Author Life Musings: Attention: Storyteller to Aisle Five

Guess what I found at my grocery store? Butterfly Pea Flower Tea!! I have been wanting to try this for SO long, and I am so excited to have finally found some (insert happy dance). If you have never heard of Butterfly Pea Flowers, this plant is like something right out of a fantasy book. It's beautiful, blueish purple flowers are used to make tea that, drum roll please…changes color!

Okay, okay, I have to contain my excitement to share this because I think I want to use it in my current book (still not sure where, but I’m determined). If you change the pH levels by adding an acid, like lemon or lime juice, the tea changes from blue to purple, and eventually from purple to pink if you add enough juice! It’s so cool! And it’s even cooler, no pun intended, if you use cold lemon juice in hot tea because it sinks to the bottom and you get blue on top and purple on the bottom. How epic is that? It’s beyond entertaining, and it tastes great! I prefer the lemon juice added, as it cuts the tea’s earthy flavors and makes the other flavors pop. But it's great either way. Check out the color change below!

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/d8334f_88e13cdec90e42ee91573b136ddbf0e3/480p/mp4/file.mp4

So, I am thinking about adding a fantasy tavern to my current series and calling it the Butterfly Pea Pub or the Purple Butterfly, or… well, I’m still working on the name. Buuuut, they could serve drinks that change color, and each color does something cool. I think it would be super fun if a pub were hidden somewhere and only served these color-changing drinks that temporarily enhance people's senses. But it works on a sliding scale of color, so depending on the exact shade of blue, purple, or pink, the person gets either one or a combination of powers! I think this is a cool idea (though I’m sure someone else has already thought of it. If you know of a book with something like this in it, drop the title in the comments. I'd love to check it out!). I’m still thinking it through. But I feel an epic fantasy drink loading in my author brain.

Any ideas what this drink should be or how it should work? Leave a comment and let me know. Maybe it will end up in my book!