What is better than a nice cup of tea? How about tea that changes colors! TikToker In the Cottage Garden (@inthecottagegarden) demonstrates the wonderful qualities of butterfly pea, a deep blue plant that when brewed into tea with some acid will change colors.
The scoop
In the Cottage Garden takes viewers through the process of growing butterfly pea (known scientifically as clitoria) from seeds, followed by brewing it into "magic" tea. The plant, which is a vibrant blue, brews into a deep indigo-colored tea. When acid is added, like from lemon, the tea changes to pink.
@inthecottagegarden Grow your own colour changing tea ☕️ #gardening #growyourown #tea ♬ original sound - In The Cottage Garden 🌻
Not only is butterfly pea a beautiful and fun drink to brew tea with, but it is also fairly easy to grow and can be kept in gardens or as a houseplant, according to the TikToker.
When growing butterfly peas, they recommend splitting the plant's seeds a bit, as their hard shells can sometimes slow down germination. Once you've split the seeds and planted them in some compost, you will be all set.
How it's helping
This fun, color-changing tea flower is a great example of the mental benefits of gardening. Gardening, whether on your own or with a community in a community garden, has been proven to boost people's mental well-being.
In research published in the NIH Journal, community gardeners and non-community gardeners were studied and measured in terms of how their mental health changed. Those participating in the community garden "reported higher levels of resilience and optimism than the non-gardening control group."
This goes for gardening solo as well. The American Institute of Stress attributes the physical activity of gardening along with the time spent outdoors and fresh healthy food being grown as reasons why it works so well to relieve stress.
Growing your own food not only benefits you. It also positively impacts the environment by cutting out carbon pollution and waste created from monoculture practices, global shipping, and packaging. In fact, you can reduce up to an estimated 540 pounds of carbon from being released into the atmosphere over ten years if you garden and plant your own food.
What everyone's saying
TikTokers loved the color-changing pea tea.
"I went to a distillery in Australia who had a butterfly pea spirit. It was a purpley blue colour and tasted like pineapple I think (if I remember correctly). It was very nice," recalled one user.
"You can also use violets," added another user.
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