Deep fuchsia and pleasantly tart, hibiscus tea is made by steeping dried hibiscus flowers in water, often with a little sugar added. You might know it as "jamaica" at your favorite taco joint, but did you know versions of hibiscus tea are also enjoyed in Jamaica, West Africa and the Middle East?
In Jamaica, ginger adds a little spice to the chilled drink, which there is called sorrel. Ginger is also added along with mint in the West African version, and Senegal has dubbed its version, bissap, the country's national drink. Egyptians use it to celebrate, toasting a new marriage with karkady, their take on hibiscus tea.
Dried hibiscus flowers can be found out health food stores or Latin American markets, where they may be labeled "flor de Jamaica." Making the tea is just a matter of steeping the flowers in hot water and adding sugar to taste, mixing in extras like ginger, lime juice or even a little rum along the way. We like to keep it a bit tart and serve it chilled over ice — it's just as refreshing as lemonade and even lovelier to look at.
Recipes to try:
• Jamaica Flower Iced Tea Recipe from 101 Cookbooks
• Jamaican Sorrel Rum Punch from Gourmet
• Jus de Bissap from The Congo Cookbook
Do you drink hibiscus tea?
Related: What Can I Do With Hibiscus Powder?
(Image: Flickr member Hyougushi licensed under Creative Commons; 101 Cookbooks)
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I LOVE hibiscus. I was introduced to it on a business trip to Senegal. I thought it was a berry since they had "juice" and "jam", but the waiter brought me out the actual flowers when I inquired. I make tea and "hibiscus-ade" fairly regularly and am planning to brew a beer with hibiscus.
Hibiscus also makes good jell-o-y desserts!
And, fyi, it's also called roselle in a lot of places, such as Thailand and Australia.
And technically, it's not the flowers precisely that are brewed, but the fleshy part at the base of the blossom. (And the plants don't look like the typical decorative hibiscus as in the pic above.)
I love making iced tea with the zinger varieties from Celestial Seasonings. I'll be on the lookout for hibiscus flowers now.
Love hibiscus tea, and lots of the latino markets in our Chicago neighborhood carry the whole flowers. I've been experimenting with simmering them in simple syrup to make a cocktail and/or a champagne cocktail with a beautiful flower, but getting the flowers tender, even when I simmer them for a long time, has been a challenge.....
Yum! I've heard that hibiscus can help lower blood pressure too!
Hibiscus mint tea is pretty popular in Austin. It's good with grape juice mixed in.
My parents tell me that in Nicaragua, people make hibiscus flowers tea and give it to children to help them sleep. It's a sort of relaxant.
When they first told me the story of how they used to give it to us, I cried at the thought of my parents "drugging" us to go to bed. They thought my reaction was hilarious. I got over it obviously.
it's also a diuretic. So might not be appropriate for those with bladder control issues.
The sorrel we drink in Jamaica isn't the type shown in the pic above. There are many different types of hibiscus, and the kind shown in the pic is used only for decoration in Jamaica as far as I know. The sorrel that we drink is never called hibiscus, and isn't commonly referred to as a tea. It's brewed to be VERY strong, and is a deep red/burgundy colour when finished. We most often drink it at Christmas, and in most households, it's spiked with Jamaican rum (not enough to make you even buzzed, just to add a little kick). It's almost sacrilege not to steep it with ginger root. The actual flower is a deep burgundy when mature. The traditional way to brew it is to boil it in water. But another method is to blend the fresh flower with some water, and strain away the pulp. Both methods are very tasty. I've never seen the fresh stuff here, so I use the dried flor de Jamaica that can be found is some latin grocers. Hope this clarifies a few points.
also popular in hawaii!
I was introduced to hibiscus tea on a short study abroad trip to Egypt. We went up and down the Nile on a cruise boat for 5 days, and they had a juice machine full of hibiscus juice at every meal! It was great.
I was introduced to bissap at La Khaima in Montreal and have been hooked ever since. I never knew how it was to make until my husband made some. Just boil the (sorrel) leaves, drain, add sweetness and let it chill in the refrigerator.
We used hibiscus tea when we potty trained our little guy last summer - the mild diuretic action kept him flowing all day! That plus salty tortilla chips, watermelon and no pants gave him plenty of opportunities to practice his new skill out on our patio:) He was trained in 2 days.