thé paon

thé paon is a herbal tea company from Provence in the south of France. We blend and sell a range of herbal infusions based on butterfly pea flowers. These flowers not only produce a beautiful deep blue drink due to the abundance of potent antioxidants called anthocyanins, but also have health benefits long recognised by traditional cultures across Asia. These healthy properties are now being investigated using modern scientific methods – with exciting results published in high quality science journals. You can prepare thé paon tea as a traditional hot drink, or a refreshing cold tea – great for preparing or repairing our bodies during Summer.

What is Butterfly Pea?

Butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea), also known as blue pea, is a crawling vine native to Southeast Asia with brilliant blue flowers. This plant is also known as Asian pigeonwings and bluebell vine in English, pois bleu or pois papillon (French), as well as many other names across the Asian continent. It has been used in cooking and traditional medicine for millennia. Renowned for its natural bright blue colouring – rare in nature – due to abundant antioxidants present in the petals, butterfly pea grows in both single and double-flowered varieties.

The beautiful blue colour of butterfly pea tea is due to a mixture of blue, purple, and red anthocyanins. These act in concert as a natural pH indicator, and why we can generate a spectacular colour change to our drinks when we add a drop of citrus juice – we generate the perfect condition for the bright magenta anthocyanins. thé paon caffeine-free herbal tisanes pack more dried butterfly pea flowers into each serving than other brands. The darker blue the drink (or brighter red with lime juice) the more antioxidants there are!

As well as its cultural role in traditional medicine, dried butterfly pea flowers are most commonly used to make tea. They are also a key ingredient in both savoury and sweet dishes, such as dumplings, sago, desserts and pastries, spicy meat and rice dishes, and congee.

Health benefits of Butterfly Pea herbal tea

Most people have heard about antioxidants, their health benefits, and that it’s important to eat and drink a range of colourful foods in order to maintain general health.

Our co-founder Nick has a PhD degree in Medicine specialising in gastroenterological cancer research (UNSW; Sydney, Australia), and explains what antioxidants are and why they’re so good for you.

“Brightly coloured natural food and drink products contain many classes of antioxidants including some you may already be familiar with such as vitamins A, C and E, carotenoids like b-carotene, and minerals like zinc and manganese. As well as antioxidant molecules, enzymes, and proteins that your body produces, the final group of antioxidants is the most diverse – the polyphenols. Polyphenols are abundant in food and drink – think curcumin from turmeric root, gingerols from ginger, or the potent mixes of flavonoids found in chocolate, coffee, tea, and wine.”

Antioxidants are associated with reducing the initiation and development of many human diseases including cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, and cancer.

Specifically, in sufficient doses, butterfly pea drinks assist with regulating blood sugar levels (good for diabetics and losing weight), and reduces inflammation – the basis of development of the diseases listed above. We blend our herbal teas to exact recipes, and advise on the length of time to steep them to maximise the extraction of antioxidants and other beneficial compounds contained within our ingredients.

Our Butterfly Pea Tea Flavours

We have combined butterfly pea flowers with other tasty and medicinal natural ingredients (organic where possible), resulting in lightly flavoured natural drinks packed with antioxidants. We don’t coat our ingredients with other flavourings such as essential oils and ‘natural flavourings’ like most tea infusion brands: the blends are balanced to enhance the flavours of our high quality ingredients. Our range of flavours means that now everyone can enjoy an antioxidant hit whenever you want without even for those who do not enjoy the mild grassy flavour that pure butterfly pea has.

With each order of thé paon we include a sample of a different flavour for you to try so you can discover which is your favourite blend.

What healthy ingredients go into our herbal teas?

