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This Sparkling Butterfly Pea Flower Mocktail with Mandarin Orange is an easy way to turn iced herbal tea into a pretty summer drink!

If you like iced tea drinks, pretty non-alcoholic drinks, or anything citrusy and refreshing, this Sparkling Butterfly Pea Flower Mocktail with Mandarin Orange is a fun drink recipe to make for late summer.

It’s light and cold with just a little bit of sparkle, so it would be easy to make before heading out to the pool, or for one of those evenings when you want something a little more exciting than water or iced tea while you sit outside on the porch.

The butterfly pea flower tea gives it that beautiful blue-purple color, while mandarin orange syrup and fresh lemon keep the flavor bright and citrusy. It feels a little special without being complicated, which is exactly the kind of drink I want this time of year.

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Why You’ll Love This Butterfly Pea Flower Mocktail

It makes one glass, so there’s no need to make a full pitcher
Two tea bags create a strong butterfly pea flower tea base
Homemade mandarin orange simple syrup adds citrus flavor and sweetness at the same time
Fresh lemon juice creates the butterfly pea flower color change
Only about 2 ounces of lemon seltzer are used, so the drink is lightly sparkling rather than mostly carbonated
Lemon and mint make an easy optional garnish

Kitchen Tools and Equipment

Here’s what you’ll need to make this sparkling butterfly pea flower mocktail. If you’re looking for recommendations for ingredients or kitchen equipment, check the Recipe Resources section near the bottom of this post.

Tea kettle or microwave to heat water
Heat-safe glass measuring cup or mug to brew the tea
Measuring spoons
Liquid measuring cup
Tall drinking glass

Ingredients

Butterfly pea flower tea bags
Mandarin orange simple syrup
Fresh lemon juice
Lemon seltzer
Lots of ice
Lemon slice and mint leaves as an optional garnish

How to Make a Sparkling Butterfly Pea Flower Mocktail

Add 6 ounces of hot water and 2 butterfly pea flower tea bags to a heat-safe mug or glass Pyrex measuring cup (my preference since it has a spout for pouring). Steep for 5 minutes, then remove the tea bags.
Stir 2 tablespoons of mandarin orange simple syrup into the brewed tea.
Add 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice and stir. The tea will begin shifting from blue toward purple.
Fill a tall glass with ice and pour in the tea mixture.
Top with about 2 ounces of lemon seltzer and stir gently. Add more ice if needed.
Garnish with lemon and fresh mint, if desired. Serve right away.

Pouring the prepared Sparkling Butterfly Pea Flower Mocktail recipe into a glass with ice

What Is Butterfly Pea Flower Tea?

Butterfly pea flower tea is a caffeine-free herbal tea made with the blue flowers of the butterfly pea plant. The flowers are known for creating a naturally vivid blue tea that changes toward purple or pink when you add an acidic ingredient such as lemon juice.

That color-changing quality is one of the reasons butterfly pea flower has become popular in iced teas, mocktails, and other colorful drinks.

For this recipe, I used Bigelow Vanilla Midnight Butterfly Pea Flower Tea, which is a blend rather than plain butterfly pea flower. Bigelow combines the butterfly pea flower with cinnamon, vanilla flavor, and other ingredients. You can use whatever butterfly pea flower tea you like in this recipe.

What Does Butterfly Pea Flower Tea Taste Like?

Plain butterfly pea flower tea has a fairly mild flavor. It’s generally described as earthy, lightly floral, and slightly woody, so the flower itself tends to add more color than strong flavor to a drink.

The flavor can vary quite a bit depending on the tea blend you choose. The Bigelow Vanilla Midnight tea I used in this recipe has vanilla and cinnamon notes along with the earthy flavor of butterfly pea flower. Bigelow describes it as smooth, sweet, and earthy with vanilla and cinnamon.

If you use a different butterfly pea flower tea, your finished mocktail may taste a little different, but the mandarin orange syrup and fresh lemon should still work well with a mild herbal tea base.

Why Does Butterfly Pea Flower Tea Change Color?

One of the prettiest things about butterfly pea flower tea is its natural color change. The brewed tea starts out as a deep blue color, but lemon juice shifts the color towards purple. That makes fresh lemon especially useful in a mocktail like this one: it adds flavor while changing the appearance of the drink at the same time.

Can I Make This Mocktail Without Seltzer?

Yes. The lemon seltzer is only a small part of the drink, so you can replace it with about 2 ounces of cold water if you want a non-sparkling version. The flavor will be similar, but without the bubbles.

Can I Make It Ahead of Time?

You can brew the butterfly pea flower tea ahead of time and refrigerate it until cold. Keep the lemon seltzer separate and add it just before serving so it stays bubbly. If you want to preserve the blue-to-purple color-change moment, wait to add the lemon juice until you are ready to serve the drink.

More Ways to Use Mandarin Orange Simple Syrup

If you make a batch of mandarin orange simple syrup for this mocktail, you can use the same bottle in other drinks, too. My Iced Mandarin Hibiscus Tea pairs the syrup with hibiscus tea for another colorful iced tea. The syrup recipe itself also includes more ideas for using it in lemonades, spritzers, and cocktails.