If you want to innovate a classic tea recipe, try using hibiscus! The dried flowers of this plant make a tea with a distinct red color and a slightly tangy, lemony taste. Best of all, there is some evidence to suggest that hibiscus can treat high blood pressure. Dried hibiscus can be purchased from health food stores and online retailers, but if you have some in your own garden, you can pick them and make your own ready-to-drink dried flower tea.
Ingredients
Hot Hibiscus Tea
For (approximately) 1 liter
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) dried hibiscus flowers
- Boiling water
- Honey, sugar, or any sweetener you like (for taste)
- Tea bag (optional)
- Cinnamon sticks (optional)
- Mint leaves (optional)
- Slice of lime (optional)
Jamaican-style Hibiscus Iced Tea
For (approximately) 1 liter
- 1/2 cup (15 grams) dried hibiscus flowers
- 4 cups cold water
- Ice
- Simple syrup to sweeten (for taste) - for this, you will need 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar
- Optional ingredients of hot tea recipe
Step
Method 1 of 3: Making Hot Hibiscus Tea
Step 1. Bring 1 pitcher of water to a boil on the stove
While you wait for the water to heat up, you can prepare other ingredients and clean the teapot you will be using.
Check out our boiling water guide for tips on boiling water on the stove and in the microwave
Step 2. Place the dried hibiscus flowers in an empty teapot
This recipe calls for 2 teaspoons (10 ml) of flowers, but you can use more or less, as needed for a stronger or weaker taste.
Hibiscus is "decaffeinated," so adding lots of hibiscus flowers won't give you a sudden "jolt" of energy
Step 3. Pour boiling water into the teapot
Fill your teapot to the brim once (or fill as much as you want to drink).
Use oven mitts and/or a lid to protect yourself from burns from pouring hot water. Pour the water into the pitcher slowly and without stopping to avoid splashing
Step 4. For caffeinated tea, put a tea bag in hot water
As noted above, hibiscus tea does not contain caffeine in the first place. If you want to get some energy out of the tea (or just because you like the taste), you can carefully add a bag of caffeinated tea to your current hot water. However, the hibiscus tea already tasted good from the start.
For extra caffeine, add a few caffeinated tea bags
Step 5. Let the tea infuse for five minutes
This part is the easy part - all you have to do is wait. About five minutes should be long enough for the flowers to give the water a slightly tangy taste and a nice red color. Let the tea steep longer for a stronger flavor. Leave it for a bit more time if you want a weaker taste.
Step 6. Strain the tea as you pour it
Now, you just need to remove the flowers from your tea. If your teapot doesn't have a built-in strainer or filter cloth, pour your tea into the cup through a fine metal strainer. In a pinch, you can also use a paper coffee filter.
You can also leave the hibiscus leaves in the tea if you like. The leaves won't hurt you - there's no evidence so far to suggest that these leaves are poisonous in any way
Step 7. Sweeten the tea as you wish
Your tea is now ready to be enjoyed. If you like, you can add as much of your favorite sweetener as you want (or not at all). The mild, sweet taste of honey goes well with the tangy taste of hibiscus tea. Sugar and no-calorie sweeteners can also be good choices.
Step 8. Add cinnamon, mint, or lime wedges for garnish
If you want to give your tea a little "something extra," try one of these garnishes (or all three). The flavors and aromas of these ingredients complement your hibiscus tea with three different delicious combinations.
If you are using mint, place the leaf face up in the palm of your hand and pat the leaf by clapping your hands together. This is a technique used by bartenders in drinks like mojitos to bring out the mint's taste and aroma
Method 2 of 3: Making Hibiscus Iced Tea
Step 1. Put the hibiscus and water in the pitcher (large water jug)
Once you have the right ingredients, making hibiscus iced tea is very easy - it just takes a little longer. Start by placing the hibiscus in a pitcher and pouring water into it. Stir briefly to mix the ingredients.
If you use caffeinated tea bags, cinnamon sticks, lime wedges, or mint leaves in your tea, add those ingredients now too
Step 2. Refrigerate overnight
Cold water takes a long time to absorb the flavors of the other ingredients, so you'll want to let your tea steep for at least 8 to 12 hours. Chill in the refrigerator while your tea slowly absorbs the flavor and color from the hibiscus.
Wrap your tea in foil or plastic wrap to protect it from drips and crumbs
Step 3. Strain and serve with ice
When your tea has a satisfactory taste and color, remove it from the refrigerator. Fill your cups with ice and then pour the tea through a strainer or paper filter to remove any flowers and ingredients you added. Your iced tea is now ready to be enjoyed!
For appearance, you can re-decorate each glass with cinnamon, lemon, etc., if you wish
Step 4. To sweeten your tea, add simple syrup
You can "sweeten" your iced tea with sugar, honey, etc., but these ingredients are not very suitable because cold water can't dissolve solids quickly. A better way is to use a simple syrup that can sweeten the tea straight away because it is liquid. See our guide to making this sweetener for detailed instructions.
- To make simple syrup, simply heat equal parts water and sugar in a saucepan on the stove. Stir well to mix it up. When the sugar is completely dissolved, your simple syrup is ready. The syrup will thicken even more if you continue to heat it after this point. As a result, your syrup will caramelize, which you may not want.
- 1 cup of simple syrup (made from 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar) will make your tea moderately sweet. 1/4 or 1/3 cup will provide a milder sweetness.
Method 3 of 3: Preparing Your Own Hibiscus
Step 1. Find a ripe (ripe) hibiscus flower
A few days after the hibiscus flowers bloom, the petals begin to shrivel and wither. Eventually, these petals will fall. Wrinkles on the petals are a sign that the plant is ripe and ready to be picked.
Step 2. Hibiscus plants can bloom all year round
This plant is most likely to bloom during the spring and summer when the weather is nice, but it can even bloom in winter in the right climate.
Step 3. Pick the petals
At the base of the hibiscus flower there is a round, bulb-like part that connects the flower and the stem. These are flower petals. When the plant is ripe, the petals will be strong and red. Pull the entire flower (petals and petals) off the stem - the flower should break off the stem. Remove the petals to reveal the petals.
Step 4. Remove the seed bags on the flower
Inside each petal is a round seed bag. You need to remove these bags before you make the tea while you keep the petals intact as much as possible. The easiest way to do this is usually to simply cut a vertical tear at the top of the petal and remove the seed bag with your fingers. Don't worry too much about tearing off the petals when you remove the seed bag. This will have no effect on the taste of your tea - it's just for appearance purposes only.
Step 5. Use flower petals in your tea
Wash the petals when all the seed bags have been removed. Now the petals are ready to be used in your tea. Use the petals as you would the dried hibiscus in the two recipes above.
Step 6. Alternatively, dry and store the hibiscus in an airtight container
If you don't want to use the hibiscus tea right away, pat the petals dry with a paper towel, then let them dry completely before storing. There are several ways to do this:
- Seal the flowers in an airtight container using silica. This is the same chemical used in drying packages that is sometimes found in clothing pockets. You can purchase desiccant silica (the type used as a desiccant) from a chemical supplying agency.
- Place the hibiscus on a rack or tray in the oven at a low temperature (such as 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit)) for a few hours. See our article on drying flowers for details.
- If the weather is hot and dry, you can also leave it on a drying rack in the sun. Try placing your shelf somewhere the animals can't reach.
Tips
- If you save the petals when picking hibiscus, you can use them to decorate your tea. It's great for parties and get-togethers.
- Don't feel limited by the choice of flavoring ingredients in this article. Be creative. A pinch of ground ginger, for example, tastes great in tea.