Our “Gingembre épicé bleu” (Ginger-Spiced Blue) blend contains:
– Ginger root (Zingiber officinale) has been used as a fragrant spice in many cultures throughout Asia. It was subsequently exported to Europe and other parts of the world, and is currently used in a vast array of culinary applications, from candy to alcoholic beverages. Ginger has traditionally been used to treat gastroenterological symptoms and contains many antioxidants, the most abundant being the gingerol family. The current scientific literature highlights a potential role for gingerols in a variety of conditions associated with oxidative damage such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and arthritis
– Galanga root (Alpinia galanga or Alpinia officinarum) is native to South-East Asia and is a member of the ginger family. This aromatic has many culinary uses and is a key ingredient in curry pastes and Thailand’s tom yum soup. Galanga root and ginger have distinct antioxidant flavonoid profiles with different levels of common and unique flavonoids. Most notably, galanga contains the bioactive molecule ‘galangin’, which demonstrates enhanced antioxidant effects in scientific models of oxidative damage.
– Stevia leaves (Stevia rebaudiana) is a plant native to South America and has been cultivated for hundreds of years for its leaves which have a sweet taste. Also known as candyleaf or sugarleaf, stevia leaves contain natural sweeteners that are 50-300 times the sweetness of common sugar depending on their purity. Sweetening drinks with stevia has been shown to have minimal effects on blood sugar levels, which has positive implications for patients in their everyday management of diabetes, weight and obesity.

Our “Camomille bleue” (Blue Chamomile) blend contains:
– Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla), a member of the daisy family native to Eastern and Southern Europe, and now grows throughout the world. Chamomile has a bright yellow flower head surrounded by small white petals, and has been used in cosmetics, herbal teas, and even beer for centuries. Traditionally, chamomile has been used to alleviate anxiety, digestive, and inflammatory conditions. Over 100 bioactive molecules have been identified in chamomile extracts, the most prominent of which is the antioxidant apigenin. Apigenin has shown promising results in vivo including clinical trials, with beneficial effects demonstrated in models of diabetes, amnesia and Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety and depression, and cancer.

Our “Pomme-passion bleu” (Apple-Passion Blue) blend contains dried apple pieces, chamomile flower heads and:
-Passion berries, baies de la passion, rue berries, are common names for the dried fruit of Ruta chalepensis, a member of the citrus family. This plant is native to the Mediterranean and Africa, and while it is not recommended to ingest concentrated oil from the leaves and roots, these dried berries are a key ingredient in the famous Eritrean and Ethiopian spice mix called ‘berbere’, and the coffee drink ‘kuti’. In fact, the intriguing passionfruit-like taste of these berries has caught the eye of companies like Monin, who produce an artisanal rue berry cordial! Studies have demonstrated beneficial properties of compounds isolated from the whole plant, including anti-diabetic and anti-viral activity.

About thé paon and our mission

thé paon is pronounced “te pon” and literally means “peacock tea” – a reference to the vivid blue colour of our butterfly pea teas. Throughout history the peacock (le paon in French) has been a symbol of royalty and immortality across many cultures.

But what do we associate with the concept of ‘immortality’ today? Two things spring to mind: being remembered for a positive contribution to humanity, and living a long and happy life.

Modern science shows that a diet rich in antioxidants can slow the cellular changes associated with ageing and disease. While we can’t promise you eternal life per se, thé paon can offer you the next best thing: premium butterfly pea tisanes bursting with potent natural antioxidants.

Health 💙 Flavour 💙 Environmental and Social Sustainability 💙 Offering something unique to discover.

These are the things that motivate us, and why we started making unique butterfly pea tisanes that are good for you, and good for our planet.

Planet-first: everything we do can make a difference.

That’s why we have worked hard to find packaging and labelling that is 100% plant-based and compostable, biodegradable, and food-safe (FDA approved), and shipping materials made from 70-100% recycled materials. And we’ve absorbed the cost because you shouldn’t have to pay more to protect our planet.

Our butterfly pea flowers come from Thailand — the best quality we can find from organic farms. Our other ingredients are sourced from regional French merchants (épiceries and herboristories) – always organic where possible. We are investing in growing our own butterfly pea vines and in the future hope to harvest from right here in Provence, France.

We hope you enjoy our delicious, healthy, beautiful, and climate-safe products.

Please come and find us on Instagram @thepaonfr, on Facebook.com/thepaonfr. You can learn more and discover our products on our website at https://www.thepaon.com