Blue Orchid

This was my first encounter with Butterfly Pea Tea and it was nothing short of fun. It's a floral that is used in tea and when brewed, it radiates with this beautiful dark blue hue and once it interacts with acidity, it magically changes color into this magnificent fuschia/purple.  For this cocktail, I decided to brew the tea and freeze them into ice cubes. The flavor is super mild but it does have some earthiness to it which I thought would play well with all the botanicals found in a Gin. This cocktail instantly transports you into vacation mode and who doesn't need that?

Ingredients

What you will need:  Ice tray, shaker, tea kettle, pitcher. Note: Plan on making the ice cubes the night before you serve this cocktail.

• Butterfly Pea Tea (I bought a bag on amazon.com)

• Hot Water

• 2 oz, Gin

• 1 oz. Raspberry Syrup

• Lemon Slices

• Optional: Fun Straws

• LaCroix Passion Fruit

Let's. Do. This

1. To make the ice cubes, you will need to start by boiling water and steeping the Butterfly Tea into it. The tea has an earthy but light flavor but I didn't want it to carry to much into ice so I only steeped it for a minute so that I can get the color.

2. Pour the tea into a pitcher so that you easily fill the ice cube tray. Fill and Freeze the cubes overnight. I would recommend doing steps 1 & 2 the evening before you plan on making the cocktail.

3. Place frozen ice cubes into a glass.

4. In a shaker, place a few ice cubes, the raspberry syrup and gin. Shake it and pour over a strainer and into the cocktail glass with cubes.

5. Top the cocktail with LaCroix Passion Fruit sparkling water and garnish with lemon and straw.