Have you tried out Blue tea? yes, Blue tea! #WriteBravely

You’d never believe me if I told you that I drank an electric blue tea but it’s true and I can prove it.

Imagine this. It is a normal enough scenario. You visit a friend's house and find yourself unfailingly facing the question. You know the one.

"Would you like some tea or coffee?"

You smile and say tea, then head back to your conversations with the other members of the family. 

After a few minutes, you hear the clinking of glasses announcing the tea has arrived and turned to grab your cup. 

And this is what you see.

"Tea?" I ask.

"Tea." you say.

"TEA??" I seek to clarify. 

"Tea." you grumble.

"Tea." I accept.

Yes, I am sure you have heard of green teas and black teas and perhaps even been privileged enough to have exotic white teas but how many of you can honestly say you had blue tea?

Having enjoyed my share of rooibos, sencha, chamomile and Earl gray, my tea-loving palate was naturally curious when I came across the words 'blue tea' online. Intrigued, I read up about it.

The distinctive blue colour comes from the petals of the Clitoria ternatea / butterfly pea flowers.

Here are some fun facts for you to know about Blue Tea:

1. They are made from hand-picked butterfly pea flowers. Other names for the same are Aprajitha / Cordofan pea / Asian pigeon wings. The official name is the Clitoria ternatea plant.
2. It is a caffeine free, herbal tea that is rich in anti-oxidants.
3. This blue coloured brew has actually been available for centuries in South East Asia. It is only recently getting popular world-wide though and is not easy available.
4. That distinctive blue colour comes from the petals.
5. In Thailand, this tea with lemon and honey is served as a refreshment at hotels and spas.

Something which I learned and want to try soon is that this tea changes colour with changes in pH. So if I were to add lemon to this brew, it would turn from this vibrant blue into a purple tea! Imagine how awesome it would be to serve your guests alternate cups of blue and purple tea!

I used the Instacuppa tea infuser I have to make this (simply because it is loads of fun!) You can check out how the blue colour comes instantly from the video below. 

Taste: 

Well, it is mildly floral but not as empowering as a chamomile or imperial white tea. Would I recommend it? Definitely. It is a good tea to have, considering it offers the benefits of green tea and is definitely more flavourful!

Fun fact: The distinctive blue colour that comes from the tea when placed in hot water is also used in making dyes or food colouring as seen in the Malaysian rice dish nasi kerabu.

Image source: FoodAdvisor

That gets me thinking: you can use this same principle for adding vibrant colours to other food items too, right?

Anyway, that is it from me for now. Tell me, given the chance, would you be willing to try out a blue tea or is it the safety of regular tea for you?

Authors note:

This is not a sponsored review. I am actually participating in Write Tribe's Festival of Words June 2018.

Their prompt for Day 1 -  "Use this sentence in your post : You’d never believe me if I told you that I _____________, but it’s true and I can prove it." got me thinking of this blue tea and so I wrote about it.

You can read other bloggers take on Day 1 of the Write Tribe Festival here.

My other entries for this festival are:

Have you tried Blue Tea? (Food)

In My Defense (Short Story)

10 people who failed in life... before becoming Legends (Inspirational)

The heart-warming story behind the TV show 'Speechless' (TV show)

Ocasio-Cortez' win is the victory a disillusioned world needed (Politics)

When Celebrities Came Together to wish a Bullied Child (Kindness)

Movies That Take Place Over 24 Hours (Fun Lists)