12 Nov 2010

Hibiscus water - Agua de Jamaica

Steve and I have been on two holidays this year:
  1. A flying visit to Mexico for our friend Tameez's wedding
  2. A cycling trip along the Nile.
Egypt
The two trips were completely different;  Mexico involved lots of celebrating, laughter and relaxing whereas the cycling trip was action packed, hot (~45 °C) and energetic.   Strangely, however,  one common link was the abundance of a refreshing drink made from hibiscus flowers that tasted a little like a fusion of cranberries and blackberries.

Mexico


I brought back a large bag of dried hibiscus flowers from Egypt and set about trying to recreate the drink at home.  The result is below and we've been thoroughly enjoying it as both a hot and cold drink.  Apparently you don't even need to pop to Egypt to buy the dried flowers - you can buy them in many shops specialising in dried fruits.  That said, I challenge you to buy 500 grams of dried hibiscus flowers for fifty pence!




Makes 2 litres


Ingredients
  • 2 litres water
  • 75 grams dried hibiscus flowers
  • 300 grams granulated sugar
  • 4 tablespoons lime juice
Method
  1. Place the water in a large stainless steel pan and bring to the boil.
  2. Switch off the heat and add the sugar to the boiling water.  Stir well until all the sugar has dissolved.
  3. Add the hibiscus flowers and lime juice and stir again.
  4. Place the lid on the pan and leave to steep for 15 minutes.
  5. Strain the mixture into a large mixing bowl and leave to cool.
  6. Serve hot or cold.
P.S. If you find the drink too syrupy just dilute with water!

    4 comments:

    1. Anonymous13 November 2010 at 06:15

      I can almost smell the hibiscus just from reading your post! It is a really refreshing drink isn't it? I must buy some dried flowers and get back into making tea and cool summer drinks with it.

      ReplyDelete
    2. Reena13 November 2010 at 06:32

      Hi spiceandmore. Yes, it is very refreshing - but also surprisingly good hot. Love your site btw! Reena

      ReplyDelete
    3. Amanda Fox19 November 2010 at 04:09

      Thanks for sharing. I also went to a wedding in Mexico, and when I had Agua de Jamaica I didn't have any idea what it was but I liked it! When I came home and looked it up, I wondered if you could make it with hibiscus tea - what do you think? Now I've got to see where I can find some dried flowers.

      ReplyDelete
    4. Reena23 November 2010 at 06:05

      Hi Amanda. I think you should be able to use hibiscus tea as I would imagine that the tea bags simply contain dried hibiscus flowers. Let me know whether it works for you. Reena

      ReplyDelete