Blue Tea (Butterfly Pea, Aprajita): Colour Trick, Honest Claims
Blue tea is butterfly pea flower (aprajita) steeped in hot water: caffeine free, faintly earthy, and famous for turning purple when you squeeze in lemon. That colour change is simple kitchen chemistry, not proof of any “cleanse”. As for blue tea for weight loss, hair or glowing skin, there’s no good human evidence, so this is an honest review of what the flower is, how to brew it, and who should skip it.
Quick facts
- Plant: Clitoria ternatea, butterfly pea, aprajita in Hindi and Urdu
- Per cup: 5 to 6 dried flowers (about 1 g) in 250 ml at 90 to 95 °C, 5 minutes
- Caffeine: none
- Colour trick: blue in plain water, purple with lemon
- Skip if: pregnant or breastfeeding, or unsure what’s in an unlabelled powder
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What is blue tea, and is aprajita the same as shankhpushpi?
Butterfly pea is a climbing vine in the bean family, native to tropical Asia and now grown on balconies, boundary walls and school fences right across Pakistan and India, with flowers of a deep, inky blue and a small white or yellow centre that you’ll recognise the moment you see one. Dried, they’re sold as “blue tea”, “blue pea tea” or “aprajita tea”.
Now the confusing part. In Ayurveda, the name shankhpushpi is given to more than one plant depending on the region. In north India it usually means Convolvulus pluricaulis, a small plant with pale flowers. In parts of the south, the white-flowered butterfly pea is sometimes called shankhpushpi too. A third plant, Evolvulus alsinoides, also carries the name. So a bottle of shankhpushpi syrup at the pharmacy is usually not blue tea, and what you read about one can’t be assumed for the other. If a product label only says “shankhpushpi”, you don’t really know which plant is inside.
Did you know? Butterfly pea is a legume, like beans and chickpeas, and farmers grow it partly because its roots put nitrogen back into the soil.
How to make blue tea at home
- Boil 250 ml of water and let it rest about a minute, to 90 to 95 °C.
- Put 5 to 6 dried flowers (about 1 g, roughly a level teaspoon if crumbled) in a glass cup. Glass lets you watch the colour.
- Pour the water over and steep 5 minutes. It turns sapphire blue within a minute or two.
- Strain. Taste it plain first: mild, woody, a bit like weak green tea without the bitterness.
- Now add a squeeze of lemon (half a small lemon) and watch it go violet, then purple.
Fresh flowers: use 8 to 10 unsprayed flowers from your own vine, pull off the green base, rinse, and steep the same way. Iced blue lemonade: brew a double-strength cup, cool it, pour it over ice, then pour in fresh lemon juice at the table for the colour show. Sweeten lightly; the drink has almost no taste of its own, so it’s easy to overdo sugar. With lemongrass or ginger: add a crushed stalk or a 2 cm slice while steeping for real flavour.
Why lemon turns blue tea purple
The blue comes from pigments called anthocyanins, the same family that colours jamun, purple cabbage and red grapes, and these pigments change shape slightly depending on how acidic the liquid around them is, with each shape bouncing back a different colour of light to your eye. Plain water: blue. Add acid like lemon or lime: purple, then pinkish magenta. Add a pinch of baking soda (alkaline) and it drifts toward teal-green.
That makes blue tea a lovely science demo for children at the kitchen table. That’s all. It is not evidence that the tea is “working”, “cleansing”, or “reacting with toxins”. The same thing happens with purple cabbage water, which nobody sells as a slimming drink.
What the colour test can and can’t tell you about a powder
If a blue powder turns purple with lemon, it probably contains real anthocyanin pigment. Some synthetic blue food dyes don’t shift that way. But a colour change can’t tell you how much is real flower, whether it’s been bulked up with fillers, or whether it’s clean. For anything you’ll drink daily, a sealed, labelled pack from a named company beats a loose bag of electric-blue powder.
Blue tea for weight loss, hair and skin: an honest review
This is where the viral videos lose the thread.
| Claim | Honest verdict |
|---|---|
| Blue tea for weight loss | No good human evidence. It’s a zero-calorie drink, so replacing sweet chai or cola with it helps. The flower does nothing extra. |
| Blue tea for belly fat | No drink targets fat in one spot. Marketing. |
| Hair growth | Lab and animal work only. Nothing shows a cup grows hair. |
| Glowing or whiter skin | No evidence. Colour on the cup is not colour on your face. |
| Sugar control and memory | Early lab and animal results, not proof in people. Don’t swap it for diabetes care. |
| A calm, caffeine-free evening drink | Fair. That’s what it genuinely is. |
If you’ve seen blue tea sold as a slimming product, especially in sachets with “fast results”, read our warning on slimming teas and fat burner pills. Some of these products have been found to hide laxatives or undeclared medicines.
