Magic Color-Changing Galaxy Lemonade
What’s Inside: A magical color-changing Galaxy Lemonade recipe inspired by the new book, Sanity & Tallulah by Molly Brooks. Sponsored by Disney Book Group.
Magic Color-Changing Galaxy Lemonade
My oldest daughter has a radar for new books. No sooner had our copy of Sanity & Tallulah arrived in the mail, she spotted it on the counter.
“Is this for me?” My daughter asked, flipping through the pages. “A graphic novel? Cool!”
Before I could even answer, she had made her way to the couch and was cozied up in the pillows and already into the story.
I don’t want to spoil too much for you, but I will say that the plot involves two best friends living on a space station at the far end of the galaxy who create a super-cute and top-secret (because it’s pretty illegal) three-headed kitten. Of course this kooky kitten escapes and hijinks ensue! And now my lips are sealed!
The best way to tell if a book is a good one is by how long it takes your kids to read it. The faster they read, the better the book!
My daughter wouldn’t put this one down! Every spare minute of the next two days she had Sanity & Tallulah in her hands and a smile on her face.
What I love about Sanity & Tallulah is the STEM focus. Don’t get me wrong, we enjoy our princess stories too, but I am always on the lookout for books that encourage girls to be curious and pursue their interests in math, science, and technology.
I also have a soft spot for books that involve outer space. As a kid, I was obsessed with all things space travel, planets, stars, galaxies…you name it! I still have all of my favorite space books and we read them together as a family on a regular basis.
My best friend (and co-creator of In The Kids Kitchen) Jennifer also has a young daughter that I knew would love Sanity & Tallulah too — so of course I told her about it right away.
After reading Sanity & Tallulah, Jennifer and her daughter were inspired to create this awesome color-changing Galaxy Lemonade.
Not only does it taste delicious, but it looks absolutely amazing! Galaxy Lemonade is the perfect refreshment to sip while you take a trip to outer space with Sanity & Tallulah!
Click here to grab your copy of Sanity & Tallulah on Amazon today and stay on the lookout for books two and three coming soon!
Now I’ll pass it over to Jennifer to show you how to make amazing outer-space Galaxy Lemonade!
–Stacey
Galaxy Lemonade Ingredients
- 5 Tablespoons tea containing butterfly pea*
- 10 cups boiling water
- 1 cup lemon juice
- Sugar or honey, as desired
- Star sprinkles
- Ice
*TIP: You can use any tea which contains butterfly pea, we used this tea because it is berry-flavored with a slight coconut taste. Tasty and beautiful!
How to Make Color-Changing Galaxy Lemonade
Keep reading for full photo step-by-step directions! A free printable copy and VIDEO tutorial for this Galaxy Lemonade recipe is available at the bottom of the post.
Prepare the tea at least one hour before you plan to make your color-changing lemonade, as it will need to cool.
Boil your water and then add the butterfly pea-containing tea and let steep at least 5 minutes.
Remove tea leaves and allow tea to cool for at least 15 minutes before placing the pitcher of tea in the fridge to cool completely.
Once the tea is cool, assemble your other ingredients.
Fill your glasses with ice and fill 3/4 full with the iced tea.
Stir your sweetener of choice into the lemon juice (sugar, honey or other).
Pour about 1/4 cup sweetened lemon juice into each glasses and watch the magical color changing.
How Does the Color Change Work?
Anne at Left Brain Craft Brain breaks down the science behind how Butterfly pea flowers can create such vivid colors when you mix them with lemon juice. Click here to learn more about it!
Add star sprinkles, if desired, to complete the galaxy effect.
Best enjoyed immediately.
TIP: Butterfly pea is sometimes referred to as blue pea. It can come as tea leaves or a powder.
Click here to grab your copy of Sanity & Tallulah on Amazon today and stay on the lookout for books two and three coming soon!
Be sure to pin our Galaxy Lemonade Recipe on Pinterest:
About the Author
Molly Brooks is the illustrator of Flying Machines: How the Wright Brothers Soared by Alison Wilgus, and many other short comics. Her work has appeared in the Village Voice, the Guardian, the Boston Globe, the Nashville Scene, the Nib, the TOAST, BUST Magazine, ESPN social, Sports Illustrated online, and others. She spends her spare time watching vintage buddy cop shows and making comics about knitting, hockey, and/or feelings, which you can see on her website (mollybrooks.com). Molly lives and works in Brooklyn.
Grab a free printable copy of this Galaxy Lemonade recipe:
Magic Color-Changing Galaxy Lemonade
Ingredients
- 5 Tablespoons tea containing butterfly pea (we used this tea which had a slight coconut taste)
- 10 cups boiling water
- 1 cup lemon juice or lemonade
- Sugar or honey, as desired
- Star sprinkles
- Ice
Instructions
- Prepare the tea at least one hour in advance and allow to cool.
- Boil water, add the butterfly pea-containing tea and let steep at least 5 minutes.
- Remove tea leaves and allow tea to cool for at least 15 minutes. Then place the pitcher of tea in the fridge to cool completely.
- Fill tall glasses with ice and fill 3/4 of the way with iced butterfly pea tea.
- Stir your sweetener of choice into the lemon juice (sugar, honey or other).
- Pour about 1/4 cup sweetened lemon juice into each glasses and watch the color change.
- Add star sprinkles, if desired, to complete the galaxy effect and enjoy!
More of our favorite kids drink recipes:
3-Ingredient Tropical Fruit Punch
Hello! My daughters galaxy birthday party is tomorrow and I’m making this tea 🙂 I have packets, not loose leaves. How many tea packets are equivalent to the 5 tablespoons your recipe calls for? Also, if I want this “slightly sweet” how much sugar should be added? Thank you!
Okay, so Google is telling me that each tea bag is 1 teaspoon. I feel like using 15 tea bags would be overkill, so I would just go with 5(ish) teabags and taste it to see if you need more flavor.
I would also add the sugar by taste – maybe 1 teaspoon per cup of water and then add more if you want it sweeter?
Have you ever done this in a pitcher?
Yes, if making in pitchers, I would do the tea and lemonade separately so that your family/guests can see the magical layering. In a single pitcher, it will become completely mixed and just look purple.
Would love to make this for my daughters first trip around the sun party, but due to covid it will just be a few members of our immediate family (no kids) and was hoping to make a themed cocktail. Do you know if the color changing will still work if we add a little vodka?
It should still work – I’ve seen some cocktails that use the same pea flower active ingredient. Please let us know how it goes!
Thanks for sharing this recipe! Do you have a link for the star sprinkles?
Yes – https://amzn.to/45Oq0EA
– Jennifer
What tea is recommended for this?
The tea used for this recipe is butterfly pea tea. (We purchased ours from David’s Tea.) If you use butterfly pea powder, you can mix it with any tea you’d like.
– Jennifer
We used this as a “potion” for my son’s Legend of Zelda birthday party and it was epic. It drew immediate oohs and ahhs from the children, who then held out their cups saying, “I want some!” Easy, fun, and high impact.
Could you use store made lemonade? I’m making this for 80+ kids
Absolutely! And wow – hope they love it!