While it may seem like a trend in the cocktail world, making cocktails with butterfly pea flowers has actually been around a while. These flowers have an amazing dye property and a grassy, floral flavor that pairs wonderfully with citrus. This list of cocktails is a great introduction to this ingredient.

About a month ago I decided to buy a pack of butterfly pea flowers. I’ve always liked drinking the tea when I would visit Thailand, and knew about the color changing properties. However I had never used them for anything other than tea. I decided to experiment a little and create a butterfly pea flower liqueur to use in cocktails. These 5 cocktails with butterfly pea flowers are simple and delicious.
The one thing you need for all of these recipes is Creme de Butterfly. This 20% ABV liqueur is super easy to make at home and lasts a long time. I originally wanted to make it to do an Aviation riff, but found so many uses for it (hence this article). Find the instructions for a big batch here: Creme de Butterfly.
1. The Pelagic Cocktail

This drink is the one that started it all. Out of all my cocktails with butterfly pea flowers, this is the one I’m most proud of. The Aviation riff that I think is better than the original. I named it the Pelagic cocktail because it reminds me of bio-luminescent plankton you sometimes see in the ocean. The only thing that is a little annoying about this drink is none of the ingredients are substitute-able. But if you follow the recipe exactly, this may just be your favorite drink of all time.
2. Butterfly Sour

The is a great take on a basic Boston Sour, and looks absolutely beautiful in a nice cocktail glass. The drink uses bourbon as its base, and the citrus mixed with the butterfly pea flower liqueur creates this gorgeous mulberry shade. Of course being a proper sour it uses an egg white, the foam of which is a perfect perch to showcase the flowers.
3. Butterfly Margarita

I know Cinco de Mayo passed a few days ago and I definitely made myself a butterfly margarita. I would say disregard the cheap tequila I used, but to be honest you don’t need to waste your sipping tequila on a blended marg.
4. The Event Horizon

I know it is weird for a cocktail that uses butterfly pea flowers to be yellow, as opposed to blue or purple, but here it is. I was surprised too. This cocktail also uses Magellan gin which is a faint blue, but it is the rich honey syrup that gives this drink its golden color. The drink can be characterized as a complex gin sour, since there are 7 ingredients. But none of them are too complicated to obtain.
5. Butterfly Fizz

At first I was not going to add this drink, but it really is so refreshing and easy I might as well. Especially as I am publishing this list at the start of summer, and this is a perfect poolside cocktail. This drink is basically an egg-less gin fizz, but you could replace the soda water with tonic for a purple G&T.
5 Cocktails With Butterfly Pea Flowers
Let me know what you think of these cocktails and if you tried any of them at home! Be sure to tag me on Instagram, follow me on Pinterest, and please spread the world about your favorite drinks and recipes on your preferred social media.
Glassware by:
- Reidel
- Krosno
- Krosno
- Reidel
- Luminarc