Okay, so this is really more of a summer drink, but it might be a nice addition to your next Baby Shower or Thanksgiving Feast...When we were in Cancun this summer, I ordered iced tea at a restaurant. They kept calling it "high-viscous ice tea", so I assumed it would be something akin to the sweet tea we have here in the South. What came was a tall glass of ice-cold deliciousness that was garnet red. It was tart, it was sweet, it was pretty, and it was utterly refreshing in hot, humid Cancun. But I couldn't tell if it was tea at all, and I did wonder if it was caffeinated but not enough to stop me from downing three glasses of the stuff with lunch!
A little internet research when I got home produced multiple recipes for a regional drink called "Agua de Jamaica" (prounced Ham-eye-ka, not like the Caribbean country). Turns out it contains dried Hibiscus flowers, water and sugar, and is sometimes accented with lime or ginger. No caffeine, so safe for kids. (Note: It is super red and does stain readily, so it might not be the best choice for your next kindergarten tea party...)
If you like cranberry or pomegranate, I recommend you try this. I found the dried hibiscus flowers "flor de jamaica" readily at a local Mexican market (spice isle), but the local farmer's market and specialty grocery stores had it too for about the same price. Not sure about how much you're supposed to use- one recipe calls for 1/2 cup which I would take to mean 4 oz, but the other one calls for 2 cups and then specifies that is 2 oz. I made my first batch with two 1-oz packages, and it came out really strong, so I just kept adding water and sugar until it tasted good to me (which was a whole pitcher of water and the rest of the box of natural cane sugar I had on hand). Like most "teas", the water and sugar are to taste, so don't worry about buying a lot. The syrup is really strong, so I suspect you will end up making more than you plan anyway.
Enjoy! Hope you like it as much as I do!
2 comments:
One of my fave cookbooks (Cook 1.0) had a recipe for hibiscus flower margaritas. Let me know if you want the recipe!
Libby, what a yummy looking drink! I was hooked on a tea similar to this, but I got it at Coffee Bean. It was this beautiful color and tasted delish! I will remember that you have this recipe on your blog.
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