Pull out your cauldrons and put on your witch hats, it’s time for some science-based sorcery!

Just in time for Halloween, you can pick up some delicious Magic Potion tea from David’s Tea. This whimsical tea blend contains a special ingredient which makes it change from deep blue to purple with a couple drops of lemon juice!

Known as butterfly pea flower, this magical plant is rich in a blue pigment called anthocyanin which makes the tea steep blue. But when an acid like lemon juice is added, the tea changes from blue to purple.

So how does this work? Remember those panic-inducing titration labs you did back in high school chemistry? Well, this is a real-life example of a titration at work!

The tea has a slightly basic pH and contains anthocyanins from the butterfly pea flower which act as an indicator. The lemon juice that’s added to the tea has an acidic pH, and when the basic tea and acidic lemon juice combine, the pH neutralizes.

As the two components combine, there is a transfer of hydrogen atoms (H+) from the lemon juice to the tea. When the anthocyanins in the tea encounter more H+ due to the neutralization, they undergo a colour changing reaction, ending in a beautiful purple hue!

Now that you’ve learned the science behind this cool colour-changing tea, go try it at home! It’s a great #HalloweenAtHome activity for the little ones to learn some science and tastes great with a little added something for your adult activities – if ya know what I mean!