A cup that turns deep indigo in the steeping: chamomile softens the nerves, ginger stirs the stomach awake, and butterfly pea lends its improbable blue. Floral and quietly warming, it is the digestif you drink to end the day rather than the meal.
Check off each step as you go. Your progress is saved. Amounts below already match your batch size.
4 compounds carry this recipe. Here is what each one does and, where we have it, what it actually looks like.
The signature flavone of chamomile; it binds gently at the brain's benzodiazepine sites, easing the nervous system into the tea's calm without sedation.
A creamy sesquiterpenol from chamomile that quiets inflammation in the gut and rounds the cup's herbaceous edge into something smooth.
The pungent principle drawn from simmered ginger; it coaxes the stomach into motion and lays a low warmth beneath the floral top notes.
The ternatin pigments of butterfly pea that dye the cup deep indigo and carry a mild antioxidant calm along with the color.
This recipe is part of a set: follow the thread through the blends it uses and what it's served with.
Most blue in nature is unstable, and most anthocyanins go colourless in warm water. Butterfly pea holds its blue by folding its own molecule over itself like a sandwich.
