In a world full of margaritas, be a butterfly (margarita)! This Butterfly Pea Flower Margarita boasts a bright purple color with a classic margarita flavor. It’s perfect for Cinco de Mayo, Halloween, Taco Tuesday, birthdays, or basically any margarita-worthy occasion, which let’s be honest is every day.

A butterfly pea flower margarita garnished with a purple butterfly skewer through a lime wedge.

I was inspired to make this Butterfly Pea Flower Margarita after enjoying one at a local upscale Mexican restaurant. They call theirs Mariposa Margarita (mariposa means butterfly in Spanish) and I just fell in love with the entire concept!

This bright purple cocktail features natural blue coloring from dried butterfly pea flowers. When combined with something acidic like fresh lime juice, the bright blue hue turns purple (or even pink if you add more acid)! It’s like magic.

Butterfly pea flower drinks are such a fun way to add some purple flair to a menu. And if you really want to highlight the butterfly aspect, use some fun butterfly cocktail picks to display your garnishes.

Ingredient notes

Ingredients for butterfly pea flower margaritas on a blue background.

Butterfly Pea Flowers: Butterfly pea flowers are typically grown in Southeast Asian countries and are sold either dried whole or as a dry powder. The most common use is to brew an herbal tea which is bright blue in color. More recently, due to its natural blue coloring, butterfly pea flowers have been included in other drinks and dishes as a natural way to make things blue! They don’t have a strong flavor, so they are mostly used for natural color in these applications.
Tequila: Use silver tequila aka tequila blanco. This variety of tequila is either not aged or aged very little, making it a perfect contender for shaking up margaritas that are light and fresh tasting without the assertive flavors of more aged tequilas taking over. It also provides a blank canvas for tinting the tequila blue with the butterfly pea flowers!
Lime: As always, I recommend using freshly squeezed lime juice to make margaritas. As a bonus, having the fresh limes on hand will also provide you with garnishes for your drinks.

A butterfly pea flower margarita on a blueish surface with limes around it and bottles behind it.

How to make it

First, make the butterfly pea flower-infused tequila. Combine tequila and dried butterfly pea flowers in an airtight container, such as a jar, and steep at room temperature for at least 3 hours or overnight.

Dry butterfly pea flowers added to a jar of silver tequila.

Strain out the flowers, gently pressing on them to release all the tequila. You will have enough to make 4 cocktails.

Butterfly pea flowers steeping blue color into a jar of silver tequila.

Then assemble the margaritas! Wet the rim of each margarita glass or tumbler by rubbing a lime wedge around its circumference. Rotate the rim of the glass in kosher salt spread on a flat plate. Fill the glass about halfway with ice cubes.

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine butterfly pea flower-infused tequila, triple sec, freshly squeezed lime juice, and agave or simple syrup. Shake vigorously, then strain into the prepared glass. Garnish with a lime slice or wedge. Serve immediately.

Please scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe (in a printable recipe card) including ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.

Expert tips

If you want more of a fun tableside presentation of a color-changing butterfly pea flower margarita, try this:

Pour the butterfly pea flower-infused tequila into a rocks glass filled halfway with ice
Shake the remaining ingredients over ice in a cocktail shaker
Pour the shaken mixture into the glass of blue tequila–the blue tequila will turn purple right before your eyes!
Stir to thoroughly combine and serve

Pouring a cocktail shaker of liquid into a glass of blue tequila.

Pouring a cocktail shaker of liquid into a glass of blue tequila as it starts turning purple.

Pouring a cocktail shaker of liquid into a glass of blue tequila as most of it has turned purple.

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