So over here in Germany the temperatures have finally hit the 30°C mark and summer has well and truly arrived! So we need all the hydration and refreshments we can get. This recipe is perfect for this! Made with butterfly pea tea which is made from blue flowers commonly found in South East Asia and a staple in Ayurvedic medicine for stress relief as well as boosting the immune system. The plant contains antioxidants that are said to help with skin issues as well as anti ageing. I'm obviously no nutritionist so please do your research if you wanna find out more about this :)

Butterfly pea tea has a very subtle, earthy taste and a vibrant deep blue colour. It reacts with different ph-levels and changes colour accordingly. Add in acids and it turns a bright purple, mix it with hibiscus tea and it turns a glowing pink. You can easily make different looking versions of this simply by reducing or increasing the amount of acids etc. you add. Definitely an eyecatcher at your summer parties :)

Heat up your water but be careful not to boil it. You want it to be hot but not boiling. Try heating it up to 80°C. Pour over your flowers and leave your tea to infuse for about 5 - 8 minutes. After that, strain your tea making sure you press out all the colour from the flowers with the back of a spoon. You should have a very blue mug of tea now :) Sweeten the tea with the sugar. Remember we are trying to make lemonade here so some sugar is needed but we're keeping it pretty light still. If you want, you can use honey or agave syrup to replace the sugar.

Leave your tea to cool down.

Once your tea has cooled. Mix it with the juice of one lemon and watch it gradually change its colour from blue to purple. 

Add ice to your serving glasses. Pour your tea and lemon mixture into your serving glasses and top both with mineral water. Add more ice and decorate with lemon slices, berries and rosemary.

And there we go! Two beautiful big glasses of purple lemonade full of natural ingredients, super refreshing and not as sweet as store bought lemonades! I hope you give this a go this summer. Let me know in the comments what you think and tag me in your creations on instagram @jessinretrospect :)