Color Changing Lemonade

 So here is a delicious and colorgasmic goody for all ages. Also, if you want to go this route (and you should) a cool science lesson.

The PH scale pretty much consists of two sides, acids and bases.. generally everything is one or another. Now whether something qualifies as an acid or a base, pH itself is a bit of a word puzzle. The p itself is not actually the letter p but a stand-in for a mathematical formula.  (pH = - log10[H+]) and the H stands for Hydrogen. Pretty much,  it measures the amount of Hydrogen particles a substance releases.    The pH scale spans from 1-14, with pH7 being completely neutral, (example: water). A substance with a very low pH is acidic, while substances with a high pH are alkaline. There are various simple tools that the average layman can use to measure the pH of a substance, most notably you can buy little strips that will change color depending on the balance of any liquid you stick it into. Often you can find them in the pool section of your local mass goods store or at pool specialty sites or stores. 

Now that we've covered the pH scale (barely) let me introduce you to a lovely loose leaf tea called Butterfly Pea Tea ( I know that felt like a hard 180 turn but stay with me)  Pretty much they are these beautiful little blue flowers that when brewed creates a very mild but a stunningly deep blue tea. But wait... that's not all. On top of just being pretty the Butterfly pea tea has a cool trick up its sleeve. It changes color when it is exposed to acids. The more acidic a liquid the more the color of the tea will change from a deep dark blue into a beautiful purple and then pink. To be clear. No one should never ever ever attempt to digest anything that is at either far end of the pH scale. However, we do consume foods and drinks that are closer to the neutral mark but are still definitely acids or bases. Acids are sour to the taste while bases tend to be bitter. One particularly yummy acid (and if you've read the title of this blog I'm sure you've already guessed it) is lemonade. 

Pretty much I said all of that to say this. Butterfly Pea Tea and lemonade make for a really pretty drink. 

Here is what we did. 

I chose to introduce the BFPT to the lemonade via a slow release process (aka: ice cubes) so that we could get a more prolonged and cooler looking color change. (though you can add your tea to your lemonade however you see fit.)  So I brewed the tea, and then transferred it into ice cube trays. Once the tea was frozen it became pretty self-explanatory. glass+ blue ice cubes + lemonade (+vodka in mommy's) =  an easy and amusing bit of refreshing fun for N and I. Seriously, it tastes good and it's sooooo pretty... and without a drop of food coloring too.