, ice, sugar, and brewed butterfly pea tea flowers. It’s crawled its way into being a staple item!

In this recipe, I use creamy homemade coconut milk for a slightly different flavor than the classic, which is just whole milk. It’s honestly super easy to make; the hardest part is making the boba. But once you get that down, you can make this any other boba drink you want!

How to Make Boba Chewy and Soft

If you’ve ever wondered why boba from shops is so addictive, it’s not just the sugar; it’s the QQ chewy texture! QQ means chewy in Taiwanese, and is the quintessential term for talking about boba, kind of like al dente for pasta. It’s very hard to get right at home, though, but luckily I used to work as a bobarista and can share all the tips we used at the boba shop with you!

• Use enough water: Tapioca pearls soak up water and expand when they cook, so it’s important to have enough water; otherwise, the boba turns out hard.
• Patience when boiling: You need to cook the pearls all the way through. People tend to undercook the pearls because it takes a while, but trust me, that’s a one-way street to sad pearls.
• Soak them in sugar syrup after cooking to keep them soft and give them flavor. No one likes flavorless boba!

A little tip that many people don’t know is that after you cook the boba, you need to rinse it thoroughly in cold water until it’s lukewarm. This helps stop the pearls from cooking and makes that “qq” chewy texture! This keeps them soft and prevents hardening (aka starch retrogradation). Also, use a lot more sugar than you think, there’s a reason why boba tastes so good outside.

How to Make Butterfly Pea Tea Boba: Ingredients

• Boba Pearls
• 1/4 cup boba pearls
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 5 cups of water to boil
• 1 cup for soaking
• Butterfly Pea Milk Tea
• 1 tbsp butterfly pea tea
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup coconut milk (or regular whole milk)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 cup ice

Butterfly Pea Tea Boba Recipe

1. Bring a medium pot of water to a rolling boil. Add the tapioca pearls and cook on high for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium, cover, and let simmer for 20–25 minutes, until the pearls are soft and chewy.
2. Drain pearls, then rinse in a colander under cold water until lukewarm but not cold. Use your fingers to separate them out.
3. In the same pot, dissolve sugar (or your preferred sweetener) with water over low heat, stirring until dissolved. Add the rinsed pearls back in and let them soak for 10–15 minutes or until sweet to taste.
4. While the boba cooks or soaks, brew butterfly pea tea leaves in a heatproof cup for 3–5 minutes. The tea should be a dark blue. Strain and cool before use.
5. Add boba, ice, sugar, and milk to a glass, then slowly pour the cooled butterfly pea tea. Pour directly onto the ice to create a blue tea layer.
6. Mix and enjoy!

Tips for the Perfect Butterfly Pea Tea Boba

• Serve fresh: Boba is best within a few hours of cooking. The longer it sits, the less chewy it gets (and hard and tough).
• Keep the water boiling while adding boba: Dropping pearls into water that’s not at a full boil can make them stick together or cook unevenly.
• Use clear cups: The blue tea and milk are too pretty not to show off!
• Make homemade coconut milk: Blending fresh or dried coconut meat with water gives you a richer milk that makes this tea super creamy and delicious.
• Use fresh tea: I’ve used old butterfly pea tea before, and the color is more purple than blue, which is disappointing if you want a bright blue color!

Variations

• Vegan: Swap out dairy milk for coconut milk, almond milk, oat milk, or soy milk.
• Boba-Free: If you’re not a fan of tapioca pearls or want something lighter, skip the boba and enjoy it as an iced butterfly pea tea latte.
• Sugar-Free: Use a sugar substitute like stevia, monk fruit sweetener, or erythritol in the syrup. You can also sweeten with a touch of honey or agave (just note that honey isn’t vegan).

Frequently Asked Questions

What does butterfly pea tea taste like?
Butterfly pea tea has a very earthy flavor, which is off-putting some some people. Most of the flavor in the drink comes from the milk and sweetener, so most people like it as a milk tea versus plain.

Does butterfly pea tea naturally change color?
Yes! On its own, it brews a deep blue. However, when you add something acidic like lemon juice, the color changes to a pretty magenta. It’s a completely natural reaction from the anthocyanins in the flowers (yay science!).

Does butterfly pea have caffeine?
No, butterfly pea tea is naturally caffeine-free! All herbal teas are caffeine-free (there’s a hack for you next time you’re at a boba shop), so they’re the best options for a late-night drink.

Can I make this without boba?
Absolutely! Skip the pearls and enjoy it as a colorful iced latte or refreshing tea.

Other Milk Tea Recipes to Try

If you loved this butterfly pea tea boba, then you have to try making other boba drinks! Here are a few milk tea recipes you can try next:

• Earl Grey boba milk tea
• Roasted oolong milk tea with boba
• Strawberry matcha latte with boba
• Brown sugar milk tea with boba
• Brown sugar boba matcha latte

If you try this recipe, leave a review below!