Myth: blue tea is better than green tea
They’re just different. Blue tea is caffeine free and has anthocyanins. Green tea has caffeine (roughly 30 mg a cup) and its own well-studied plant compounds. Neither is a slimming drink.
| Tea | Caffeine | Taste | Colour with lemon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue tea | None | Mild, woody | Turns purple |
| Green tea | About 30 mg a cup | Grassy, can be bitter | Turns paler |
| Hibiscus (gudhal) | None | Sharp, sour | Deep red already |
Hibiscus is the closest cousin in spirit, a bright flower tea with bold claims, and its cautions (including blood pressure medicines) are in our gudhal tea guide.
Pregnant or breastfeeding: skip it. There isn’t enough safety data, and a caffeine-free drink with no testing isn’t worth the gamble; plain water or a familiar tea is fine. On blood pressure or diabetes medicine: lab and animal reports suggest the flower may have some effect on both, so ask your doctor before making it a daily drink, and never use it instead of your tablets. Surgery coming up: stop it two weeks before and tell your surgeon. Stomach upset: some people get nausea or loose stools with strong or frequent cups; cut back. Seeds and pods: use only the flowers. The seeds were traditionally used as a strong purgative, so keep them away from children. Unlabelled powders: you can’t know the dose, the plant or the fillers. See herbal ingredients that can hurt you for the wider list. Children can enjoy the colour demo with a few sips; babies under 6 months should have nothing but milk.
Growing aprajita at home
The fun part. The vine loves heat and sun, climbs anything you give it, and grows happily on a balcony railing or a simple string trellis right through a Pakistani or Indian summer and well into the monsoon, asking for little more than a sunny spot and a drink when the soil dries.
- Soak the hard seeds overnight in water, then sow 1 to 2 cm deep in a pot at least 25 cm wide, once nights stay warm.
- Give it full sun and water when the top 2 cm of soil feels dry. Soggy pots rot the roots.
- Flowers usually start within a couple of months and each lasts a day. Pick them in the morning and dry them flat in shade for 3 to 5 days, until they crumble.
- Don’t spray pesticides on a vine you’ll drink from, and keep seed pods out of reach of small children and pets.
A single healthy vine can give you enough flowers for a cup most days through the season. Even unbrewed, it’s gorgeous.
Aprajita has a place in Hindu worship, where the blue flower is offered to deities, and Ayurvedic texts list it among plants used for the mind and for coughs. In Southeast Asia it’s everyday food colour: Malaysian nasi kerabu gets its blue rice from these flowers, and Thai street stalls sell it iced as nam dok anchan. Tradition gave it a place; modern evidence for health benefits in people is still thin.
Blue tea questions people ask
Does blue tea help with weight loss?
No. There’s no good human evidence that butterfly pea tea causes weight loss. Drunk unsweetened instead of sugary drinks, it can help you cut calories, and that’s the only real mechanism.
Does butterfly pea tea have caffeine?
No. Pure butterfly pea flower tea is caffeine free. Blends that mix it with green or black tea do contain caffeine, so check the label.
What are the side effects of butterfly pea tea?
Most people have none with a normal cup. Some get nausea or loose stools with strong or frequent cups. Its safety in pregnancy and with medicines hasn’t been properly tested.
Can I drink blue tea during pregnancy?
It’s best to skip it. There isn’t enough safety information for pregnancy or breastfeeding, so choose familiar drinks instead.
Why does blue tea change colour with lemon?
Its blue pigments are anthocyanins, which change colour with acidity. Lemon makes the drink more acidic, so it turns purple. It’s chemistry, not a sign of any health effect.
Is blue tea safe with blood pressure medicine?
Ask your doctor first, because some lab and animal reports suggest an effect on blood pressure and nobody has properly tested it alongside the BP tablets people in Pakistan and India commonly take. Never use it in place of your medicine.
Is blue tea good for hair growth?
There’s no human evidence that drinking it grows hair. Hair loss that’s patchy, sudden or heavy is worth a doctor’s check.
Blue tea vs green tea: which is better?
Neither is better overall. Green tea has caffeine and its own plant compounds; blue tea is caffeine free. Choose by taste and by how much caffeine you want.
Is aprajita the same as shankhpushpi?
Not always. The name shankhpushpi is used for several plants in different regions, most often Convolvulus pluricaulis in north India. Shankhpushpi syrups are usually not butterfly pea.
Can children drink blue tea?
School-age children can have a few sips of a mild cup, and they’ll love the colour trick. Babies under 6 months should have only breast milk or formula.
How do I make blue tea from fresh aprajita flowers?
Use 8 to 10 unsprayed flowers, remove the green base, rinse, and steep in 250 ml of just-off-boil water for 5 minutes.
More honest verdicts on kitchen drinks are in Desi Remedies.